Cards had great run in 1971

Forty-eight years ago around this time of year, a group of cross country runners, notably labeled as "harriers" in local news accounts, from New Bremen embarked on the 1971 high school campaign with talent, depth, and endless optimism.

Their optimistic resolve though was put to an early test, as the Cardinals fell in their first dual meet of the season to Marion Local by a final of 19-36. The setback, however, seemingly did little to shake their confidence as the next time they set out on the trails they scored a perfect 15 points over Fort Recovery - grabbing the first eight spots in the meet. Curt Dicke and Keith Howe led the way with their first and second place finishes, igniting the initial sparks of what would become a monumental season for the Cardinals.   

"This was only our third season of cross country at New Bremen, plus the seniors on our team could not play football because when football started, you had to be a 1973 graduate to play, so the fall sport for the seniors was cross country," said Mark Bornhorst, who was a senior in 1971. "We only started practicing as a team in mid-August so we didn't know how good we ran as a team until a couple of meets into the season."

New Bremen was untouchable in its next few meets both at home, where it ran at New Bremen Speedway, as well as on the road, including a trip to Celina in which they defeated the Class AAA Bulldogs, 27-30, with sophomore Mike Friemering pacing the two-mile race in 10:54.

"Our home course at New Bremen Speedway was laid out in a grove of trees on about 10 to 20 acres, where they parked the cars for the car races. It was nice because it was all under shade and you could also see all the runners about 90% of the race," Bornhorst said. "The track, bleachers, and the big sign out front were all still there and a couple times after practice, being kids, we roamed the track and bleachers. It was a very neat place."

A few meets later, the Cardinals visited New Knoxville and recorded their second perfect meet of the year after taking the first five places, led once again by Friemering's time of just under 11 minutes.

"Coach Jerry Fries was a no nonsense coach, and he really pushed us to reach our ability," said John Wierwille, who was a junior in 1971. "He always wanted us to run as a pack, so having achieved a meet where we placed five individuals in the first five places was very satisfying for us."

As the season marched on, New Bremen proved it was just getting warmed up as the team continued to pile up the trophies, including first-place finishes at the Fort Loramie and Mendon Invitationals, the Wayne Conference and Auglaize County Championship meets, as well as taking out the Celina Bulldogs again, before claiming the Tri-County League championship at the conclusion of the season. In that meet, the Cardinals edged New Knoxville by just seven points and were led on the course by Friemering and Bornhorst, who placed second and third, respectively.

From there, it was on to the sectional meet, where the Crimson and Gold finished second behind Columbus Grove but still advanced to district competition the following week. At districts, the Cardinals ended the afternoon in third place overall, but armed with a 74-4 overall record, New Bremen advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

"Coach Fries always wanted us to run 500 miles in the summer, so we felt we certainly put in the work, which elevated us to the state level," Wierwille said. "The entire student body rallied behind us and coach reminded us all week of our opportunity to be the school's first state champions."

Fighting against the unfavorable conditions of wind, rain and mud, the Cardinals' historic season came to an end on that first Saturday in November when they finished fifth overall in Class A, led by Friemering's ninth-place finish in a time of 10:21. Bornhorst ended his career in 13th overall, while Randy Dicke, Keith Howe and Wierwille, all crossed the finish line to help give the Cardinals their final tally of 93 points for the day.

"The meet was run at the Scarlet and Gray golf courses in Columbus. The grass was wet and there was a big hill on the course," Bornhorst said. "As we walked the course before the race, we were at the bottom of the hill and our teammates showed up at the top and started sliding down to us on their backs or face first. We all laughed, but two hours later we were running up that hill and it was the worst part of the course!"

The Cardinals returned to New Bremen to a heroes' welcome for an achievement their runners certainly earned.

"It was a great journey all season long," Wierwille said. "Having that success gave us a winning attitude all year and was something that even carried on to the basketball season. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget."