Titan cross country teams finish at strong at State AA Meet

The Tea Area High School cross country teams wrapped up their season on Saturday, Oct. 24, competing in the 2026 SDHSAA State Class AA Cross Country Meet held at Hart Ranch in Rapid City.

The Titan girls finished 13th overall with 309 points, while the boys placed 16th with 349 points.

Leading the way for the Tea Area girls in the 5,000-meter race was junior Grace Bialas, who finished 49th overall with a time of 20:07.3. Sophomore Taylor Boehnke followed in 54th place with a time of 20:20.0, while junior Logan Castle finished 58th in 20:38.6.

Sophomore Gretchen Curtis crossed the finish line in 75th place with a time of 21:10.9, followed by junior Abby Hilleson, who finished 82nd in a season-best time of 21:20.3. Rounding out the Titan runners were sophomores Lola Underberg, who placed 96th in 21:48.3, and Grace Chapman, who finished 105th in 22:13.5.

On the boys’ side, senior Reid Hammerquist led the Titans with a 46th-place finish, completing the 5,000-meter course in 16:53.0.

Sophomore Reece Christian followed in 72nd place with a season-best time of 17:31.7, while sophomore Grant Curtis finished 74th in 17:35.6.

Senior Kaden Christian recorded a personal-best time of 17:39.9 to finish 78th, followed by senior Jonah Klemisch, who placed 84th with a season-best time of 17:47.9.

Sophomore Cooper Thompson also recorded a season-best performance, finishing 86th in 17:50.5. Senior Tate VanLaecken rounded out the Titan competitors with a 99th-place finish in 18:11.7.