Three-peat: The winningest team in state history raises cross country state title -- again
Oct. 25—JAMESTOWN — The rich history of Bowman County cross country added a new accolade to the long list of achievements when the 2022 season marked the boys third consecutive state title and a silver place finish for the girls.
Teams from across the state met in Jamestown last Friday for the biggest race of the year as over 300 statewide runners for both the boys and the girls races poured onto the starting line with one goal — to be immortalized with the title of champion. It would be the Bulldogs of Bowman County who would come into the event with the confidence to repeat.
Jonathan Jahner, head coach of Bowman County and the 2022 Coach Of The Year, said that they went into the state meet with high expectations, but without the nerves of years past as the team's mindset and season long efforts set the stage that could only result in gold.
"It is just a joy to be with those kids everyday, they are the most hard working kids," Jahner said. "We changed some things around but the kids really bought into the training... We showed up to the meet and you could see the focus in the eyes and the determinations. You never know how things are going to turn out, but we knew we were going to get their best out of them."
The Bowman County girls finished second in the state behind Rugby, who have held the state title since 2019. Despite not finishing first, the girls did come away with personal records and saw three girls finish in the top 20.
"We knew on the girls side, Rugby would have to open that door for us... Our girls did everything they could, so I was just super proud of them. Rugby was just too strong for us again," Jahner said. "We will go back to the drawing board and come back and take a shot of them next year. The beautiful thing is that both those teams, us and Rugby girls, we really got everybody coming back."
Front-runner for the girls race was Kenley Bowman, who crossed the finish line at 20 minutes and 29 seconds. She didn't start the race in the front, but through her exceptional conditioning and understanding of pacing crept her way from top 30 to finishing at the 13th spot by race's end.
"[Bowman] is an endurance athlete and the longer it is the better for her," Jahner said. "She just gets stronger as the race goes on."
Bowman County boys inked their place in the record book for class B cross country, winning their third consecutive state title which see the school clinch the most state titles of a cross country boys program in class B history. Senior athlete Austin Wanner ended his high school career as the state champion, a feat that was last seen by Brian Miller in 2020.
Seniors Wanner and Caleb Sarsland, led the pack from the first meter on and quickly showed their dominance by extending their lead by significant margins early. The question would be could the boys hold pace throughout.
Their leadership on full display as they acted as the team's pace setters and would ultimately cross the finish line just shy of 16 minutes after the initial pistol. The Bowman County seniors were joined by three of teammates, to take half of the top 10 places in the race; first, second , fourth, fifth and sixth.
"Austin and Caleb are some of the best leaders we have ever seen and they lead in different ways, but they complement each so well that they will be impossible to replace," Jahner said. "Coming in as number one, taking control of the race the first meter and just roughin it for 5,000 that is a hard thing to do and those guys executed so darn well it was just a blast to see."
Taking the individual state title, Wanner would also be awarded with the Senior Athlete of the Year and so too would Coach Jahner as he would again be recognized as the Coach of the Year.
"I am so proud of [Wanner]," Janer said. "What he did was tough enough to win in cross country. it is a whole nother thing to come in the No.1 ranked guy take it out from the first steps of the race and to hold onto that lead for 5,000 meter and never let it go."
The day of running was followed with a long drive back to the Western Edge for the Bulldogs, with the joy of the victory ushering a quiet silence for the underclassmen who already have their sights on next season and a continuance of a program history that sets Bowman County apart from all other schools in state history.
Bowman County will surely make another run for the state title, even with Wanner and Sarsland graduating, as both seniors have brothers who are already showing tremendous promise. Taylor Wanner finished fourth with a time of 16:36. The girls will also have their chance to overcome this year's defeat with their core group returning.
Boys top 3 finish:
1. Austin Wanner, Bowman County, 16:05; 2. Caleb Sarsland, Bowman County, 16:10; 3. Christian Brist, Hillsboro/Central Valley, 16:28;
Bowman Boys Top Individual:
1. Austin Wanner, Bowman County, 16:05; 2. Caleb Sarsland, Bowman County, 16:10; 4. Taylor Wanner, Bowman County, 16:37; 5. Jonah Njos, Bowman County, 16:47; 6. Gavin Lambourn, Bowman County, 16:49;
Girls top 3 finish:
1. Brynn Hanson, Des-Lacs Burlington/Lewis and Clark, 18:58; 2. Addie Miller, Killdeer, 19:09; 3. Amelia Shepard, Rugby, 19:40;
Bowman Girl Top Individual:
13. Kenley Bowman, Bowman County, 20:29; 18. Anna Sarsland, Bowman County, 20:44; 20. Jaci Fischer, Bowman County, 20:50;
