COTTAGE GROVE – Carter Bengtson is running on the collegiate level, but that doesn’t mean anyone has lowered the bar for Cottage Grove’s cross country program.
The Lions hosted their annual Bramble Scramble this past Saturday where nine high schools competed in the varsity boys 5,000m, and eight schools in the girls 5,000m. Cottage Grove placed second among boys teams, and third among girls.
“They ran really, really well today. We don’t chase fast times by, you know, traveling all over the state and just running on really fast courses,” coach Ricky Knutson said. “I think our boys team is a little bit under the radar right now. Last week, all seven guys were within 39 seconds of one another. So when one guy maybe struggles, another guy has a strong day, and that’s what strong teams are built on.”
Cottage Grove saw standout performances from both teams last Saturday in what is considered a “home event” for the Lions. ALL PHOTOS BY JAYDEN TUCKER, SADIE CARDWELL & SCARLETT GARCIA FOR CGHS
The consistency of the boys team stood out again this week, with all seven boys finishing within 1:32 of each other. The top finisher on that end was sophomore Jennings Albrecht, who finished with a time of 17:54.51, earning him eighth place.
Remington Sharkey and David Culbert were close behind, finishing in 10th and 11th, respectively, with times of 18:17.51 and 18:18.13. Right behind them were Frank Garcia (13th) and Jackson Gifford (14th), followed by Micah Hanke and Braeden Bomar, who finished 20th and 22nd out of 87.
“Our front three guys, they ran together all summer. Then the next three or four guys, they were in a pack right behind them, and most of their training runs are all together, and that’s really just what we’ve been trying to work on as a team,” Knutson said. “When you graduate somebody like Carter last year, who’s a state champion, they knew that in order to be a successful team, they’re gonna have to train together and run for each other.”
For the girls, sophomore Carly Knutson – Ricky’s daughter – was the first to finish for Cottage Grove, placing eighth overall with a time of 21:46.62.
“She’s put in a lot of time over the winter and over the summer, and all the kids have been, so that’s really been the difference-maker for our entire team,” Knutson said. “We don’t necessarily have a whole bunch of kids that are in low sticks and they’re way up in front of the race, but we’re packing them in there. And that’s really a testament to all the mileage the kids put in.”
The Lions had six girls competing among 58 entrants. Rowyn Earl finished 13th with 22:12.37, followed by 17th-place Hailey Fergason at 22:35.29.
Next for Cottage Grove was Dave Rowan who finished 25th in 23:28.75. Then soon after was Kaliyah Ortiz and Zoey Knutson, who finished 30th and 35th, respectively, with times of 24:23.21 and 25:19.50.
