The Becki Wells Invitational cross country meet Saturday at the Heart River Golf Course was just as much a race against the elements as a race against the clock.
After an overnight downpour drenched and muddied the course, racers were further greeted with temperatures hovering around 48 degrees.
Dickinson siblings Jake and Taylor Braunberger couldn't ask for any better weather.
"It was rainy and wet, creating lots of puddles," Taylor said. "I like it like this a lot. It's better than the hot temperatures."
"It was pretty cold but runners like that kind of weather," said Jake, a junior. "It's way better than it being 100 degrees out."
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The conditions were just fine for Bismarck High's Joash Osoro, who turned in a time of 16 minutes, 5 seconds to win the boys division.
Benson County star senior Lindsay Anderson won the girls division with a time of 15:05.
"There were puddles all over and it was muddy going up hill. You'd slide a bit," Osoro said. "You just have to tough it up and just run it."
Osoro, who broke off from the pack early and ran most of the course by himself, said he was shooting to finish in less than 15 minutes. Considering the conditions, he was pleased with his race, he said.
"I kind of decided after 900 meters to break off because I was really going for time," Osoro said.
Bismarck turned in the top performance of the day with its boys placing first and girls finishing second behind Minot, who had three girls in the top five.
Dickinson was led by the Braunbergers, who both finished ninth in their respective races. Jake turned in a time of 17:09 to lead the boys to a sixth-place finish. Taylor crossed the finish line at 16:00, just three seconds ahead of teammate Dakota Wolf.
The Dickinson girls placed third and had all five runners in the top 20. Braunberger and Wolf were joined by Whitney Stratton, Billie Herauf and Haley Anderson. Ally Hoffman remains out of the lineup as she recovers from heat stroke at the Aug. 30 meet in Spearfish, S.D.
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"On the girls' side, I was really pleased," Dickinson coach Shawn Leiss said. "Considering one of our nucleus runners wasn't running today due to her heat stroke in Spearfish (S.D.), I'm really happy with where the girls ended up.
"On the boy's side of things, it looks like we may have more work to do then I thought."
Leiss and crew arrived at the golf course around 6:30 a.m. Saturday to make adjustments as to not destroy the golf course.
The finish line was moved 130 meters from its original location and certain areas were rerouted to keep runners off tee boxes.
After practicing in 100-degree heat all week, Leiss said the course and conditions were not the only things his runners needed to be aware of. Their bodies were a major concern as well. When it is a little cooler like this, we emphasize a better warm up," Leiss said. "We want to make sure they get the core body temperature up and get a good sweat going."
The meet featured 20 different schools.
Gabe Fettig of Killdeer finished one second behind Jake Braunberger to lead Killdeer to a 12th-place finish out of 16 teams in the boys division. Bowman County, who finished ninth, was led by Nathan McGee, who took 27th.
In the girls division, Bowman County finished sixth overall. The Bulldogs were led by Keisha Sparks and Heather Harder, who both finished with a time of 17:16, good for 38th and 39th place, respectively.
