Norse News

By Brinley C. Did you know a cross country course is 3.1 miles long? The Roland-Story Cross Country team headed to Nevada on October 14, 2024 to compete in the conference meet. The team has put a lot of work into perfecting their performances and were ready to compete. The meet didn’t go as expected but the team still ran their best times and gave themselves a chance at winning.  This was the first meet where temperatures were below 80 degrees. In fact, it was around 50 degrees so the team was ready for their first cooler meet.  This course is a little different than most. Most of the time they are held on golf courses and you do a lot of back and forth, although this time the runners are running around a lake. The athletes run through the woods as they are slowly making their way around the lake. Since they are mostly surrounded by trees on their run it limits the spectators. There are not a lot of people cheering them on. They are on their own, which is hard. They need to ke...

By Stella H. The Roland-Story Norsemen cross-country teams took on the Ballard hills on Monday, Sept. 16. The cross-country meet was good for the girls and boys, despite many sicknesses that day.  The past two meets the girls team have taken 1st but in this meet the girls took 6th. Senior Claire Truesdell finished 13th with a time of 21:52 and sophomore Kara Patterson placed 19th with a time of 22:59. Junior Brinley Carlson placed 29th with a time of 24:01.0. Freshmen Gracey Haberl, Sophie Bates, and Hadley Carlson placed 30th, 34th, 35th with times of 24:01, 24:26.2, and 24:26.8. RSHS German exchange student Andrea Ziegler placed 36th with a time of 24:33.  The boys' team placed in the top 10 for the first two meets, but in this meet, the boys took 4th. Seniors Evan Voga, Owen Johnson, Caleb Danielson, and Luccas Hart placed 19th, 31st, 39th, and 51st with times of 19:21, 20:03, 20:28, and 21:43. Sophomores Corben Lucchesi and Caden Burres placed 7th and 62nd with times of 18...

By Evan V. The Cross Country season ran to an end recently, crossing the finish line of a successful year. Both the Girls’ and the Boys’ Teams did very well, with many personal bests for the runners. The Girls' Team placed first in their conference. Five runners made All-Conference: Juniors Claire Truesdell and Brooke Thompson, and Seniors Lauryn Kilstofte, Elizabeth Ihle, and Makenna Carlson. Freshman Kara Patterson and, visiting from Italy, Matilde Motta held down sixth and seventh on varsity. At the state qualifying meet, the Girls' Team placed fifth, with runners Lauryn Kilstofte and Claire Truesdell placing 14th and 15th respectively, and qualifying for state. At state, Lauryn placed 50th with a time of 20:36.8 and Claire placed 81st with a time of 21:21.3. When asked about her thoughts on the season, Coach Ashlee Hovel said, “I’m insanely proud of our team! It obviously was a big change having a new coach, a new way of running the program, and just a lot of new to them th...

By Brooke T. The Roland-Story Cross Country teams had their home meet on Thursday, September 21. The Invitational took place at River Bend Golf Course. Both Roland-Story teams had a very successful night. The girls’ team took 3rd place overall. The top five Roland-Story girls all medaled and got in the top 20. Junior Claire Truesdell came in with a time of 21:10. Next, seniors Makenna Carlson and Elizebeth Ihle came in with times of 21:54 and 22:05. Junior Brooke Thompson placed 17th with a time of 22:08. Then freshman Kara Patterson placed 18th with a time of 22:33. The boys’ team placed 9th, with freshman Corben Lucchesi clocking in at 18:16, and placing 16th. Next came junior Evan Voga, who ran an 18:21 race and placed 20th. Freshman Henry Dalhsten and senior Lucas Wuebker ran times of 20:00 and 20:11. Finally, junior Luccas Hart finished with a time of 20:28. Roland-Story Cross Country teams are having a fantastic season so far. The conference and district meets are coming up soon....

By Luccas H. A spray-painted line runs along Hole 9 of the Links Public Golf Course in Webster City--18 boxes for 18 teams. It’s 83° and the sun is just starting to brush the tops of the trees on the far end of the greens. Dozens of runners stand shoulder to shoulder waiting for the starter to get on with his announcements. Parents and coaches are packed around the starting line in hushed silence. Then comes the inevitable: “On your marks.” The starter in the orange jacket puts in his earplugs and raises the blank-filled gun to the sky. Everyone who wasn’t already in a runner’s stance lowers themselves into one--over 100 bodies holding their breath and waiting for the inevitable crack of the gun. This is many runner’s first meet--for some, it’s their last first meet--but it’s only one of many in a runner’s career. For Roland-Story’s runners, the work started long before August 28th. Two months before on the morning of June 19th, the boy’s cross-country team met in Roland for the first ...