The 2023 Lodi High School cross country team is “Runnin’ Cross The Country.” This year’s team has the chance to win a conference title. The last conference title was in 2013 for girls and 2017 for boys. It’s a big deal that this year’s team has the potential to win a title.

“I think we can do well in conference, Lakeside is going to be hard for the boys. But I think Roger and I and maybe Everett Clemens can really go for the first team or second team,” senior Walter Beld said.

“For girls, I think we’re going to do good. You know I think we could beat Lakeside if we put some effort in. Yeah, I think a lot of girls would get second or first team,” senior Brooklyn Endres said.

The team has 13 boys and 14 girls, when the year prior there were 11 girls and 11 boys.

A bigger team can really help with team scoring. At Lodi’s home meet on Saturday, September 2, the boys came in first place with a score of 29. The ladies came in second place with a score of 31. All of the boys were in the top 20 and took a medal home: Roger Melland (1st), Walter Beld (2nd), Everett Clemens (7th), Chase Mass (9th), Benjamin Schultz (10th), Jonah Barden (15th), and Caleb Lord (17th). Four girls also received a medal: Brooklyn Endres (4th), Rylie Wilcox (7th), Zoey Bahe (8th), and Hallie Miller (9th).

Lodi is division 2, sectional 6. But who is Lodi’s biggest competition? 

“Lakeside Lutheran,” Beld and Endres said in unison.

Due to the size of Lodi’s team, Lakeside Lutheran with more boys and girls, dominates Lodi. But the Lodi’s team has a lot of people coming up in the top spots in races. At the Pioneer Invitational, both teams placed second. The boys have been averaging first place, and the girls have been averaging second place. That gives the team good stability.

“Overall the growth is doing fine, we’re improving every meet which is good,” senior Hallie Miller said.

Someone who has had a lot of improvement, freshman Zoey Bahe, has been in the top spots in varsity this year, competing with upperclassmen. In middle school cross country, the races are two miles shorter than in high schools.

“I like it because I can actually keep up with the girls. And so far so good I guess,” Bahe said. “In middle school, I wasn’t really the best runner at all. Then over the summer, I don’t even know what happened, it just kicked in I guess. Then I became a pretty good runner, I’d say.” 

Concluding our run, the team is leading off a fine legacy to earning a 2023 conference title.