Elementary runners brave the bad weather in Baudette

Sariina Kalli
Contributor

The future of the Lake of the Woods-Rainy River Cross Country program looks bright, as 24 4th ˆ 6th graders (and a few younger ones) spent five recent Wednesdays afternoons learning basic running and stretching skills. The elementary program ended Oct. 11 with a one-mile race on by far the coldest and windiest day of the season.
Each week started with a one mile run/jog/walk warm-up and the 1-2-3-4s of Flexibility (basic stretching). The group was then divided into two or four teams for games like Foxes and Rabbits, the Caterpillar Crawl, Capture the Flag, and a Scavenger Hunt. Runners returned to the playground for water and recovery snacks (granola bars, fruit, freezer pops, etc) after each game. The final day ˆ which topped out at a brutal 33 degrees ˆ was race day, where the runners raced the one-mile course they warmed up on during the last month.
A special thanks to all the elementary students and parents for helping to build the future of LWRR cross country, and to the high school athletes who volunteered as coaches each week and cheered these future runners on at the race.
Sara Acher, Tre Davidson, Elizabeth Fraser, and Brandon Lockner (with Coach Jason Kratzke) won the Caterpillar Crawl, while Davidson, Jasmine Draper, Dylan Lowes, Leah Shaw, and Kayla Thompson (with Coach Dylan Davis) won the Scavenger Hunt.
Results for the One-Mile Race:
Emily Fraser, 8:15
Matthew Schmisek, 8:37
Tre Davidson, 9:26
Berit Bringsjord, 9:33
Jasmine Draper, 9:35
Jens Bringsjord, 9:48
Kyle Hanson, 9:58
Elizabeth Fraser, 10:10
John Brown, 10:12
Kayla Thompson, 10:21
Zeke Beckel, 10:40
Monte Gubbels, 10:51
MaKenzi Pelach, 12:58
Sara Acher, 13:52
Dylan Lowes, 15:45
Alex O‚Connell, 16:41
Emma Roberts, 16:42
Runners not present for the race:
Jackson Irish, Megan Roberts, Brandon Lockner, Amy O‚Connell, Amber O‚Connel, Leah Shaw, Evan Lowes