The leaders of the pack

Senior cross country runners Lukus Klawitter and Katie Hjerpe have taken different paths in their running careers. However, each is now a captain and a leader in races and in practice.

Their leadership could play key roles in today’s Hutchinson Invitational scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Lake Marion course six miles south of Hutchinson.

Teams expected to compete are Buffalo, Dassel-Cokato, Fairmont, Mankato East, Mankato West, Marshall, New Prague, New Ulm, Sartell-Saint Stephen, Shakopee, Willmar and Waseca.

“It’s really going to be a fun meet. The competition should be outstanding. I know most of the guys on Willmar and some of the other schools like Mankato West, so it’s fun to race against them,” Klawitter said. “I’ll have more of my family there, so I’m pumped up and ready to go.”

Running runs through the blood of the Klawitter family. It started with grandpa and has trickled through all three boys — Josh, a former Hutchinson and South Dakota State University runner; Lukus and Chandler, a sixth-grader that has already topped the middle school team twice.

“We got into running with my grandpa and the (Water Carnival) race. Now, the whole family runs. My mom runs. Josh ran. Him running cross country really got me into the sport, and now, Chandler really is into it,” Klawitter said. “(Chandler)’s following in our footsteps, but he’s a lot faster than either me or Josh were at his age.”

This is the third year on varsity for Klawitter, who ran a personal-best time of 17:04 at the opening race at St. Cloud Apollo. He has steadily moved up through the running ranks and now is the leader of the pack.

Katie Hjerpe is only in her second year of cross country, but the sport really has grown on her. Apparently, it has grown on others, too.

Hjerpe, along with senior Caitlin Corby and sophomore Laura Schommer, joined the cross country ranks in 2007. This year, four more girls, including Hjerpe’s junior sister, Allie, have come over from the track team.

“This only helps both the track program and the cross country program. We have good depth from our varsity to the junior varsity. It makes for good competition throughout the lineup. We don’t have big gaps between our runners,” Hjerpe said.

So, why the influx of new runners? The senior co-captain credits coach Jeff Schmidt, who took over both the girls’ cross country and girls’ track and field team in 2007.

“Mr. Schmidt is a great coach and I respect him a lot. He really cares about all of the individuals and he makes sure that every one of us understands how much we mean to the team,” Hjerpe said. “I had never been a distance runner, and frankly, I wasn’t very good, but still, he knew that if I put my mind to it I could do it. He gave me the motivation I needed.”

After running near the bottom of the varsity lineup last year, Hjerpe has elevated herself to the top-three on the team.

She finished second on the team with a personal-best time of 16:22 at St. Cloud Apollo. Her time last Thursday wasn’t too far off as she finished 12th overall and third on the team.

To read more about Klawitter and Hjerpe and the Hutchinson Invitational, check out Thursday's print edition on newsstands right now.

Eric Kraushar is the sports editor at the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sports@hutchinsonleader.com.