BRAINERD DISPATCH | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
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BOYS CROSS-COUNTRY
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Brainerd Warriors boys cross-country coach Dave Herath talks to his runners on Wednesday at Forestview Middle School. The team is preparing for the Run for the Melon Friday morning.
WARRIORS RELOAD FOR 2022 SEASON By Jeremy Millsop Brainerd Dispatch Brainerd ast season was one to remember for the Warrior boys. Five invite victories, a Central Lakes Conference title, a runner-up finish in the Section 8-3A meet and a spot in the inaugural Class 3A State Meet. Just two return from last year’s team opening the door for a youth movement. Brainerd’s top returner is senior Nolan Thiesse who placed 16th in the conference, 23rd at sections and 143rd at state with a 17:48.81. “He had a very good summer of training,” Warrior head coach Dave Herath said. “He is a very competitive kid. There is no doubt in his mind or anyone else’s mind that he puts it all out there. That’s a great thing to have in one of your leaders. Everybody knows he’s giving you everything he’s got. We’re hoping for a very good season. He’s not a big veteran. I think his sophomore year was his first year of cross-country so it’s
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“We graduated a ton, but I think the boys who were in our program last year saw what it takes to be competitive.” DAVE HERATH not like he’s been in the program forever. But he’s a multi-sport athlete who is a very good swimmer and he’s good in track and every season builds on itself. “I really see Nolan having a great season this year. He’s set his goals high. He wants to be a state contender and if he stays healthy and continues like he is I see that as a very realistic goal for him.” Just behind Thiesse at state was Ben Stadum who recorded a 158th-place 18:44.63. Stadum was 40th in the section meet. “Last year, Ben was the junior varsity conference champion,” Herath said. “He kind of had a sneaky good track and field season last spring. Because he was behind some big boys he didn’t really appear in the results all that much, but he was right there. Again, this
WARRIOR CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING Head coach: Dave Herath, 30th season 2021 girls finish: 4thin CLC, 4th in Section 8-3A 2021 boys finish: 1st in CLC, 2nd in Section 8-3A Returning state participants: Madi Miller, Nolan Thiesse, Ben Stadum Assistant coaches: Owen Trout, Casey Miller Volunteer assistant: Brady Rutman Herath
WARRIOR ROSTER Seniors: Eli Hallgren, Mason Kuepers, Steve Selisker, Nolan Thiesse Juniors: Ben Beasley, Leif Hoffman, Gavin Jacobson, Eli Knapp, James Rabasco Sophomores: Kyler Carlson, Nate Chaussee, Gabe Hallgren, David Herath, Carter Mielke, Joe Neumann, Silas Osborne, Kyle Peterson, Ben Stadum, Axton Svir Freshmen: Austin Hoskins, Taite Knapp, Alex Kuepers, Logan Kuepers, Kaiden Raske, Sam Renner, Joe Smith, Judah Smith, Weston Thiesse
year he’s coming back stronger. We’re hoping he starts taking off.” Also back this season with varsity experience will be Steve Selisker. “He’s another senior who spent time bouncing between varsity and junior varsity last year,” Herath said. “He’s the last of the Seliskers on our team. I think we’ve had one with us for more than a decade.” After those three the
experience drops, but Herath was high on junior Leif Hoffman, who Herath said had a productive offseason. “Leif was one of our top JV guys last year,” Herath said. “He had a couple of injuries toward the end of the season that were unfortunate because he had a good shot of making our state team, but was unable to. He is one that will give you everything he’s
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got every meet out. Hopefully, as a junior, he becomes a leader and adds depth to that varsity group.” The rest of the Warriors varsity roster is up for grabs and a lot will be determined come Friday when Brainerd hosts the annual Run for the Melon 10 a.m at Forestview Middle School in Baxter. We graduated a ton, but I think the boys who were in our program last year saw what it takes to be competitive. The key for the Warriors will be finding their own identity after graduating a large senior class from last season. “We’ll see,” Herath said. “It’s been a long time, probably since the mid-2000s that we graduated that many kids at one time that were the leaders of the team. We’ve always kind of had a variety of grades at one time. The group that graduated was going to be lead dogs just by sheer numbers but even as sophomores they stated to be in charge of that.
This group, you do a lot of talking about this is yours. We even started last spring. We try to have a culture and a history of ‘this is how we do things.’ Every incoming group has its little arch to it. This year is no different.” Herath mentioned Gavin Jacobson as a strong varsity contender and he likes the size and talent level of the sophomore class and hopes a few of the freshmen can make an early statement for themselves. “We were conference champions last year and that doesn’t happen very often,” Herath said. “We graduated a ton, but I think the boys who were in our program last year saw what it takes to be competitive. We have a lot of holes to fill, obviously, but we also have some talented kids that hopefully are up to that challenge. “The end goal for both teams is the same. For the boys, it’s exciting to see how much we’ll grow this year.” JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@ brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ jeremymillsop.
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