The Pine River-Backus cross-country season will be a tale of two teams, as the Tiger boys bring back a wealth of experience into 2020, while the girls will need major contributions from newcomers.
The boys’ team will look largely the same from the previous season after losing just one runner. Head coach Tim Ramler hopes that translates into some success in Park Region Conference competition.
“We returned most of our team from last season, only losing one senior from last year,” head coach Tim Ramler said. “We look forward to the improvement that comes with another year of experience, which should lead to a strong season.”
Ramler hopes to see a continued growth and improvement from 2019 letterwinners Marcus Lukanen, Jacob Schnoor, Andrew Bueckers, Nathan Nations and Jordan Tisdell. He also has high expectations for young runners Isaiah Aulie and Ethan Burns.
On the girls’ side, the Tigers will rely on some fresh faces. The team consists of six runners: Mara Adams, Claire Dahl, Alaura Dahl, Ella Dahl, Brianna Hanneken and Jaime Johnson. Of those six, Adams is the only one with varsity experience.
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“We have a lot of new faces on this team that are participating in cross-country and we look forward to their growth over the season,” Ramler said.
The team is currently in the process of hiring another head coach.
