Photo via Devils Lake XC Facebook
Earlier this season, Devils Lake cross country coach Nick Kavli said he was excited to see Brooklyn Johnson race against a higher level of competition.
He wanted people to challenge her, given that she came in first place in each of her first two varsity meets.
She got that experience Saturday in the Border Battle in Grand Forks. And it worked to her benefit — she set her personal best in a strong showing for Devils Lake against a host of teams from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. There were more than 2,000 runners from sixth grade through varsity.
Johnson posted a time of 19:24.6 on Saturday. It was faster than her previous best by 27.2 seconds.
The eighth-grader, in her first year running cross country, has beaten 20 minutes in all four varsity races she’s competed in.
Johnson’s score placed her 17th among 186 contestants on Saturday.
The Devils Lake girls’ team, overall, came in 13th out of 26 official placers with 362 points. Freshman Riley Schmiess was the second-fastest lady Firebird with a time of 20:11.5, good for 45th overall. It was her season record but not her personal record.
Livia Nelson, Dottie Goss and Tenley Triepke placed 86th, 114th and 116th, respectively.
Elicia Nelson added a 131st-place finish with a personal-record 22:25.3. Ealynn Yoder rounded out the Firebirds’ varsity girls’ group in 138th, with a season-best 22:41.0.
The Devils Lake boys, meanwhile, came in 22nd out of 29 official placers with 566 points.
Junior Zane Bennett led the way, finishing 57th out of 200 runners. He ran a season-record 16:55.9. It was the second-fastest time of his career, short of only the personal record of 16:38.9 he set on Oct. 14, 2023.
Those are the only two times he’s beaten 17 minutes; he finished above 17 minutes in all of his 2024 races.
Freshman Isaac Kraft continued his strong season as the second-fastest Firebird in the meet. He came in 68th with a personal-record 17:06.1. His previous best was 17:35.4, set on Sept. 11. He’s shaved nearly 90 seconds off his time from the season-opening meet.
Aiden Ackerman, at 118th overall, also set a personal record of 18:05.9. Rylan Bennett, in 161st place, set a personal record of 19:05.3.
The Devils Lake boys were rounded out by Keifer Wanner, Blake Nelson and Ty Kremer. Wanner and Nelson each set a personal record; Wanner ran a 19:24.4 for 172nd, while Nelson ran a 19:42.1 for 184th.
Full results from the meet, including all the placers in JV and below, can be found on athletic.net.
