WIAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY
CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND
THE MEET: The 97th running of the Wisconsin Interscholastic
Athletic Association Boys Cross Country Championships and the 37th Annual Girls
Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Oct. 31, at The Ridges
Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Ticket price for the meet is $6.
RACE INFORMATION: The boys will run a 5,000-meter course, and the
girls will run a 4,000-meter course. The following is a listing of the times
for each race:
Girls
11 a.m
Division
3
11:40 a.m. Division 2
12:20 p.m. Division
1
Boys
1 p.m.
Division 3
1:40 p.m. Division
2
2:20 p.m. Division 1
HOW THEY GOT HERE: There are 20 teams contending for the State
championship in Division 1 for boys and girls, and 16 teams competing for the
boys and girls Divisions 2 and 3 team titles. Teams competing for the titles
qualified last weekend at their respective sectional meets. The top two teams
in each of the 10 Division 1 sectionals and the top two teams from each of the eight Divisions 2 and 3 sectionals advanced. In
addition to the qualifying teams, the first five individual finishers at their
respective sectionals, who are not a member of a qualifying team, also
qualified for the State meet.
LAST YEAR-BOYS: Stevens Point added its ninth team title last year
with 76 points, 11 points ahead of runner-up Madison West with 87. Tomahawk
captured the Division 2 crown with 78 points, defeating runner-up Catholic
Memorial with 88 points. Webster won the Division 3 team championship by
scoring 83 points after finishing runner-up in 2007. Cedar Grove-Belgium
finished second with 110 points. Derek Storkel of
Tomah won the individual title in Division 1 with a time of 15:26.1. Mark Allen
of Port Washington captured the Division 2 individual crown with a time of
15:55.1, and Josh Malloy of Cedar Grove-Belgium ran to the Division 3
individual championship with a time of 16:07.9.
LAST YEAR-GIRLS: Whitefish Bay won the Division 1 team title with
a score of 75 points, well ahead of runner-up Onalaska with 129 points. Mount Horeb/Barneveld won the Division 2 championship with a
score of 105 points, finishing 11 points ahead of Dodgeville/Mineral Point,
which placed runner-up with 116 points. Edgar captured the Division 3 State
title with 126 points, which was five points fewer
than runner-up Sheboygan Lutheran at 131. Gabby Levac
of Arrowhead won the Division 1 individual championship with a time of 14:42.7.
In Division 2, Morgan Sickels of Catholic Memorial
ran to the individual title with a time of 14:28, and Molly Seidel of
University Lake School finished first in Division 3 with a time of 14:37.3.
BOYS TEAM NOTES: Stevens Point returns to defend the title
it won last year. This year’s field contains 12 of last year’s 20 participating
teams, including Marquette, Madison La Follette,
Arrowhead, Waukesha West, Germantown, Neenah and La Crosse Logan, which placed
third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th respectively. The Panthers
look to repeat, but return just three of the seven runners that competed in the
meet last year. Only five of the 16 teams from last year’s field return to
compete for the title in Division 2, including champion Tomahawk. The Hatchets
will attempt to make it two in a row with three members of the team back from
last year’s meet. Shorewood, which finished fifth last year and had a string of
four consecutive titles snapped in 2007, returns six. Eleven of the 16 team
qualifiers from last year return to the Division 3 field, including defending
champion Webster. The Tigers return five of the seven competitors that ran in the State Meet last year. Also returning to the
field are Cedar Grove-Belgium, Sevastopol, Aquinas and Brookfield Academy, the
teams that finished second, third, fifth and sixth last year, respectively.
BOYS INDIVIDUAL NOTES: The top returning runner from
last year’s meet is senior Marcus Paulson of Hamilton, who finished fifth.
Among the other experienced returners expecting to challenge for the individual
championship are senior Jake Erschen of Marquette,
who placed ninth last year and senior Garrett Kerska
of Sauk Prairie, who placed 14th. Other possible contenders include seniors
William Krumbach of La Crosse Central, Paul Przybelski
of Stevens Point, Matt Vandehei of Green Bay Preble,
Gabe Heck of Madison East, Abdou Seye of Madison La Follette, Mike
Clark of Waukesha South and junior Aaron Derner of
Waterford. In Division 2, senior John Luterbach of
Catholic Memorial is the top returning finisher, placing third last season.
Senior teammates Ben Tyler and Peter Drews of
Shorewood finished fifth and eighth, respectively, a year ago and could also
contend for the individual championship, as could senior Alec Holquin of Cudahy, who placed ninth in 2008. Other possible
challengers are seniors Andrew Rohlman of Osceola;
Evan Lewandowski of Medford; Tyler Behnke of
Brillion, who finished 11th in Division 3 last year; Jacob Peterson of
Nekoosa/Port Edwards, who finished 14th a year ago; Cody Kurscheidt
of Chilton; Matt McKenna of Edgewood; Travis Beutler
of New Glarus/Monticello; and juniors Jon and Joe Luedtke
of Lomira. Senior Josh Malloy of Cedar Grove-Belgium
is the returning individual champion in Division 3. Among those challenging him
this year will be senior James Heroux of Sevastopol,
who finished fourth last year and ninth in 2007; senior Sam Simones
of Aquinas, who placed fifth; senior Jack Taylor of Webster, who placed sixth;
senior Cole Vanderleest of Sevastopol, who was
seventh; and Taylor Seeger of Cameron, who was ninth. Other challengers are
senior Jed Carlson of Chequamegon, who placed 11th
last year; junior Alex Faber of Edgar; senior Derek Johnsrud
of Rio; and senior Nathan Heppe of Brookfield
Academy, who placed 14th last year.
GIRLS TEAM NOTES: Twelve of the 20 qualifying teams return to the
Division 1 field from last year. Whitefish Bay is back to defend its title in
Division 1 with five of its runners returning from the 2008 title team.
Janesville Craig, Waukesha West, Bay Port, Muskego and Homestead have qualified
after finishing third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth last year,
respectively. In addition, Mount Horeb/Barneveld
moves up to Division 1 after winning the Division 2 title last season. Five of
its runners return to compete for the team title this year in Division 1.
Janesville Craig also returns five runners from the third-place team in 2008.
The Division 2 field features eight of last year’s 16 competing teams without
2008 champion Mount Horeb/Monticello, including
Dodgeville/Mineral Point, Pewaukee, Catholic Memorial and Wisconsin Lutheran, which
placed second, third, fourth and fifth last year, respectively. Wisconsin
Lutheran and Dodgeville/Mineral Point may be in good position to improve on
last year’s finish with four and five of seven runners that competed a year ago
returning, respectively. In Division 3, nine of last year’s field
of 16 teams return, including Edgar, which won the title. Sheboygan
Lutheran, Boscobel, Oshkosh Lourdes, Pittsville, Cedar Grove-Belgium,
Darlington and Aquinas, which finished second through sixth and eighth and
ninth, collectively, last year also return teams. Edgar defends its title with
three returning runners.
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL NOTES: Senior Gabby Levac of
Arrowhead returns to defend her crown in Division 1. Among those
returning with her are four others that placed in the top 10 last year,
including junior Hannah Trasser of Brookfield
Central, who placed third; junior Jenna McMiller of
Waukesha North, who placed fifth; Sarah Ball of Kenosha Tremper,
who placed sixth; Katelyn Stine of Wausau East who finished ninth. Other
potential challengers include seniors Maggie Priebe
of Wausau East, Maddie Hibshmann
of Onalaska, Megan Stenz of Kaukauna, Sarah Baltisberger of Madison La Follette
and Lindsay Fons of Franklin; juniors Kenzie Vicker of Whitefish Bay
and Liz Berkholtz of Sun Prairie; and sophomores
Emma-Lisa Murphy of Whitefish Bay and Niki Rhyan of Plymouth. Senior Morgan Sickels
returns to defend the title she won last year in Division 2 after placing third
in 2007. Ten of the top 20 finishers last year are back competing, including
junior Emily Bacchuber of Shorewood, who placed
third. Other top 10 finishers from a year ago that may be in the title hunt
this year are senior Marya Haegler
of Winnebago Lutheran, who was sixth; senior Taylor Hickey of Wisconsin Dells,
who was seventh; and senior Alaina Murphy of Seymour,
who was eighth. Others who could contend for the individual title are
senior Shannon Nemetz of Denmark, junior Natalie Haugerud of Amery, sophomores Tricia Serres
of Platteville and Rachel Sudbury of Tomahawk, and freshman Jaden Roddick of Sparta. In Division 3, defending champion Molly
Seidel, a sophomore from University Lake School, is back to defend her title.
She could get challenges for the individual title from a number of State-experienced competitors, including senior Carli Kronstedt of Pittsville,
who placed sixth last season; sophomore Maddy Haupert of Aquinas, who was ninth; and senior Emily
Erickson of Amherst, who was 10th. Others who could be up among the leaders
based on their performance in the sectionals are seniors Molly Osuldsen of Bruce and Sara Hasenjager
of Sevastopol; juniors Elisa Caminiti of Wisconsin
Heights and Marina Paul of Cedar Grove-Belgium; and sophomore Danica Harrison of Auburndale.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All rosters and
qualifiers are available on the WIAA Web site at: http://www.wiaawi.org/index.php?id=94.
NEED CREDENTIALS?: Media Credential requests for the 2009 WIAA
Cross Country Championships must be requested by submitting the request from
the restricted area of the Media Center of the WIAA Web site by noon Oct. 27. Please access the
“approved” credential list on the Media Center to verify we’ve received
your request. Credentials will be available for pick-up in the The Bunker clubhouse.
NEED RESULTS?: The only way to get results will
be to access the WIAA Web site at: www.wiaawi.org
and choose the cross country results link.
Todd C. Clark
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
Director of Communications & Advanced Media
5516 Vern Holmes Dr.
Stevens Point, WI 54482
(715) 344-8580
(715) 344-4241 (fax)
tclark@wiaawi.org
www.wiaawi.org