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Hermantown's boys and girls cross country teams participated in a preseason exhibition meet on Thursday, while donning construction attire. Tyler Breitkruetz, one of the runners, completed the entire race in Carlton while sporting a tool belt and a hard hat.
"Since this was a scrimmage-type meet, the teams did not wear official school uniforms," said Hawks coach Andy Wilcox. "Over the last three years the kids have come up with themes for the team to run with. Last year they all wore something pink, the year before that they all wore swim trunks, and this year they came up with the construction theme. I let the kids make this decision themselves so that they have a voice and can each have some input.
"We had kids running in high visability vests, hard hats, and even tool belts. The kids absolutely loved it, the parents thought it was amazing to see them all being included, and even some of the other fans that were there were talking about it."
Hawks Girls Top Finishers
Ferrah LaLone, 2nd
Campbell Amundson, 5th
Kenzie Davis, 8th
Zoey Lucarelli, 10th
Avery Beranek, 15th
Hawks Boys Top Finishers
Cooper Lucarelli, first
Karter Davis, 9th
Matthew Strukel, 12th
Hermantown will kick off its season with a multi-team meet in Virginia, hosted by Rock Ridge, next Wednesday.
"This will be a great kick-off to our season, and we should see some great times, giving us a good idea of where we stack up with some of the other teams in Section 7AA and the Lake Superior Conference," said Wilcox. "We have had a great first two weeks of practice so far and the team is ready for next week's meet. We have runners looking to place in the top 10, and some are running in their first-ever 5K in a meet. I am sure there will be some nerves for many of the runners, but once the gun goes off and they start running, I am confident they will lean into what we have been doing at practice, leading them to a successful race."
THURSDAY PREP SCOREBOARD
Volleyball
Duluth East 3, Blaine 1
Hibbing 3, Deer River 2
Mesabi East 3, Crosby-Ironton 1
Boys Soccer
Benilde-St. Margaret's 2, Hermantown 1
Grand Rapids 1, Moorhead 1
Blaine 2, Duluth East 0
Girls Soccer
Hermantown 1, North Branch 1
Esko 2, Cambridge-Isanti 0
St. Anthony 0, Proctor 0
Cloquet-Carlton 4, St. Francis 1
Woodbury 3, Duluth East 0
TODAY'S PREP EVENTS
Football
Prescott at Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Wausau West at Superior, 7 p.m.
Volleyball
Duluth Denfeld at Floodwood, 9 a.m.
Littlefork-Big Falls at Chisholm, 7 p.m.
Hibbing at Esko, 7 p.m.
Boys Soccer
Hermantown at Mesabi East, 7 p.m.
Duluth Denfeld at Mahtomedi, 7 p.m.
Two Rivers at Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, 2 p.m.
Duluth East at Forest Lake, 10 a.m.
Duluth East at White Bear Lake, 5 p.m.
Grand Rapids at Pelican Rapids, 1 p.m.
Girls Soccer
Hermantown at Zimmerman, 5 p.m.
Two Rivers at Cloquet-Carlton, 4 p.m.
Duluth Denfeld at Grand Rapids, 4 p.m.
Rockford at Two Harbors, 6 p.m.
Girls Tennis
Hermantown, St. Francis at Duluth Denfeld, 9 a.m.
Hibbing at Bemidji, noon
Duluth East, Thief River Falls at Grand Rapids/Greenway, 9 a.m.
