Bennie cross country places sixth at MIAC meet, heads to regional meet

The Bennies cross country team improved their MIAC Championship result from last season, finishing above what was expected of them at this year’s MIAC Championships.  

Coach Robin Balder-Lanoue said she was extremely thrilled with the team’s performance this last weekend at the MIAC championships. 

“You really just want to compete with confidence, and I really feel like our team competed with confidence and I am extremely proud of the way they showed up last weekend,” Balder-Lanoue said. “Five of our top seven have all moved up significantly from last year, and I feel like that’s always the goal. This team has been a space where it fosters that growth to obtain that goal.” 

Senior Bailey Link said she was also extremely pleased with how the meet had finished.  

“I think we did well. We placed higher than what we were supposed to; we placed sixth so that was good,” Link said. “I was really proud of my teammates placing higher than normal. One of our freshmen who has been leading the team had a career best.” 

Multiple Bennies improved scores from last year’s MIAC championships. Seniors Julia Babineau and Link moved up 26 places and 46 places respectively, junior Mollie Ping improved by five places and sophomore Addisyn Giles also moved up 26 places. 

First-year Sofia Wolf also placed 28th at the meet with a time of 23:36.4 that is in the top 50 all time in CSB history.  

Balder-Lanoue voiced that one of the biggest driving factors of her team’s improvement came from how tightly knit they are all together.  

“We competed well as a team, and one of the strengths we have is our pack; our team really raced well,” Balder-Lanoue said. 

Senior Abby Bufkin said she shares the view of her coach on what was the cause for the improvements seen. 

“A lot of people stepped up where they needed to, we have a really tight pack. Everyone knew that we all mattered and we put in the work to perform hard for each other,” Bufkin said. 

Bufkin also commented on what was done throughout the season to prepare for the MIAC championships as well as regionals, which is right around the corner. 

“We’ve been meeting with sports psychologists as a team, and that’s been very helpful. We focused on what we were as a team which helps me individually because I know the team has my back. I’m racing for more than just myself,” Bufkin said. “I’ve been in the gym and pushing myself hard, knowing that this is my last season has caused me to race with a lot of gratitude, and I’m thankful just for the opportunity to run and to be on a team that is so supporting and uplifting.” 

Link said that preparing for regionals is similar to what they’ve been doing all season, but it also started in the offseason. 

“As a team, we talk about trusting the process so continuing that in the workouts and the runs that Robin gives us is something that we have to continue to do in this final stretch,” Link said. “I didn’t go out for cross country until junior year. As soon as I decided to go out for it, I was all in. I did all the summer mileage and I worked hard throughout the season and through the workouts. Robin’s coaching has supported me throughout the season as well as my teammates.” 

Balder-Lanoue is excited for her team to compete at regionals this year, recognizing and accepting the challenge of what is ahead of her and her team.  

“We compete in a really great conference, and we also compete in a tough region. A couple of the teams we’ll go against are often top 10 in the nation, so it’s always good to have that level of competition to go against.” 

For Bufkin and Link, regionals present both a challenge and a potential bittersweet end to the season.  

“Since regionals is the same track as the MIAC, I know the places that I struggled with on that course, so going in with a plan on how to overcome those parts of the course will allow me to persevere. Also, looking at the people that have ran the course with me, I know who I want to beat. I am very excited to race in a competitive atmosphere. Since I know this will probably be my last run, I’m excited to give it everything I have,” Bufkin said. 

The Bennies will run on Nov. 14 for Regionals at St. Olaf Cross Country Course. 

“I’m really excited to go out there one more time with my teammates. I think cross country is a very unifying sport. We are suffering for each other and for the team. I’m excited to catch each other at the finish line and celebrate how far we’ve all come this season. I’m really grateful to have been able to compete with the women on our team, and I’m really proud of all of them. I’m also grateful to have had Robin as our coach,” Link said.