Wildcats take third at conference meet

The Custer Wildcats took third place in the boys and girls varsity 5K races at the Black Hills Conference Cross Country Championships Oct. 8 at Hart Ranch Resort, with personal- and season-best times all around. 
Taking the lead for the girls, Mikayla Dennis placed second with a personal best time of 19:31.2. 
“Times are still dropping, and she just looks strong,” said head coach Karen Karim. “She’s had a great season so far, and let’s hope we can wind things up the way that she wants to end up. I’m super happy with her performance and her leadership this year.”
Climbing the ranks, Kiran Pesicka achieved a personal best time of 21:23.3 with a 21st place finish. 
“I said last week that she’s a versatile athlete, but she’s also just such a competitor. Getting a few weeks of running consistently after the soccer season’s over is doing its job. She’s getting better each week. It’s pretty exciting, and it’s good for our girls team,” said Karim. 
A second behind Pesicka was Makenzie Ham in 22nd, clocking in at 21:24.9 with a season best. 
Eighth-grader Leah Pomarleau is continuing to improve as well. She placed 26th with a personal best time of 22.03.3
“She’s just continuing to drop her times and is just learning how to race,” said Karim. “She is also a multi-sport athlete. She’s playing volleyball in Hermosa and juggling schedules. She’s doing a pretty good job of it.”
Finally, Bri Nobel placed 30th with a season best time of 22:18.8, and Kendra Thorp placed 45th at 24:39.7. Thorp is still recovering from being sick, and Karim said Bella Carrier will likely fill in for her at the region varsity meet so she has time to get healthy. 
“I was really happy that the girls placed as high as they did,” said Karim. “They look good. They were coming on strong for the end of the season. Hopefully, we can maintain that and keep improving for the next two weeks.”
Carrier placed fifth in the junior varsity race with a personal best time of 23:51.9. She was followed by Evelyn Garcia in ninth at 26:06, and Holly Nielsen in 10th at 26:25.3 with a season best. 
Then, down one of their top runners, the boys tied Douglas for second in the varsity 5K, losing the tiebreaker decided by the fifth runner. 
“I was actually really happy that they placed as high as they did,” said Karim. 
Carter Cooper took the lead, earning yet another personal best time with his fifth-place finish at 16:15.9. Zach Cooper earned a personal-best with his 10th place finish at 16:50.8, and so did Adam Hohn, placing 16th at 17:10. Zane Gunnell snagged a season best time, placing 21st at 17:37.4. 
“Zane Gunnell had a better race. He was number four and a scorer,” said Karim. “We still have that consistency that Carter and Zach have shown us. Adam had been out the week before, and Adam looked good. It’ll be nice to get things put together here in the next two weeks for that team.”
Conner Lundy placed 27th for the Wildcats with a personal best time of 18:23.1. Finally, Ayden Dooley, struggling a little bit with a hamstring injury, placed 38th at 19:51.5 
“His little brother, Easton, who just killed it in the JV division again, will bump up and run on the varsity division this week,” said Karim. 
Easton won the junior varsity race with a personal- best of 18:18.8. Austin Drew was close behind in third with a season-best time of 18:28.2, and so was Dustin Pliska in fifth with a personal best time of 18:51.1. Wrapping up the lineup for the ’Cats was Brooks Wheeler in 13th with a personal best of 19:43.2, and Jared Cooper in 17th at 20:03.7. 
Next up is the South Dakota High School Activities Association Region 5A Cross Country Meet Thursday, Oct. 15 at Hart Ranch Camping Resort. 
“This next week will be a challenge still. We can’t have any hiccups to get to the state meet with those girls,” said Karim. “If you take out the AA and just take the kids from our region, I think we tied with Hill City for second (in the conference meet). So there’s not going to be an easy path to get to state on the girls side. Belle Fourche has a very strong team. They’re one of the top teams in the state. They’re probably number one in the region.”
As a result, the girls will have to battle for one of the top three spots to go to the state meet as a team. The top 20 individual runners will go to state as well. 
“It’s just been one of our goals to get a full team in,” said Karim. 
“On the boys side, the path should be a little smoother. We have some depth,” said Karim. 
The region meet will also be the last race of the season for the junior varsity teams. 
“I have been proud of the way that the kids have worked and their improvements. I know some of them have had some struggles with sickness or injury, and it’s taken a toll on them. But a kid like Jared Cooper is a senior, and he’s been a good leader for us with the experience over the last few years. I hope he has a good race this last meet of the season. The same thing with Holly, a senior, and getting her last opportunity to race. A shout out to those seniors,” said Karim. “Austin Drew (another senior), probably his last race. He’s been getting a little bit better, improving each week and he could be on the bubble to bump into a varsity spot. We’ll see how things shake out.”