For the eighth consecutive year, Devils Lake hosted a cross country meet out at Grahams Island State Park. The Firebirds competed among a host of teams on Saturday.
“When I started coaching in Devils Lake, one of the things we wanted to do was bring back a home meet,” Firebirds head coach Nick Kavli said. “And finding a location, Grahams Island has been great to work with us. We make use of the trails that they have here, and get set up every year, and we get enough people to show up to make it worthwhile.”
The Firebirds defended their home trails well, coming in first place on the boys’ side and second place on the girls’. Zane Bennett continued his strong season with a second-place overall finish, as one of four Devils Lake boys who came in the top 10. Eighth-graders Riley Schmiess and Tenley Triepke finished second and third overall for the girls, respectively, while freshman Dottie Goss came in sixth.
The boys’ average time was 18:30.27, more than 23 seconds better than second-place Rugby. Turtle Mountain, Bottineau and Carrington rounded out the top five teams.
Bennett, a sophomore, has been the Firebirds’ top runner at all four of their meets thus far. He ran a 17:37.63 on Saturday, only trailing Rugby’s Bayden Green, who finished in under 17 minutes. Second place is the best overall placing Bennett has had.
“He’s a young runner for a guy, so for him to be up there at his level, running against a lot of juniors or seniors and stuff,” Kavli said. “He’s still growing physically, and he’s adapting to that. And pushes himself at practice and at meets. Just proud of what he does and how he steps up.”
Kavli said he’s encouraged by Bennett’s continued progress, noting that he’s in the range where he wants to see him in order to perform well in EDC at the end of the season.
“I was working to get this,” Bennett said, adding his eventual goal: “Get in the top 10 at EDC, and then place at state.”
Senior Adam Sobolik placed fourth overall with a time of 18:13.29. Seniors Noah Azure and Gerardo Sanchez finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while fellow senior Ben Larson came in 11th. Junior Rylan Day had a breakout performance, placing 14th with a time of 19:45.91. His previous time out, at the Carrington Cross Country Meet just four days earlier, he ran nearly nine minutes slower.
“Our program has continually gotten better as a team,” Kavli said. “This is the best we’ve sat since I’ve been coaching here… And it’s not just the top five; it’s really almost the top 10 that push that top five, because we’re so deep right now.”
The Devils Lake girls had an average time of 21:53.32, about 17 seconds slower than first-place Ruby. Bottineau, Carrington, Turtle Mountain and Rolla completed the top six.
Schmiess ran a 20:38.80, which trailed only Rugby’s Hannah Senechal and her 20:07.42 score. Triepke posted a 20:57.50. Those three were the only girls to finish in under 21 minutes.
Goss’s sixth-place finish came with a time of 21:07.88. Junior Aubrie Lebrun placed 16th overall, and eighth-grader Ealynn Yoder finished 20th. With the exception of Lebrun, the Devils Lake girls continue to be fueled by younger runners.
“They’re fresh. They’re excited,” Kavli said. “They go after it. They’re coachable. They listen to us. I’m excited on that end too, where the average there is really good for our top five. We’re not as deep; we don’t have any seniors there, so that’s exciting. What we have now, we’ll have again next year. And we realize that, and trying to build on to that for the years to come, and have a successful year this year.”
The Devils Lake boys now have three consecutive first-place overall team finishes. With experience on the boys’ side and impressive youth on the girls’ side, the team looks to keep rolling through what’s shaping up to be a successful campaign.
The Firebirds are next in action on Friday at the Dragon Twilight Invitational at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
