Cross country ends successful run at State

Brady Ambrose/Times Press

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - The Reedsburg girls cross country team rolled to a sixth place finish at the state cross country meet in Wisconsin Rapids Saturday, while junior Mikey turner placed 61st out of a field of 152 runners in the boys Division 2 race. "Yes, very pleased," said girls' coach Nicole Bruer. "To finish in the top half of competition as a team says a lot about these girls."

The Beavers finished with 191 team points and were led by Brea Goodman's fifth place finish in the team standings while Dakota Goodman placed 12th, Rachel Hasler placed 40th, Katelynn Diske was 59th, Rebecca Lavely was 75th, Arissa Michel was 76th and Kellie Deitrich was 112th.

Brea Goodman turned in a 15:24.5, the 12th fastest overall time in the field, which featured 152 total runners, while Dakota Goodman's 15:42.6 was good enough for 24th place overall. Bruer added, "Brea finished 12th and Dakota 24th. They ran quite well, within 30 seconds of their PR's. It is a deceptive course, seemingly easy, but hillier than it looks while walking it. The competition is fierce and goes out quite fast at the start, but the girls worked very hard during the race."

The Mount Horeb girls won their first Division 2 title since winning it back-to-back in 1994 and '95 by 11 points over sectional rival Dodgeville-Mineral Point.

Sophomore Meleana Benning and junior Elizabeth Mackler finished third and ninth, respectively, among team runners, as Mount Horeb won with 105 points.

Not only did the top two reverse the order of their sectional finish, but so did Austyn Potterton, Kelsey Clausen and Lillie Esser, who rounded out the scoring for the Vikings in 27th, 30th and 36th among team runners.

Dodge-Point (116) claimed the runner-up trophy by one point over Pewaukee for the program's eighth straight top-three finish — a run that included two state titles and two runner-up finishes before Saturday.

Credit for this silver trophy went to the Dodgers' No. 5 runner Heather Riniker, who finished nine places ahead of Pewaukee's No. 5 runner, Aryn Sobchak. Individually, the top area finisher was Wisconsin Dells' Taylor Hickey, a converted volleyball player who withstood the rigors of her first state meet to finish seventh.

Bruer said it was a team effort by her young squad, which will return four experienced runners next season. "It takes all 7 quality runners pushing other runners back to earn a good score. Every girl on the team worked very hard and it is exciting to know that four of the seven will be back next season. I hope to continue to be competitive as a team. With four experienced varsity runners returning and a possible

two or three incoming freshmen I hope to again have the depth of quality runners. I believe the younger runners have seen what packing on the summer miles can do to help improve their times and help them prepare for the season."

Division 2 girls results

Team scores: 1, Mount Horeb/Barneveld 105; 2, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 116; 3, Pewaukee 117; 4, Waukesha Catholic Memorial 132; 5, Wisconsin Lutheran 162; 6, Reedsburg 191; 7, Tomahawk 208; 8, Freedom 221; 9, West Salem 227; 10, New Berlin Eisenhower 232; 11, New Richmond 261; 12, Kettle Moraine Lutheran 280; 13, West De Pere 291; 14, Poynette 305; 15, Amery 329; 16, Green Bay Notre Dame 330.

Medal winners: 1, Sickels (Catholic Memorial), 14:28.0; 2, Wagner (Baldwin-Woodville), 14:36.0; 3, Bachhuber (Shorewood), 14:50.4; 4, Tinney (Osceola), 14:57.8; 5, Schmidt (West De Pere), 15:07.1; 6, Haegler (Winnebago Lutheran), 15:11.2.

Turner 61st

For the Beaver boys Mikey Turner, making his first trip to the state meet, turned in a respectable effort as he placed 61st overall. Turner turned in a 17:21.7 in the 152 runner field. "Mikey ran a real gutsy race on Saturday," said coach Casey Whitehurst, "It was great for him to be in the top third or so of all the runner's participating in Division 2. The state meet is a very tough course to run on and the competition is unbelievably challenging. For Mikey to have such a great day was definitely a great opportunity for him."

Turner was in a group of six runners who all crossed the finish line within six tenths of a second of each other, and Whitehurst added that "The finishes at the state meet are fantastic — every second counts. Each runner is fighting for a position and Mikey used what he had left in the tank to edge out a few of the other guys around him." Turner was also within 90 seconds of the winning time of 15:55.1 that was posted by Port Washington senior Mark Allen, who along with teammate Evan Ross were the only two runners to break the 16 minute barrier. Whitehurst added "It's great to know that Mikey is among some of the top runners in the state and that he is so close to those top times.  He really worked hard to get to the state meet this year and that obviously paid off. I'm looking forward to having such a strong leader and dedicated runner as well as a fairly young team coming back next year. It is great to have an athlete that is willing to give everything he has each and every day.  In fact, he is so excited about the opportunities that loom ahead of us next year that he has already called a team meeting among the freshmen boys to get them out running with him over the winter months."  

Division 2 boys results

Team scores: 1, Tomahawk 78, 2, Waukesha Catholic Memorial 88, 3, Port Washington 89; 4, Monroe 146; 5, Shorewood 168; 6, Peshtigo 192; 7, Little Chute 216; 8, Saint Croix Central 216; 9, Xavier 232; 10, Ripon 233; 11, Nekoosa/Port Edwards 237; 12, Platteville, 260; 13, Lakeside Lutheran 275; 14, Rice Lake 355; 15, West Salem 358; 16, Portage 393.

Medal winners: 1, Allen (Port Washington), 15:55.1; 2, Ross (Port Washington), 15:55.9; 3, Luterbach (Catholic Memorial), 16:04.0; 4, Kinnard (Luxemburg-Casco), 16:04.5; 5, Tyler (Shorewood), 16:10.4; 6, Steiner (Chilton), 16:14.8.