Silas Holdeman, Mitchell Christian boys sweep titles at Class B state cross country
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 25—RAPID CITY — Mitchell Christian cross country made history on Saturday, claiming its first Class B boys team title, while standout Silas Holdeman won his third individual championship.
After three state meets in a row with second place finishes, the Golden Eagles dominated the field on Saturday at Hart Ranch Camping Resort for the team title, scoring a low of 14 points. That was led by Holdeman's winning time of 16 minutes, 7.7 seconds, which was a season best.
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Fellow senior Luke Mentele was second in the race in a time of 16:18.6 and junior Sawyer Holdeman was 17th in a time of 17:17.2, and the Golden Eagles' pushers of Luke Atnip (17:49.6) and Brady Asbenson (17:52.0) finished 30th and 31st to lead the Golden Eagles to the state championship.
After Mitchell Christian's 14 points, Freeman was second with 36 points, White River was third with 40 points and Lemmon (58) and James Valley Christian (64) rounded out the top-five spots. Philip, which had previously won the last four Class B state boys team titles, was eighth with 85 points.
After state titles in 2023 and 2025, Silas Holdeman is the first three-time Class B cross country champion since Warner's Cody Larson won three in a row from 2018 to 2020.
Mitchell Christian's effort at the front of the pack was also the first time that two runners from the same school finished 1-2 in the Class B boys race since Crazy Horse had Nacisse Red Kettle win the title in 1984, while teammate Royal Bull Bear took second.
For Freeman, Lane McCune took 10th place (16:59.8), while Luke Miller was 14th (17:13.4) and the Flyers' third runner Collin Randall was 29th (17:38.1).
Mitchell Christian also had a strong day in the girls race, led by freshman Laura Nemec finishing seventh overall with a personal-best time of 19:35.3 for all-state honors. Seventh-grader Lerae DeLine was 29th (20:26.5) and Amy Henderson was 65th (21:48.4), helping Mitchell Christian finish ninth as a team with 76 points. The Golden Eagles also had Nicole Kleinsasser (106th, 23:41.4) and Trudie Hofer (113th, 24:26.4) run for the MCS girls.
Ipswich was the team champion with 10 points, followed by Northwestern (33) and Deubrook Area (42).
* Carson Clements, of Wessington Springs, finished fourth in the Class B boys race in a time of 16:33.3 to cap his sophomore season. Sanborn Central/Woonsocket's Jackson Wolter was ninth (16:59.3) to pick up all-state honors, as well.
* Kimball/White Lake was sixth as a team with 65 points in the Class B girls race, led by KWL's Alli McCord (19:47.6). Other all-state runners in the Class B girls competition includes Tripp-Delmont/Armour's Lyndsey Chessmore (14th, 19:54.8) and Jordan Chessmore (22nd, 20:04.5), Hanson's June Abbey (21st, 20:02.4) and SCW's Emrie VonEye (25th, 20:13.7). The Class B girls race was won by Deubrook Area's Nora Olsen (18:27.3).
* Platte-Geddes' Walter Graesser was the top area finisher in the Class A boys race, taking 17th place in a personal-best time of 16:47.8. Chamberlain's Lindy Cosgrove also had an all-state finish, taking 20th place (16:49.3).
* Sioux Falls Christian's Levi Vander Leest was the Class A boys champion in a time of 15:50.5, besting Charger teammate Wesley Lyon by 9 seconds for the title. Sioux Falls Christian won the team title with 24 points, followed by Custer (49), Vermillion (71), Cheyenne-Eagle Butte (93) and Lennox (119) in the top-five.
* Mitchell senior Londyn Schroeder was the top Kernel runner in the Class AA girls race, finishing in 51st place (20:10.5), followed closely by eighth-grade teammate Kapri Herges in 52nd (20:16.6). Both were season-best times. Eighth-grader Skylar Lawson also had a season-best time (87th, 21:28.2), while Averi Gerfen (113th, 23:09.6) and Sydnie Pischel (116th, 23:29.6) also ran for the Kernels, who were 15th as a team out of 17 squads.
* Harrisburg won the team title with 41 points, led by individual champion Brianna Reilly (17:06.5) and second-place runner Hannah Genrich (17:20.5). Lincoln was second as a team with 71 points, followed by O'Gorman (144), Yankton (145) and Brookings (148).
* For the Mitchell High School boys runners, Micah Bennett was the top Kernel finisher, as the freshman finished 96th (18:04.4). Other Kernel runners in the race included Karsten Herges (118th, 19:14.5), Kaiden Colomb (121st, 19:26.1), Cole Tingle (125th, 19:33.7), Blake Russell (126th, 19:42.7) and Carter Buschbach (132nd, 21:15.4). Mitchell was last among the 19 Class AA teams in the boys scoring.
* Sioux Falls Washington won the Class AA boys team title with 51 points, followed by Lincoln (81), Rapid City Stevens (142), Spearfish (149) and Rapid City Central (152). Washington's Cole Reilly was the individual champ in 14:53.9.