Dan Block All-Missota Conference honorable mention
Ex-Tiger running standout Lisa Lippold said her first season at the helm of the boys program was one of learning.
The Tigers ranked seventh at the Missota Conference Championships and ninth in the 16-team field at the Section 1AA meet.
"It was a good year to evaluate what we need to bring to this program," she said. "One key component is starting a summer training program. We want to come into next season with a good amount of base miles in our runners. With that the times and team scores will start a lot lower than they did this year."
Lippold and her staff awarded 13 varsity letters this season, six of them to seniors: Trevor Breezely, Jameson Gillespie, Tyler Jarvis, Chad Retterath, Patrick Sunderman and Andrew Morris.
Underclassmen lettermen included juniors Jordan Lugowski, Tyler Lerbakken, Adam Wallenta and Caleb Eiffert and sophomores Dan Block, Jake Rudeen and Tanner Grubb.
Block finished 20th at the Missota Conference meet and received all-league honorable mention for his effort.
Lugowski received the Most Valuable Runner award at last night's post-season banquet while Block was tabbed as "Most Improved Runner".
Lerbakken and Rudeen shared Rookie of the Year honors and Sean Dogherty won the title of "Most Dedicated Runner." Senior Retterath and junior Wallenta were named captains of the 2011 squad.
Lippold offered that this year's success could be seen in the individual times of her runners.
"Last year we had six runners break 19 minutes," she said. "this year 14 did it. Last year, only Elliot Fenske went under 18 minutes; This year six different runners did it.
"I also thought we ended the season well by finishing ninth at the section meet and beating New Prague who beat us at the conference meet."
Lippold also liked what she saw from her junior varsity runners throughout the season. At the Waseca Invitational the Tigers grabbed the first five individual places in the JV race.
Lippold said that if she could have changed any of the aspects of the season just completed they would be team finishes at a handful of meets and a rash of injuries.
"Adam Wallenta and Alec Wilson battled injuries all season," she said, "and that affected our ability to lower our team score...But overall, the season was great. The times the boys ran at the end of the season were where I had hoped they would be."
