By Becky Walz,
With COVID-19 cases still circulating the country, the Decorah girls’ cross country team is once again thankful to be competing and looking to put together the right line-up to win an 18th conference title.
Back at the helm for her 20th season is Cristy Nimrod, along with three harriers who competed at state a year ago.
Season of unknown
The uncertainty of the season came along with the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Once the competitions began, the Lady Vikes came together to win five meetings, including their 17th Northeast Iowa Conference title and the State-Qualifier.
Ranked ninth in Class 3A, Decorah had five harriers place in the top 15 to garner all-NEIC honors, led by sophomore Rebecca Anderson who crossed the finish line in 19:35.6, to win bronze. Sam See finished eighth to claim her second all-NEIC nod, while Leila Johnson was on her heels in ninth. Madison Tollefson came in 12th for her first conference honors, followed by Taryn Sanderman in 13th.
At the state-qualifier, the Vikings pulled out the win in a three-way tie for first with 81 points by virtue of Decorah’s sixth runner placing ahead of the other two squads. Anderson was the lone Viking to individually qualify for state, finishing second in 18:24.87. See and Johnson narrowly missed the individual qualification, finishing 17th and 18th, respectively.
Remaining in the No. 9 position in the standing, the Decorah girls battled a tough field at state, coming home in 14th with 300 points. The harriers had an average time of 21:10.0. The Vikings were led to the finish line by Anderson in 19:05.5, good for fifth. Johnson, a senior, concluded her third season at state and her career in 62nd place. See toured the course to take 74th, with Tollefson close behind in 77th. Sanderman concluded the team scoring in 82nd place. Also competing were Abby Halverson and Kyria Atwell.
Big losses
“We have lost a lot of leadership from our 27 seniors last year; however, the new seniors are doing a great job so far this season,” said Coach Nimrod.
The Vikes lost several strong harriers to graduation, including three who ran at state — Johnson, See and Sanderman, and several others vying for a varsity spot.
Rachel Bower came through by taking the junior varsity title, while Abby Bolson finished fifth. Others gone include Kendra Bigler, Morgan Brauer, Fiona Buresh, Sofie Grouws, Lexie Hauber, Isabelle Kingsbury, Jenna Lundtvedt, Anja Madsen, Olivia Mettille, Kaia Neal, Mya Numedahl, Cady Peterson, Clara Rooney, Cora Syverson, Payton Taylor, Grace Thompson, Maggie Kane, Abby Moen, Sierra Kruger and Annika Lensch.
Auditioning for a spot
Although Decorah loses some big names, the goal remains the same – to dominate the NEIC.
“Our strength will come from a good work ethic, and we need to stay healthy but hope to compete for another conference championship,” said Coach Nimrod. “Our lineup will be fluid this season, we will get several athletes experience. I am confident that whoever runs will run with confidence.”
At the top of Nimrod’s list is junior and two-time state qualifier Rebecca Anderson who capped her year off at state by cutting off 45 seconds from her freshman time. She crossed the finish line fifth in 19:05.5. Tollefson returns for her junior season after stopping the clock at 21:47.7, in 77th place at state last season. Also likely vying for a varsity spot once again is senior Abby Halvorson who claimed 84th in the team standing with a time of 22:13.8.
In addition, back with experience are Brielle Buresh (2nd at JV NEIC meet), Brynn Storhoff (3rd at JV NEIC meet), Kathryn Kelly (4th at JV NEIC meet), Danielle Losen (6th at JV NEIC meet), Mairi Sessions (8th at JV NEIC meet) and Grace Brynsaas (12th at JV NEIC meet).
The first step
The Vikings opened the season Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Oelwein. Tuesday, Sept. 7, Decorah will be on the course at Waverly and finish the week at the All-American meet is Saturday, Sept. 11, at Luther College.
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