Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Howard Lake, Lester Prairie, Winsted, Watertown, Mayer, New Germany, Waverly, MN and the surrounding area

PREP BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: Veith, Chargers make it five wins in a row at Watertown-Mayer


WATERTOWN – Glencoe-Silver Lake’s Connor Hallaway has been on Dassel-Cokato’s Haydn Veith’s radar all season long. With the new COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of teams per race this fall, Veith and Hallaway have had plenty of races against each other this season.

Hallaway had the edge early on this season, but it was a different story this time at Watertown-Mayer.

At just over the halfway mark, Veith made his move and picked up the win for the Dassel-Cokato boys cross country team with a first-place finish Oct. 1. Veith’s win helped the Chargers finish in first place as a team overall with a score of 28.

“I felt like I ran really well,” Veith said. “My competitor Connor, I’ve been gunning for him all season.”

“Last time we raced, Connor from G-SL won the individual meet,” Chargers coach Brian Bessingpas said. “He beat Haydn by 11 seconds. Connor had the early lead in this race as well. He traded some shots with Haydn, but Haydn was able to cover Connor’s moves this week. Haydn changed up his strategy a bit which allowed him to not only beat Connor, but do so by 16 seconds.”

Knowing your competition has been a strength for Veith all season long. With him and Hallaway in a lot of races together this season, the two have pushed each other all season long.

“It was great having someone to catch up with,” Veith said. “I followed my coach’s game plan. Then I got him there at the end. That’s what we wanted.”

Helping the Chargers hold off the Panthers were Soren Bortnem and Dylan Seaberg. Bortnedm took third place with a time of 17 minutes and 56 seconds, while Seaberg finished in fifth place with a time of 18 minutes and 19 seconds. Despite G-SL having the early edge, D-C’s runners finished strong to come out with another win.

“The boys have now won five consecutive meets,” Bessingpas said. “G-SL came out to avenge their loss to us a couple of weeks ago. (They were) beating us through the first two miles of the race, but the boys really responded over the last mile.”

For the complete story and more Delano sports coverage, check out the Friday, Oct. 9  edition of the Herald Journal. Click here for subscription information. 

Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter for in-game updates, schedule changes, and more.

Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports 

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