Central cross country hopes to get a little better every day
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The overall message for Central’s cross country team this season is to just get a little better every day. That is the focus of coach Mark Bauder, who led the Warriors to a second place Upper Iowa Conference finish for the boys team and fourth for the girls. 2023 saw steady improvement, with the Warriors setting numerous career bests along the way and sending Jaydin Dettman to state.
“We expect the runners to come daily with the desire to do whatever they can to get a little better. We want the program to continue to strive for competitive team finishes in meets and to continue to encourage more athletes to give cross country a try,” Bauder said.
To accomplish these goals, Bauder works to set each runner up for success, helping them reach both team and personal goals.
Seniors Aspen and Coral Rork have been running for a combined 11 years at Central, and both commented on the environment surrounding cross country—one that is positive, helpful and supportive. Coral mentioned how much fun athletes have during meets and practices.
Aspen said goals are to “never stop running even when it feels like I can’t keep going,” while trying for personal bests.
For Coral, it’s a little simpler. She just wants to try her best and have fun during her last year.
“I encourage everyone to try their hardest as well, have a plan on what you want to achieve for this season and to just have fun with this great group of people,” Coral said.
Trying hard is the expectation set by Bauder in workouts and meets. The goal is to achieve improved individual and team placements, course personal records, career records and even overall course records throughout the season. The end goal is to improve on last year’s conference and district finishes and increase the number of state qualifiers.
“Every athlete is on a different path toward success depending on what they choose to accomplish and how they choose to work toward it. We try to build our season goals and practice plans on those same principles,” Bauder said.
The path to success depends on what runners’ current fitness level is, what their goals are, how hard they work and if they stay physically healthy and positive. It is also often built in the off-season and in practices, which is why Bauder had optional practices three times per week over the summer and encouraged runners to participate in road races if they could.
In practice, success is built on the streets and sidewalks of Elkader, where community members will see the team running during the week, along town routes on both sides of the bridge, half-mile and full mile repeats, hill work, speed work and finishing up in the weight room daily for strength, core and flexibility work. Getting new runners through the transition from two miles to the 5K distances is also part of the process.
“The team culture we’re trying to build is that, by working hard individually, you will be able to contribute more to an improved team outcome,” Bauder said.
Improving those team outcomes will be a little more difficult for the girls this year due to lower numbers. Other than getting the five new freshmen used to the 5K distance, it is the team’s main challenge this season.
Bauder will look toward the four returning district runners from last year, Coral Rork, Alexis Thiese, Layla Embretson and Hannah Friedlein, to lead the way. The remaining runners include Aspen Rork, Lilly Becwar, Blair Scherf and Mya Gregerson.
Among that group, Thiese has been running cross country since seventh grade, and has stuck around the team because of “how rewarding it is.” In her last season at Central, she wants to run the fastest times of her career.
“My favorite thing about cross country is the people. Everyone is friendly and supportive because, at the end of the day, we’re all running the same race,” Thiese said.
On the boys team, there are numbers and experience, including returning seniors Gavin Holst, Vaughn Zittergruen and Carter Krugger. They are joined by juniors Henry Reimer, Carson Ruegnitz, Bryce Heller, Collin Jaster, Declan Finley and Michael White, as well as sophomore Jesse Polkinghorn and freshmen Tyce Zittergruen, Breckon Holst and Griffin Koehn.
This team has chosen to put in the hard work and looks to meet the goals of the team in conference and district meets, cross the line with personal bests, hit general standards and feel like their hard work has paid off at season’s end.
“We want them to embrace how hard cross country can be, that working hard may not always produce the high level results you want, but will always be a source for pride, personal reward and satisfaction, and that work ethic will take you far in future endeavors,” Bauder said.
The Aug. 27 season-opening race at Ed-Co was canceled due to heat. Instead, the Warriors will begin action Sept. 5, at the MFL MarMac Invite at Tri City Golf Course in Luana.