Welch Dominate Both Classes At Swain

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Oct 7, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

Proctor’s Matt Welch continued his dominance of the local cross country scene as the overall winner in a field of 377 boys with a time of 15:23.4 seconds. Welch finished nearly 35 seconds ahead of John Lawrence of Foley, the second place finisher in Class A and 20 seconds better than the top Class AA winner, Brenden Sage of St. Michael-Albertville.

Welch won finished fourth a year ago at the Swain was poised to finish at his best as he bested his time from a year ago by over 35 seconds from last year’s race.

In the boys single A race other local finisher’s included Ben Hanson from Esko who was 10th overall, Joey Johnson of Esko was 22nd, while Proctor’s Zach Smith was 26th and Matt Rengo of Esko finished in 27th.

In the boy’s Class AA race, Brendan Sage of St. Michael-Albertville took home first place overall, while Cloquet’s Dylan marvel was the top local finisher as he came in 6th overall. Aaron Peterson and Jace Anderson both placed in the top 35 to help Cloquet to a 5th place team finish overall.

Marisa Shady of Esko, who finished second in the girls class a race helped led her team to a first place finish on the afternoon. The Eskomos Shady after finishing second saw her teammates finish strong to take the overall team title.

Members of the Eskomos first place team included Kailee Kiminiski, Kallyn Knutson, Karli Kulas, Erika Shady, and Marisa Shady with the five qualifying times.

Gracelynn Otis of South Ridge finished 19th overall, and Moose Lake-Willow River’s Nicole Tekippe finished 32nd overall for the Rebels.

The Girls AA race saw Molly Eastman of Holy Family Catholic capture 1st place. The top local finisher in class AA was Natalie Stauber of Hermantown, who was 11th overall. Clare Flanagan of the Blake School in Minneapolis was the winner in the girl’s Class A race.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com