X-Country takes home silver

Since the beginning of the season, Saratoga cross country coach Rex Hohnholt has been working to have his team at peak performance in the state meet. He accomplished his goal last weekend when every member of the team turned in a personal best time.

The boys team took second place, only being outrun by Wyoming Indian. Only two girls were able to run at the meet, meaning there was no team score for the girls.

Two individuals, Kelsie Samson and Jeremy Detterer had top 10 finishes and earned All-State honors for their efforts. Detterer finished in fourth place with a time of 18 minutes flat and Samson finished sixth with a time of 21:39

With noticeable pride in his voice, Hohnholt said, "When you can get everyone of your kids to run the way we did you have to feel pretty darn fortunate," adding, "It's one of those weekends you will remember for a really long time."

Hohnholt noted the team meshed really well throughout the season, which he said he sees as a big accomplishment especially since they come from two communities.

The team is a young one, with only two seniors, and Hohnholt says he thinks they accomplished something pretty spectacular, saying "my wife and I are really blessed to be around those kids."

Hohnholt said it felt good to beat Lyman and Rocky Mountain, who they had not been in a meet with yet this season.

When asked about his training and strategy throughout the season, Hohnholt said, "in the long run it doesn't matter how good you are or what kind of strategy you have if they kids don't want to put in the effort."

He said he thinks being honest with the team during the season about what to expect at individual meets and the fact that individuals did not want to let each other down is what led to their performance at the state meet.

Hohnholt is not one to single out team members, but he did say he is really proud of the girls. He said Samson, a senior, "ran a fantastic race, she had a whole different level of focus," in her all-state performance.

This is also the first season Samson ran cross country. Katie Loose bested her performance in last year's state meet by 20 seconds.

With the season behind them, the Panthers cross country team can look back with pride.