If you were to just look at his time on the surface, you'd not even bat an eye. However, if you also knew that A) Steve's course is rated as the #1 toughest XTERRA tri and run course in the NATION, B) If you saw the elevation map of this run you'd probably wet your pants, and C) His run time bettered my BIKE time the lone time I biked this course....then what would you say?
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| The challenging Pipestem Creek Single track |
In 2010, I was on my way to the Bismarck Triathlon and stopped off to visit with Steve on his XTERRA Pipestsem Creek course. We hopped on our mountain bikes and rode the short loop course. I must have fell off six or seven times. I should have known the course would be brutal, since my old high school cross country coach, Russ Schmeichel, helped design the thing. The next day, Steve and I raced the Bismarck triathlon. I got third overall, Steve fourth. And we were both bored to tears with the flat bike and flat run courses. Steve's like me. We'd rather watch paint dry than go out and race an unchallenging course.
And that's the point of this blog entry. When I review top high school cross country times from around the nation, I see lots and lots of incredibly fast times. Because none of the times talk about the topography of the course, or the actual distance verification....."Yeah, I think it's about a 5K, give or take 600 yards".....it's all subjective. And often means diddly-squat. And Steve knows this. And I know it. And each of us doesn't care about doing time comparisons as we're in it for different reasons.
It's the way I'm been raising the Boy. Flat course? Who cares. Hills. Mud. Water. Now you are talking turkey.
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| Myself & the very young Boy riding the trails |
.....and the guts....
...and leave the glory to the California kids.
Drumroll, please. I now give you the first Maas Honor Roll for the boys & girls of the Wayzata cross country team to give some love to the kids who are ranked tops in the nation, state, and section. All information derived from Mile Split results, week ending 9/21.
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Overall): Girls 4K
- 24 - Annika Lerdall (National Elite Gold Level)
- 36 - Anna French (National Elite Gold Level)
- 102 - Jaycie Thomsen (National Elite Silver Level)
- 163 - Samantha Lettenberger (National Elite Silver Level)
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Senior Class Only): Girls 4K
- 15 - Anna French
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Juniors Class Only): Girls 4K
- 123 - Michaela Keller-Miller
- 128 - Melissa Drenkhahn
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Sophomores Class Only): Girls 4K
- 7 - Annika Lerdall
- 29 - Jaycie Thomsen
- 44 - Samantha Lettenberger
- 181 - Libby Johnson
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Freshmen Class Only): Girls 4K
- 64 - Ellie Emerick
- 80 - Brooke Young
- 127 - Gina Kalker
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Overall): Girls 4K
- 9 - Annika Lerdall
- 14 - Anna French
- 36 - Jaycie Thomsen
- 53 - Samantha Lettenberger
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Senior Class Only): Girls 4K
- 5 - Anna French
- 58 - Maeve Andrews
- 75 - Claudia Schmitt
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Junior Class Only): Girls 4K
- 31 - Michaela Keller-Miller
- 34 - Melissa Drenkhahn
- 96 - Mandy Behling
- 97 - Ava Jean Gondack
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Sophomore Class Only): Girls 4K
- 2 - Annika Lerdall
- 11- Jaycie Thomsen
- 15 - Samantha Lettenberger
- 51 - Libby Johnson
- 100 - Anna Bumgardner
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Freshmen Class Only): Girls 4K
- 22 - Ellie Emerick
- 27 - Brooke Young
- 40 - Gina Kalker
- 78- Courtney Kern
- 82 - Naomi Long
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Overall): Girls 4K
- 1 - Annika Lerdall
- 3- Anna French
- 8 - Jaycie Thomsen
- 14 - Samantha Lettenberg
- 29 - Ellie Emerick
- 35 - Brooke Young
- 36 - Michaela Keller-Miller
- 40 - Melissa Drenkhahn
- 45- Gina Kalker
- 47 - Libby Johnson
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Senior Class Only): Girls 4K
- 1- Anna French
- 11 - Maeve Andrews
- 16 - Claudia Schmitt
- 19 - Meghan Jette
- 22 - Thalia Alarcon
- 30 - Katie Farquhar
- 46 - Abby Silbaugh
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Junior Class Only): Girls 4K
- 4 - Michaela Keller-Miller
- 7 - Melissa Drenkhahn
- 17 - Mandy Behling
- 18 - Ava Jean Gondack
- 21 - Evelyn Frenz
- 22 - Kristine Keller-Miller
- 23 - Emily Short
- 36 - Izzy Lockheimer-Toso
- 43 - Kaitlin Schwarz
- 45 - Kaylin Bach
- 48 - Lauren Dahl
- 50 - Lizzy Berg
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Sophmore Class Only): Girls 4K
- 1 - Annika Lerdall
- 3- Jaycie Thomsen
- 6 - Samantha Lettenberger
- 18 - Libby Johnson
- 26 - Anna Bumgardner
- 42- Laura Allen
- 47 - Grace Albright
- 48 - Emma Bernard
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Freshmen Class Only): Girls 4K
- 7 - Ellie Emerick
- 8 - Brooke Young
- 9 - Gina Kalker
- 17- Courtney Kern
- 18 - Naomi Long
- 27 - Chloe Wagener
- 31 - Ellen King
- 32 - Anna Healy
- 34 - Taylore Henkel
- 35 - Miranda Mead
- 38 - Carmen Rottinghaus
- 46 - Kayla Dohm
- 50 - Carisa Chen
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Overall): Boys 5K
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Senior Class Only): Boys 5K
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Juniors Class Only): Boys 5K
- 33 - Connor Olson (National Elite Gold Level)
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Senior Class Only): Boys 5K
- 22 - Connor Olson
In the Top 200 in the Nation (Juniors Class Only): Boys 5K
- 76 - Jaret Carpenter (National Elite Silver Level)
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Overall): Boys 5K
- 1- Connor Olson
- 7 - Jaret Carpenter
- 10 - Ian Eklin (National Elite Silver Level)
- 38 - Nick Shaleen (National Elite Silver Level)
- 74 - Jack Prazich
- 83 - Andrew Millan
- 84 - Andrew Quirk
- 90 - Paul Epland
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Senior Class Only): Boys 5K
- 1 - Connor Olson
- 8 - Ian Eklin
- 34 - Jack Prazich
- 38 - Andrew Quirk
- 42 - Paul Epland
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Junior Class Only): Boys 5K
- 2 - Jaret Carpenter
- 12 - Nick Shaleen
- 36 - Andrew Millan
- 42 - Kyle Brandt
- 50 - Wes Heal
- 99 - Jacob Smith
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Sophomore Class Only): Boys 5K
- 15 - Paul Weiler
- 17 - Josh Halverson
- 28 - Nick Kerbeshian
- 42 - Gemechu Meskele
- 46 - Jeremy Gilbertson
- 79 - Tyler Carlstrom
- 86 - Daniel Urke
- 100 - Jack Olson
In the Top 100 in the State, MN AA (Freshmen Class Only): Boys 5K
- 31 - Anders Sonnesyn
- 41 - Graham Maas
- 47 - Khalid Hussein
- 59 - Blake Buysse
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Overall): Boys 5K
- 1 - Connor Olson
- 3 - Jaret Carpenter
- 4 - Ian Eklin
- 14 - Nick Shaleen
- 21 - Jack Prazich
- 22 - Andrew Millan
- 23 - Andrew Quirk
- 24 - Paul Epland
- 29 - Kyle Brandt
- 33 - Wes Heal
- 34 - Paul Weiler
- 37 - Josh Halverson
- 47 - Nick Kerbeshian
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Senior Class Only): Boys 5K
- 1- Connor Olson
- 3 - Ian Eklin
- 5 - Jack Prazich
- 6 - Andrew Quirk
- 7 - Paul Epland
- 26 - Martin Johnson
- 27 - Thomas Lerdall
- 32 - Carter Blankenship
- 45 - Andrew Carter
- 46 - Bobby Anderson
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Junior Class Only): Boys 5K
- 1 - Jaret Carpenter
- 8 - Nick Shaleen
- 14 - Andrew Millan
- 18 - Kyle Brandt
- 19 - Wes Heal
- 24 - Jacob Smith
- 35 - Calvin Cahill
- 48 - Zachary Garvis
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Sophmore Class Only): Boys 5K
- 5 - Paul Weiler
- 6 - Josh Halverson
- 9 - Nick Kerbeshian
- 12 - Gemechu Meskele
- 13 - Jeremy Gilbertson
- 20 - Tyler Carlstrom
- 22 - Daniel Urke
- 24 - Jack Olson
- 26 - Jesse Kulberg
- 33 - Andrew Stanek
- 34 - Liban Jama
- 46 - Alexander White
- 49 - Gunner O'Reilly
In the Top 50 in the Section, MN 6AA (Freshmen Class Only): Boys 5K
- 3 - Anders Sonnesyn
- 4 - Graham Maas
- 6 - Khalid Hussein
- 9 - Blake Buysse
- 19 - Jacob Rohrer
- 20 - Grant Matthews
- 25 - Ben Bastin
- 27 - Frank Fetrow
- 28 - Luc Golin
- 31 - Andy McKenzie
- 36 - Sam Smith
- 37 - Markus Braun
- 48 - Alex Pierce
Next Maas Honor Roll, sometime late October.
