“We were excited to race them, but we may have been the only people who believed we could beat them,” commented WCA Head Coach John Van Kempen.  “I’d like to believe that we gave them a scare as the race proceeded.  Perham ended up taking the title with a score of 75 and we finished with a score of 83.  Nothing to feel bad about, Perham is also currently ranked #1 nationally.  As the race unfolded, you are able to keep an updated live score and we knew going down to the last 800 meters or so we were down by 8 and it didn’t look like there were enough racers to pass.  We as coaches were so proud of how we approached this race and competed against them.  We have nothing to feel bad about.  If we were going to win the title, we wanted it to be against the best team and we got the chance to do that.” 

Jacob Bright had a great race for the Knights, finishing 3rd overall, followed by Jack Van Kempen in 9th.  It was Jacob’s and Jack’s and Kyle Schill’s 5th consecutive state meet. 

“They finished in 4th, 5th, 8th, 2nd last year and 2nd this year at the state,” noted Van Kempen.  “An incredible streak for those guys and our teams over the years.  Jacob finished the race in 15:43 and Jack crossed the line at 16:16.  Alex Salwasser was next in 19th place in 16:31.  Jack and Alex had great races.  Kade Runge was our fourth runner in 45th place and Kyle Schill was our fifth in 53rd.   Going into the race to have a chance, we knew we had to our top five across the line in under 17 minutes and we were very close.  In most years, the way our top five run, the times they put up would be good enough to win a state title.   For whatever reason, this area puts out some incredible distance runner with Perham and Staples – Motley.  Section 6A had four of the top ten and the Heart of Lakes Conference had first place team Perham and WCA, also in the Heart of Lakes Conference, in 2nd.   Our sixth racer was Reubens Swanson in 131st and Shad Swanson in 143rd.  Kyle, Kade, Reubens, Alex and Shad will all be returning next season.

WCA also had Senior Teagan Nelson and sophomore Lexi Bright make the state as individuals on the girls side.  “Teagan has been coming on strong lately and ended up in 91st place followed by Lexi in 117th,” said Van Kempen.  “Lexi missed the first month of practice due to a foot injury, so for her to get herself into a position to make the state meet is a credit to her work ethic and commitment.  Teagan and Lexi have competed in four straight state meets with the WCA Cross Country Teams.” 

Van Kempen continued, “It was a bittersweet day for the coaches as Jacob, Jack and Teagan will be lost to graduation.  They each brought a special personality to practice every day over the years.  Jacob is a relentless worker who leads by example.  Jack can make the most difficult practices fun somehow and Teagan has always been the energizer bunny for the girl’s team.  All the younger kids on the team feel accountable to them.   We have been so fortunate to have these kids leading our program over the years and when that starting gun fires, they compete.”