Girls cruise to win at Eldon Knudson Invite

The Custer High School girls cross country team were not very gracious guests, so to speak, last Thursday at Rocky Knolls Golf Course, as the varsity runners placed three in the top five and handily won their only home meet of the year.
“My top four looked good,” head coach Karen Karim said. “That’s pleasing at this point of the year to see that.”
Ramsey Karim was the top among that top four, as the junior finished the course in a time of 20:37.09 to win the meet. Just behind her in second place was teammate Kadense Dooley in a time of 20:39.67.
Eva Studt was the third Wildcat to cross the finish line, doing so in a time of 21:29.14, which was good for fifth place. Britt Wheeler rounded out the top four Custer finishers by placing 12th at a time of 22:55.34.
Custer’s other two varsity runners were Sierra Swanson, who finished 26th in a time of 24:44.72, and Sadie Moore, who was 38th at 26:30.16.
As the Wildcats work their way toward the postseason, Karim said there are runners still jockeying for varsity positions.
“We have kids who are looking to see where they fit. Sadie stepped up and ran the varsity race and had a solid race,” Karim said. “There are other girls who will challenge for that spot before the end of the season.”
Custer finished with 26 total team points, well ahead of second place-finishing Douglas, which had 59 points.
On the boys side, Miles Ellman had arguably his best showing of the year, as he ran his way to a second-place finish at 17:53.85.
“I was really happy with the way our kids performed. Our course is hard. It has really long hills in it,” Karim said. “Times are never fast. I think my kids really stepped up.”
Preston Drew was the next Wildcat to cross the finish line, taking ninth at 19:00.51. He was followed by Drew Lehman in 16th at 19:25.39, Kai Rusch in 26th at 20:32.32, Sterling Sword in 30th at 20:54.28, Alex Van Horn in 33rd at 21:15.16, Jackson Drew in 37th at 21:40.01 and Kody Marshall in 39th at 22:09.33.
The Wildcats placed third as a team with 68 points, but were without one of their top runners, Gage Grohs, who was out due to illness.
“Without Gage we don’t score fabulous as a team but it ended up a positive for Miles and for other boys to step into other spots,” Karim said.
Sturgis won the meet with a score of 34, while former Class A state champion Sawyer Clarkson of Belle Fourche won the race by one minute and 20 seconds, posting  a time of 16:31.75.
The team was supposed to travel to Huron for a meet last Saturday, but because of COVID-19, decided not to make the trek.
The Wildcats’ next meet will be next Friday, when they travel to Hart Ranch for the Rapid City Invitational. That meet will feature teams from classes of all levels as well as some teams from out of state.
“That will be a meet with a lot of good competition,” Karim said. “It’s a little flatter course than other courses in the Hills. It’s a good place to see where we are at time-wise.”
The meet is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start.