By Mike Maltais
It was a small meet with big results for the Liberty Bell High School varsity cross-country team at Chelan on Oct. 7, as the Mountain Lions ran away with first place among a small-school roster that included Cashmere, Entiat and host Chelan.
Junior Ben Klemmeck led the Mountain Lions to a 39-point, first-place team finish with his 2.25-mile time of 13 minutes, 43.04 seconds. Chelan was second with 41 points.
In spite of being hindered with a cold, Klemmeck held on for first place. His brother Josiah also “ran a great race but got out-leaned at the finish line,” said coach Craig Herlihy.
Veteran Willy Duguay and first-year runner Eli Nielsen “continue to work hard and race together,” Herlihy said.
First-year runner Garett Palm “is a very strong, fifth scoring member for us,” the coach said.
Of the 22 teams that showed up for the Leavenworth Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 11), Liberty Bell was one of only eight from the 1B/2B league.
The course was “very hilly over XC ski trails,” Herlihy said. “If you were not going up then you were going down, and the slower times are indicative of hilly terrain.”
Ben Klemmeck helped make up for a limited roster of Mountain Lion runners by “fighting his way from eighth place” at the mile mark to claim second place in the 2.8-mile race, Herlihy said.
Josiah Klemmeck conserved his energy at the start of the event and used that reserve to move from 18th place at the mile mark to 10th at the finish.
With veteran wingman Duguay out taking his SAT, Nielsen seized the opportunity to set his own pace and ran a “very solid race,” Herlihy said. In 43rd place after the first mile, Nielsen passed 22 runners in the next 1.8 miles and finished in 20th.
The Mountain Lions will travel to the Oroville Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 18).
Chelan results
Varsity boys
1 Ben Klemmeck, 13:43.04
4 Josiah Klemmeck, 13:50.2
8 Willy Duguay, 14:26.82
9 Eli Nielsen, 14:29.6
18 Garett Palm, 15:18.01
21 Emmett Fink, 15:32.47
26 Carter Dornfeld, 16:40.17
Varsity girls
8 Koharu Yonebayashi, 18:58.73
JV boys & girls
8 Trent Skelton, 16:52.46
30 Mackenzie Woodworth, 23:10.69
Leavenworth results
Varsity boys
2 Ben Klemmeck, 16:07.74
10 Josiah Klemmeck, 16:46.46
20 Eli Nielsen, 17:34.46
77 Carter Dornfeld, 19:35.74
Varsity, JV girls
35 Koharu Yonebayashi, 24:21.7
67 Mackenzie Woodworth, 29:04.09
