Patriots have veteran boys cross-country team

BY PETE MOHS Echo Journal

PEQUOT LAKES

The Pequot Lakes Patriots boys crosscountry team returns seven letterwinners from a squad that finished fourth at last year’s Section 6-2A meet.

“We return a core group from last year’s section meet,” said coach Jeff Brever, who is starting his 10th season as head coach. “It will be great to see this team continue to bond and come together to perform as a team in late October.

“We have a lot more depth this year, and I believe our younger runners could challenge and compete for a few varsity spots. We look forward to seeing our hard work over the summer pay off,” he said.

Letterwinners include James Johnson, Connor Jansen, Eli Toftness, Liam Zins, Brak Schramm, Gus McKenna and John Christianson.

Others who could contribute are Oliver McKenna, Henry Thell, Keegan Lehman and Gavin Dooley.

The Patriot girls team features four letterwinners from a squad that finished fifth at last year’s section meet. Those runners are Erika English, Emma Bitzer, Kyra Rohrbach and Brooklyn Berg. Others who could contribute are Lily Holmers, Addison Lillo, Ireland Jordan, Sage Larson, Emmalin Jingco and Cece Rasinski.

“We lost a handful of senior runners from last year’s team,” Brever said.

“We will be in a rebuilding year with lots of opportunities for young and inexperienced athletes. I’m looking forward to seeing their growth and improvement through the season.”

Assistant coaches for the Patriots, who opened the season Saturday, Aug. 24, at Perham, are Clayton Foster and Autumn Thull.

Pete Mohs is the Northern Lakes Group publisher of eight Forum Communications newspapers, including the Echo Journal and Brainerd Dispatch. Contact him at 218-855-5855 or pete. mohs@brainerddispatch. com.