C/M boys, girls have high hopes
HEAD COACH: Allyson Pesek, 5th year (11th in program)
ASSISTANT COACHES: Jennifer Ufkin, Sara Wollum
BOYS CAPTAINS: Caleb Danielson, Logan Myhre, Kolton Duis, Zach Ourada
GIRLS CAPTAINS: Braelyn Merritt, Claire Stoks
LAST YEAR: Girls were Camden Conference champions and placed third in Section 3A. The boys placed second in the Camden Conference meet and third in Section 3A.
The Canby/Minneota boys and girls cross country teams are loaded with experience and are looking forward to having another successful season.
The girls' team lost All-State runner Grace Drietz to graduation, but have two returning state qualifiers in junior Braelyn Merritt and sophomore Claire Stoks, who finished 20th and 30th, respectively, from 156 participant at last year's state meet.
The boys' team also has two returning state qualifiers in juniors Kolton Duis and Zach Ourada, who finished 25th and 26th, respectively, out of 160 runners.
C/M girls
Besides having Merritt and Stoks leading the way, the Canby/Minneota girls have six other returning letterwinners in junior Amber Moeller' sophomores Hannah Fadness, Natalie Stoks, Lillie Wollum and Nohemi Diaz; and freshman Hannah Vlaminck.
"Losing Grace Drietz will be an adjustment, but I know Braelyn and Claire are determined to be in the state meet again," said head coach Allyson Pesek. "However, they have more than individual goals. They'd love nothing more than to build a strong team which is one of top in the section, as well."
Merritt won the team's Hardest Worker Award last season, while Stoks was named the Most Improved.
The C/M girls are defending Camden Conference champions and have three returning all-conference runners in Claire Stoks, Merritt and Vlaminck.
The team also won both the Lakeview and Central Minnesota Christian School meets last season, while placing third in the 20-team Milaca Mega Meet.
In last year's section meet, C/M finished third out of 18 teams and were All-Academic in Section 3A.
C/M boys
The Canby/Minneota boys won five meets during the season and finished third in the Section 3A meet with six letterwinners returning from that squad.
"The boys are ready to be competitive," said Pesek. "We have both state qualifying individuals returning. The boys came close last year and I believe the goal this year is making it to the state meet as a team."
Duis was the team's Most Valuable a season ago. He won five meets last season, including the Camden Conference meet champion. He was also an All-State runner as a top-25 runner at the state meet. Ourada was named the team's Most Improved runner, going from 26th in the section as a sophomore to 26th in the state (just missing All-State by one place) as a junior.
Other letterwinners returning are Caleb Danielson, a senior; juniors Colton Ruether and Sam Skorczewski; and freshman Blake Giese.
The boys were also All-Academic in Section 3A.
2022 BOYS ROSTER
Seniors: Caleb Danielson, Logan Myhre
Juniors: Kolton Duis, Nicolas Full, Zach Ourada, Colton Ruether, Sam Skorczewski
Freshmen: Blake Giese
2022 GIRLS ROSTER
Juniors: Braelyn Merritt, Amber Moeller
Sophomores: Hannah Fadness, Claire Stoks, Natalie Stoks, Lillie Wollum. Nohemi Diaz
Freshmen: Hannah Vlaminck
2022 SCHEDULE
Aug. 29 - Lakeview Invite (boys)
Sept. 1 - C/M Invite at Canby
Sept. 8 - TMB Invite
Sept. 13 - Marshall Invite
Sept. 20 - LQPV Invite
Sept. 29 - YME Invite
Oct. 1 - Willmar Invite
Oct. 6 - Luverne Invite
Oct. 10 - vs. CMCS at Raymond
Oct. 18 - Camden Conf. at Granite Falls
Oct. 27 - Section at Luverne
Nov. 5 - State at St. Olaf College