CROSS-COUNTRY OFF AND RUNNING
A boys varsity team from Freeman led by a pair of sophomores that is hopeful for a strong team finish in the postseason, and a young but hard-working group from Menno led by a junior who has been around for what feels like forever, is setting the stage for what is shaping up to be a fun 2025 cross-country season at local schools.
Both the Flyers and the Wolves have competed in a number of meets in a regular season that will continue through the second week of October. And both will run in the Region 3B meet at Burke on Wednesday, Oct. 15, with state set for Saturday, Oct. 25 at Broadland Creek Golf Course just north of Huron. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from Freeman and Menno.
The Flyers
Gregg Uecker, who is in his second season as the Flyers’ head cross-country coach, is optimistic.
“I have maybe too high expectations, but I’d like to see us get anywhere from third to sixth (at state),” said Uecker. “Philip and Mitchell Christian are top-notch, but after that it’s kind of wide open.”
The Flyers appear positioned to make a run at it.
Leading the way is sophomore Lane McCune, who ran at state as an eighth grader and enjoyed a 13th place finish in Rapid City last fall. And he’s off to a great start this season, winning the Freeman Academy Invitational last Wednesday and finishing first among all Class B runners in both Beresford and Salem to start the season.
Not far behind is Luke Miller, a rookie cross-country runner in his sophomore year who bagged a win at Scotland on Monday (McCune was sick), Sept. 8 and finished second behind McCune at Freeman Academy two days later.
“Luke is just a hard worker — he’s a competitor and just gives it his all,” said Uecker, who notes that both Miller and McCune ran on Freeman’s 4×800 relay team that finished second at state this past spring, and another promising runner, eighth grader Collin Randall, was part of that team culture. “Collin has come a long way. You can tell he put in quite a few miles over the summer.”
The Flyers will feel the loss of sophomore Brayden Mangel, sidelined for the season because of an injury sustained in football, but Freeman is benefiting from somebody new to the Flyers program — Freeman Academy senior Armando Miller, who ran cross-country for the Freeman Academy/Marion Bearcats his seventh grade through junior seasons.
“Armando works hard,” said Uecker. “He’s just a nice kid who shows up every day.”
And the head coach was happy to see Armando run to a win in the junior varsity division on his “home course” at the Freeman Prairie Arboretum last Wednesday.
Armando is joined by one other runner from Freeman Academy — sophomore AJ Miller — and the boys roster is bottom heavy with underclassmen who are all showing potential.
“It goes back to that 4×800 last year, when they were running as a team,” says Uecker, who notes the positive influence and involvement of his assistant coach, Bailey Lagge, the fourth-grade teacher at Freeman Public. “That helps in cross-country, as well. Yes, it’s an individual sport, but you’re also there to compete as a team.”
Like the boys, the Freeman girls are young, without a single upperclassman on the roster. Freshman Olivia Schultz brings the most experience to the team, earning a spot in the state meet as both a seventh grader and an eighth grader, when she moved up from 89th to 66th in a 112-runner field. Schultz is joined this season by the oldest on the roster, sophomore Alexa Nanninga, who like the boys was also around a good team culture on last spring’s track team.
“We’ve got a good group of young gals that came out,” said Uecker, pointing specifically to a group of five sixth graders. “It’s good. They’re all busy with volleyball and other things, but we’re doing the best we can.
“We should have good numbers for the next few years.”
FREEMAN ROSTER
Boys
Armando Miller 12
Lane McCune 10
AJ Miller 10
Luke Miller 10
Josh Oleson 9
Korbin Jensen 8
Collin Randall 8
Grayson Dangel 7
Nolan Andersen 6
Girls
Alexa Nanninga 10
Olivia Schultz 9
Hannah Rigo 8
Raelynn Taylor 7
Lily Lachman 6
Finley McCune 6
Emma Pankratz 6
Zoey Rigo 6
Ava Schultz 6
The Wolves
For a glimpse into the kind of cross-country team third-year head coach Rachael Massey is working with at Menno, look no further than the Wolves’ 100-Mile Club that saw seven runners meet the goal over the summer — the most Massey has ever had.
“It’s fun,” she says of working with a team of nine that includes a senior running his first year of cross-country — Jef Poma-Sanchez — and a junior who has been a staple on track and cross-country teams since she was a seventh grader — Zoe Schaeffer.
Schaeffer first saw a state meet when she was part of Menno’s 4×800 relay team as a seventh grader and has qualified for the state cross-country meet the past three seasons, moving from 95th as an eighth grader to 87th as a freshman to 36th last fall. Schaeffer also enjoyed a successful sophomore track season when she qualified for state in both the 1600 and 3200 and was once again part of the Wolves’ 4×800 relay team.
“She’s that kid who you want there with you,” says Massey, who notes that Schaeffer has stepped into a cycle of leadership and encouragement that goes back to others before her, like Ashton Massey and Morgan Edelman years ago.
“Now my freshman girls are seeing that and doing the same thing,” says the coach. “It’s become this piece of culture on the team — one of those unspoken things that happens behind the scenes from people who are diligent and very much married to the sport. It’s really fun to see.”
Massey says Schaeffer battled illness at the start of the season but is bouncing back nicely; she finished in the middle of the pack in the girls varsity race at Scotland Monday, Sept. 8 and was second among six runners competing at the Freeman Academy Invitational on Sept. 10. Schaeffer’s positive attitude helps.
“That can be tough to work through, but she’s a kid who always has a smile on her face,” Massey says. “She doesn’t seem to ever have a bad day.”
As far as what the coach would like to see the rest of the season, it’s all about the finish.
“She of course wants to improve times, but the end goal is always to qualify (for state) at the region meet — get into the top 20,” says Massey. “You of course want to run well, and we talk about that, but one of the things we talk most about is mind set and being mentally tough.”
That’s one of the reasons the Wolves take part in the juggernaut that is the Augustana Twilight Meet held at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls every year, which features runners from schools of all sizes and from multiple states. It’s as close as you can get to the state meet, Massey says, “so we go to prep the kids.”
Schaeffer was part of a team that competed at the state cross-country meet in Rapid City last fall that included two 2025 Menno High School graduates as well as Savanah Wielenga, back this year as an eighth grader. But getting the full team through the Region 3B competition and to state with a top three finish will be a challenge.
“The hope is that everybody can lower their times and keep a positive mind set,” Massey says, noting that cross-country can be a challenge because of difficult courses and less-than-ideal weather.
“Sometimes you get a weird day,” she says. “Working through the weird days is the biggest thing.”
MENNO ROSTER
Boys
Jef Poma-Sanchez 12
Egan Mettler 8
Jaeger Elcock 7
Girls
Zoe Schaeffer 11
Leah Crick 9
Emma Rempfer 9
Ivana Schaeffer 8
Savanah Wielenga 8
Valerie Wielenga 6
