Broncos finish fourth out of nine teams

After battling through injuries and illnesses all season, the blustery conditions Thursday at the 41st annual Hial Pike Invitational at Falls Country Club were nothing for the Broncos’ boys cross country team.
“It’s always nice to have a home meet,” Falls senior Zach Severson said. “You have your fans. It helps me run better.”
The home-town atmosphere also helped out Severson’s teammates — senior Thomas Briggs and sophomore John Sobczynski.
The duo finished 1-2 for the Falls and 13th and 14th overall to power the Broncos to a fourth-place finish out of nine teams. The two also finished under 18 minutes for the first time this season, a goal Severson wants to accomplish next.
“We have a chance at top two in sections,” he said. “We just have to run our race.”
Section 7A foe Eveleth-Gilbert won the meet with 63 points, while Class 2A programs Grand Rapids (65) and Hibbing (76) rounded out the top three. Finishing behind the Broncos, who finished with 106 points, were Roseau (142), Virginia (146), Thief River Falls (159), Mesabi East (164) and Lake of the Woods (250).
“I thought we did pretty good,” Broncos coach Paul Hjelle said. “We were quite a ways behind Eveleth-Gilbert, which was disappointing, but we hung in there.”
Briggs finished in 17 minutes, 57.47 seconds, and Sobczynski, coming back from an illness that butchered his times, was at 17:58.
“He’s just getting back to the way he can run, so that was good to do and see him get Thomas today,” Hjelle said.
Also earning points for the Broncos were Severson (19th, 18:17.56), senior Daniel Eldien (27th, 18:38.23) and eighth-grader Marco Griffith (33rd, 18:56.37). Sophomores Alex Marx (37th, 19:00.71) and Michael Bounds (41st, 19:07.42) also raced on varsity.
For Eldien, it was one of his better performances of the season and something Hjelle is looking for in all his competitors.
“That was really encouraging to run that way,” Hjelle said. “He’s got the potential. We need to even move up more.”
Catching Eveleth-Gilbert could be a daunting task — the Golden Bears’ top six finished ahead of the Broncos top five Thursday — but the Falls is headed in the right direction and are seeing plenty of positives.
“That hurts, but we’re not far back,” Hjelle said. “We have the ability. It’s just a matter of the guys giving it their all and I don’t think they’ve done that yet.”
The Broncos return to action Tuesday in the Iron Range Conference meet before competing in the Section 7A meet in two weeks.