Park cross country: Young runners show promise in first meet

In its first meet this year, the Park boys and girls cross country team showed they’re still a work in progress, but also proved to have some young runners with a lot of promise.

To kick off 2012, the Park girls took 20th place out of 31 teams, while the Park boys were 27th out of 30 teams at the season-opening St. Olaf High School Showcase on Aug. 31 at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Park freshman runner Cameron Anderson opened eyes in Friday’s 4K race. Out of more than 600 girls, Anderson took 34th overall with a time of 16 minutes, 3.5 seconds to lead the way for the Wolfpack. Park senior Brooke Anderson was the second Park runner to cross the finish line, taking 67th place overall with a time of 17:03.7. Park sophomore Rebekah Schulte took 123rd with a time of 17:56.3, freshman Taylor Rumpca finished 139th with a time of 18:11.9 and sophomore Bailey Aasen earned 152nd place with a time of 18:27.7 to round out the Wolfpack’s top five finishers. Park totaled 515 place points in the meet. In the girls race, East Ridge totaled just 71 place points and a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes and 53.9 seconds to take first place. With 86 points, Chanhassen took second place. Shakopee senior Maria Hauger won the race with an incredible early-season time of 14:02.8.

In the boys 5K meet, out of 656 runners, Park junior Evan Bonneson led the way, taking 61st place overall with a time of 18:12.4. Sophomore Ryan Tolkinen earned 154th place overall with a time of 19:31.0 and eighth grader Scott Burazin took 170th with a time of 20:01.5 for the Wolfpack’s second and third best times, respectively. Park juniors Connor Gabbert (20:08.7) and Kyle Mohr (20:12.0) rounded out the Wolfpack’s top five, finishing in 176th and 178th, respectively.

In the boys race, Hopkins won the meet with 82 place points, followed by Minneapolis Southwest with 96 points. Individually, Cretin-Derham Hall senior Kevin Docherty won the race with a time of 15:58.7.

Next, the Park boys and girls take part in a meet at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park on Thursday.

Tags: cross country, sports, park, wolfpack, prep, updates