Titan Cross Country team returns experienced lineup, eyes strong season

Seniors Jack Campbell and Jaycie Babb. Babb currently holds the school record for the girls’ 5K and Campbell is ranked second all-time in the boys’ 5K. 

The Tea Area Titans cross country team enters the 2025 season with depth, experience, and high expectations under longtime head coach Ryan Decker.

“I have coached cross country here at Tea Area for 14 years — this is my 14th,” Decker said. “It’s hard to state a record, but we have won one conference championship on the girls’ side and have had eight state medal winners in those 14 years. Prior to coaching cross country, I had been the head boys track coach at Tea Area since 2008. I’ve also received USATF Level 0, Level 1 and Level 2 certification, with Level 2 focusing on youth training.”

Last fall was Tea’s first season competing in Class AA, and the Titans wasted no time proving they belonged.

“We had a strong season last year,” Decker said. 

The girls won four varsity meets, including Canton, Clyde Cotton, Brookings, and Lennox. Them team also had five individual race wins (Jaycie Babb at Canton, Evelyn DeGeest and Dawson Lowery at Canton JV, and Evelyn DeGeest at JV Nike, Varsity Brookings), 46 top-20 varsity finishes, and broke multiple school records. Among those record-setting performances were Jaycie Babb’s 5K time of 18:22.6 and Evelyn DeGeest’s 4K time of 15:48.7. Several junior high runners also emerged, including Grant Curtis and Lola Underberg, who both claimed wins.

Decker is supported this season by assistants Laura Berg (high school) and Bradie Donelan (middle school). 

“I have two amazing assistant coaches,” Decker said. 

One of Tea’s biggest advantages this year is continuity. 

“The fact that we didn’t graduate any athletes is a strength as we bring back a lot of race experience,” said Decker. “We did lose Shelbi Goehring who had been a student manager for us for the past three years as well as Dawson Lowery who transferred to Harrisburg once Dr. Lowery took the Superintendent position there. Both will be missed!”

Key returners include:

Seniors: Jaycie Babb (school record holder, All-State, All-American, 4-time State medalist in cross country and 3-time team caption), Meredith Decker, Brooklyn Reiners, Gracie Kramer, Morgan Sehr, Kiley Pendergast, Jack Campbell (#2 all-time school rank, and 2-time team captain), and Jacob DeYoung.

Juniors: Reid Hammerquist (#6 all-time, team captain last year), Jonah Klemisch (#10 all-time), Tate VanLaecken, Noah Korver, and Kaden Christian.

Sophomores: Grace Bialas (#3 all-time, team captain last year), Abbie Hilleson (#10 all-time), and Logan Castle (#8 all-time).

Freshman & Middle Schoolers: Taylor Boehnke, Jayna VanLaecken (#4 all-time, 28th at State), and eighth grader Evelyn DeGeest (#2 all-time).

“For our girls team six of our returners rank top ten all-time in school history. We had a good team season last year and expect to compete well as a team again this year,” said Decker. “For the boys, we have a good amount of depth, with a lot of our younger athletes in a position to challenge each other and push us to be a better team top to bottom. AA competition is strong for cross country, and we now score 5 instead of 4, so having a larger roster of strong runners is even more important.”

Several athletes are expected to challenge for varsity spots, including Cooper Thompson, Reece Christian, Grant Curtis, Lucas Scott, Reed Cerny, Caden Schuster, Gretchen Curtis and Lola Underberg among those Decker highlighted. He also noted they expect many others to have strong seasons. 

“Our overall numbers, while good for us, are still a bit below where we’d like to be to be able to compete at the top of AA. Aside from that, we feel like we have a great core group and are excited for each and every one of the athletes who have made the commitment to the team this year,” Decker said. 

In the ESD Conference, Tea Area will square off against powers Harrisburg, Brandon Valley, and Sioux Falls Lincoln, while also keeping an eye on rivals from Pierre.

“Our goal is to be competitive in both the ESD and AA,” Decker said. “We hope to finish in the top third of the ESD and in the top six at the State Meet. Each year, the athletes blow me away with the work they do and how they continue to improve.”

The Titans will open their season at the Beresford Invite, a meet Decker said always holds special meaning. 

“Beresford — we always look forward to as we have a lot of team traditions surrounding that meet and it is our first race, where we get to see all the work the athletes put in start to pay off,” said Decker. 

The Beresford Invite will be held Thursday, Aug. 28 at the Bridges Golf Course in Beresford. Racing is set to begin at 10 a.m. Race order is Varsity Girls, followed by Varsity Boys, Junior Varsity girls, Junior Varsity boys, Middle School girls, and Middle School boys. 

The Titan cross country team also looks forward to racing at the Augie Twilight Meet and potentially traveling to North Dakota for the Border Battle.

“Augie Twilight is one of the most anticipated races for us, as it is a great atmosphere and amazing fields of runners that help push us to PRs,” said Decker. “We also are hoping to add a race up in ND this year, the Border Battle that we think will be a fun experience.”

Decker is ready for the season to begin and on top of the outcome-based goals what he really hopes for is a positive team experience for all the athletes who join the team. 

2025 Tea Area Titans 

Cross Country Roster

Boys: Caleb Jelen (6), Nazareth Leon (6), Micah Hyronimus (7), Reed Cerny (8), Easton Meier (8), Caden Schuster (8), Jace Ullom (8), Jhett Waltner (8), Grant Woodis (8), Reece Christian (9), Grant Curtis (9), Lincoln Dykstra (9), Lucas Scott (9), Cooper Thompson (9), Zaiden Johnson (10), Jeremiah Waldner (10), Kadin Zolnowsky (10), Kaden Christian (11), Riley Clark (11), Reid Hammerquist (11), Jaxon Johanneson (11), Malachi Kaiser (11), Jonah Klemisch (11), Noah Korver (11), Tate VanLaecken (11), Jack Campbell (12), Jacob DeYoung (12)

Girls: Olivia Brockman (6), Genevieve Decker (6), Thaiann Eknithphong (6), Samantha Klemisch (6), Madelyn Olinger (6), Lindsey Reemtsma (6), AvaLynn Ullom (6), Vayda VanBeek (6), Carly Castle (7), Angie Dusa (7), Olivia Grunewaldt (7), Callie Hawthorne (7), Lela Kamps (7), Emelia Marandici (7), Taytem Petrik (7), Paige Slagle (7), Michelle Teng (7), Evelyn DeGeest (8), Taylor Boehnke (9), Grace Chapman (9), Gretchen Curtis (9), Natalie Hyronimus (9), Ella Kamps (9), Sophie Sherwood (9), Lola Underberg (9), Jayna VanLaecken (9), Grace Bialas (10), Logan Castle (10), Daphne Decker (10), Abby Hilleson (10), Jaycie Babb (12), Meredith Decker (12), Gracie Kramer (12), Kiley Pendergast (12), Brooklyn Reiners (12), Morgan Sehr (12)

2025 Titans Cross Country Schedule

• Aug. 28 – Beresford Invite

• Sept. 5 – Augustana Twilight Meet

• Sept. 9 – Canton Invite

• Sept. 13 – Nike Heartland Preview

• Sept. 27 – Border Battle

 • Oct. 11 – ESD Meet

Top Ten All-Time Performances (School History)

Boys 5K

1. Brady Ihnen (2010) – 16:24.0

2. Jack Campbell (2024) – 16:29.4

3. Jake Hemenway (2009) – 16:34

4. Keegen Kleinwolterink (2016) – 16:40

5. Cole Rausch (2018) – 16:41

6. Reid Hammerquist (2023) – 17:15

7. Tyler Jorgensen (2012) – 17:20

8. Bradan Phelps (2014) – 17:34

9. Connor Eimers (2018) – 17:34

10. Jonah Klemisch (2024) – 17:36.1

Girls 5K (est. 2015)

1. Jaycie Babb (2024) – 18:22.6

2. Evelyn DeGeest (2024) – 19:06.6

3. Grace Bialas (2024) – 19:08.7

4. Jayna VanLaecken (2024) – 19:10.9

5. Haidyn West (2019) – 20:28

6. Haley Korver (2020) – 20:45.5

7. Aubrey Kenyon (2020) – 20:55.7

8. Logan Castle (2024) – 21:03.3

9. Mya Neuhardt (2020) – 21:12.7

10. Abby Hilleson (2024) – 21:16.2