By Kristi Leonard
The Surveyor

Senior runner Elijah Grewal pushes toward the finish line at the Loveland Sweethart meet at Loveland High
School on Sept. 25. Grewal placed 11th overall and first place in his division.
John Gardner / The Surveyor

What is a good gift for a team to give a coach when they have a contest on her birthday? A win of course; the Berthoud cross country team gave their coach the first-place plaque they won as a birthday gift. Racing for the first time in two weeks, the Berthoud High School (BHS) cross country team ran at the Loveland Sweetheart meet on Friday. The meet featured a unique format where big and small schools raced against one another in the same race but were scored separately. The BHS boys’ varsity team won the division two (smaller school) team competition.

The course looped around Lake Loveland twice. Most of the BHS team held back a little on the first lap, as the race started very fast. Berthoud’s Elijah Grewal was in 25^th at the mile, Ken Kubik around 30th place, Kade Leonard and Josh Doyle weren’t even in the top 50 through the first mile. However, things changed on the second lap, and the members of the BHS team passed many runners.

The Berthoud boys placed six finishers in the top-10 places of division two. Grewal placed 11th overall in the race and was the first finisher in division two with a time of 17 minutes, 39 seconds. Kubik was third with a time of 18:48. Leonard was fourth in 19:22 and Doyle was close behind, finishing in fifth place with a time of 19:27. Zac Marquardt placed eight in 20:08 and Murphy Vogele-Zimmerling was ninth just a few steps back in 20:11. Noah Burtis placed 12th in 20:16.

Douglas County High School scored second in the team competition behind Berthoud.

Maycee White led the girls’ team,
finishing in ninth place, followed closly by Sonya Schuppan who finished in 11th.
John Gardner / The Surveyor

On the girls’ side, Berthoud’s Maycee White led the girls to a third-place finish. The Berthoud sophomore was the only Spartan to place in the top 10. White’s 23:31 was good for ninth place. Sonya Schuppan was 11^th in 23:46. Kathryn Mathiesen was 16^th in 24:56, Cailey Archer was 19^th in 25:37, and Alyssa Radloff was 20^th in 25:43. Mountain View High School won the division-two team competition.

The junior varsity boys’ race showcased some fine racing by Berthoud runners. Kevin Sethre finished in 20^th place, Collin Pea was 24^th and Ty Williams raced to 29^th place. Freshmen Siler Stein and Ben Burkett were 42^nd and 44^th in the race. Unfortunately, an unreliable race official sent the pack the wrong way and the entire group cut off 0.67 miles of the race distance. The times were recorded but are not valid for the 5K distance.

Turner Middle School had an excellent showing in the middle-school division. On the boys’ side, Carlos Gutierrez was the first Turner Dragon across the line, finishing in eighth place with a time of 15:29. Lane Pirkey was 12^th in 15:54. Caden Leal-Midgett finished in 27^th place with a time of 16:57. Carter von Seggern placed 34^th in 17:21. Bill Reed Middle School won the team competition followed by Walt Clark and Lucille Erwin. Turner was fourth as a team.

Gretchen Marty led the girls’ team this week by finishing in 27^th place in 19:31. Ally Padilla was 35^th in 19:49 and Sidney Premer was 36^th in 19:54. Elliana von Seggern ran 19:58 for 28^th place. Walt Clark Middle School won the girls competition followed by Bill Reed, Lucille Erwin, Eaton and Turner.

The next meet for the Spartans will be at Mead on Oct.2. Turner will race at their home meet on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and Windsor on Oct.2. All meets will start at 4 p.m.