Cyclones look to run strong this season

The HCHS Cyclones cross country team has been working hard as they prepare for their first event Aug. 27 at the Shenandoah Early Bird where they will be one of 15 schools in attendance.
“I am so excited for my final year of high school cross country,” said Senior Lindsey Sonderman. “I think Harlan's cross country program stands out among other schools because of how close the teams are, and the mindset that the coaches teach the athletes to have. I've learned so much and I am so grateful that I've gotten to be a part of it for all four years.
During practices, Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen has been talking to the students, making it clear what’s going to be key to being successful when running five kilometers this season.
“We stress a little bit about competing every day,” he said. “We call them windows, the distance between you and the next runner, and we need that time to be less and less, so in practice you need to be right next to the person in front of you, otherwise come race day there could be three or four other runners, and maybe more, between you and your teammate. We need five kids scoring, five kids close, and just competing to be in that top seven is not enough. You should be competing to score.”
The Cyclones graduated a lot of students from this past season including Taylor Bieker, Emily Schechinger, and Lauren Wingert, who is now at Peru State to run cross country. On the boys side, Ian Shelton, Joseph Bragg, Keaton Heileson, and others have all graduated. With the season yet to begin, and the uncertainty of who will be on varsity or JV, Klaassen is already impressed with what he’s seeing up and down his roster.
“There’s people fighting for those spots, so it’s good to see,” he said. “With the camp race a week ago, just seeing times went down for almost everybody by minutes, not just seconds, and it just shows what they did this summer. They’ve dedicated themselves to the program and to themselves and just trying to be the best versions of themselves.”
One of Klaassen’s top runners this past season Lindsey Sonderman has been working hard all year preparing for her senior season, training with her friends and fellow teammates, Brylee Schechinger and Molly Swensen.
“It’s not the most verbal group of kids, but they set the example by what they do,” Klaassen said. “How they perform in practice everyday, showing up everyday, and being dedicated to the program. We have some big shoes to fill. We graduated a large senior class of great leaders, not just runners, but leaders too. They have work to do, they started on the right foot, and they’re on that path right now.”
Sonderman took some high finishes last season, including first place in the Glenwood Invitational with 18:47.49, 19:38.06 in the Shenandoah Early Bird, 19:25 in the Lewis Central Invitational, 19:11.00 at Storm Lake, and 18:55.90 at the Harlan Invitational.
“My personal goals for this year are to run sub 19:00 as much as possible,” Sonderman said. “I know times can change a lot on different courses, but I would really like to be running more consistent times.”