Front runner
Pete Watson/News Republic
News Republic Sports
DEFOREST — Baraboo junior Denise Leaver secured her third trip to the WIAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, as the Thunderbirds girls and boys cross country teams wrapped up their seasons at the DeForest Sectional.
Leaver hung with the top two runners through the 4K race and crossed the tape in third place with a time of 15 minutes, 34 seconds.
Sun Prairie’s Liz Berkholtz and Madison West’s Olivia Pratt finished first and second, respectively, to help their teams earn berths at next week’s state meet in Wisconsin Rapids.
Leaver entered Saturday’s contest hoping to make the top five, and did so by staying right behind Pratt and Berkholtz from nearly start to finish.
"It’s really exciting," Leaver said of her finish. "The three of us stayed in kind of a pack for most of the way and just towards the end they pulled away. But I was definitely happy with how I did."
The BHS girls team went on to place sixth overall, as freshman McKaela Christenson finished 13th (16:18), and junior Kassi Sprecher (38th) and sophomore Tara Nelson (39th) finished back-to-back.
"Finishing sixth as a team was an excellent finish for us and shows what we can do with a strong pack."
The Thunderbirds boys team capped their season with a ninth place finish, led by junior Matt Rosene’s time of 17:28, good enough for 14th overall.
BHS senior Brock Pfaff came through the chute in 38th place (18:30), just ahead of classmate Jake Bachman (46th, 18:49).
Freshman Sam Trotter (51st) and senior Jake Meiller (58th) rounded out Baraboo’s scoring runners.
"Our seniors really had great races," said BHS coach Peter Arndt. "We had a nice season and we fell short of our goal of a conference title last week, but these guys worked very hard and it bodes well for our future."
Madison Memorial and Middleton grabbed the two state berths, and Madison East’s Gabe Heck took the individual gold finishing in 16:29.
DeForest sectional Boys results Team scores:
Madison Memorial 56, Middleton 77, Madison West 78, Sun Prairie 136, Sauk Prairie 165, Watertown 166, Madison East 181, DeForest 190, Baraboo 207, Waunakee 215, Beaver Dam 224, Reedsburg 354.Gabe Heck (Madison East), 16:29. Gabe Heck (Madison East), 16:29; Sam hacker (Madison West), 16:33.27; Garrett Herska (Sauk Prairie), 16:40.25; Jacob Butts (Watertown), 16:47.22; A.J. Kitchen (Beaver Dam), 17:01.88. 14, Rosene, 17:28; 38, Pfaff, 18:30; 46, Bachman, 18:49; 51, Trotter, 18:56; 58, Meiller, 19:21. Madison West 43, Sun Prairie 90, Waunakee 123, Middleton 136, DeForest 146, Baraboo 152, Madison Memorial 166, Watertown 168, Madison East 232, Reedsburg 244, Beaver Dam 247, Sauk Prairie 255. Liz Berkholtz (Sun Prairie), 15:26.64Denise Leaver (Baraboo), 15:33.59; Sara Heinemann (Waunakee), 15:50.18; Katryna Williams (Watertown), 15:52.71; Emma Crawford (Madison Memorial), 15:53.53; Claire Brickson (Madison East), 15:54.88. 3, Leaver, 15:34, 13, Christenson, 16:18; 38, Sprecher, 17:32; 39, Tara Nelson, 17:32; 59, Mary Schoenoff, 18:07; 80, Newgent, 19:21; 81, Tiffany Nelson, 19:21.
Race winner:
State individual qualifiers:
Baraboo:
Girls results
Team scores:
Race winner:
State individual qualifiers:
Baraboo: