BEMIDJI — Eighth-grader Brooke Wenz led the Brainerd Warriors with a 21:18.9 time, placing 34th as the Warriors finished ninth out of 15 teams in the Section 8-2A meet Friday, Oct. 16.
“I think our girls did a great job,” Warriors head coach Dave Herath said. “We had a lot of inexperienced runners, but they got some valuable experience running at a bigger meet. Sure came through with flying colors.
“Brooke Wenz had a lifetime best to lead us. She ran a very smart first mile and followed the plan and started moving up. She had a great finish against some quality competition.”
Freshman Bridget Collins was Brainerd’s second best runner in 21:51.0. Eighth-grader Madelyn Miller finished in 21:53.5. Herath was proud of his young runners.
“I think they were aggressive and were willing to get uncomfortable,” herath said. “They had some good leadership, Emma Storbakken was our captain this year. I think Emma did a great job of getting our girls ready.”
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Little Falls’ Courtney Loeffler was 35th overall with a 21:24.4 time.
Overall, Herath was happy with the way the season ended and the adversary his team had to overcome with meets being lost due to COVID-19.
“For us to be able to run and compete at a high level in the section meet was a good experience,” he said. “For our younger girls they see how competitive our section is and now that they see where the bar is at that’s a goal for their offseason training. Hopefully, they can come back in a normal offseason and be ready to get after it. Our girls like the challenge.”
