Runners win everything
By Jim den Hollander
The finish of Saturday’s varsity boys race at the Lodi Invitational Cross Country event brought a couple of rare views. First, it’s not very often the race win comes down to a 50-yard sprint and even more rare is a runner getting mobbed by fans and teammates after crossing the finish line. Junior Max Mattei experienced both, putting a perfectly beautiful strategy into place as he gave up his position in the shadow of Grey Davis from Lakeside Lutheran and picked up the pace. Davis briefly offered chase, but in the end, Mattei simply had too much left in the tank and he moved easily away from Davis, taking the finish line tape for his first varsity boys race win in 17 minutes, 55 seconds, three seconds in front of Davis. Mattei had a split second to enjoy the accomplishment by himself before the entire girls cross country team, most of them having sprinted down the final 50 meters (off course) with him, buried him in an impromptu celebration. And why not? Mattei will no doubt be the hero in head coach Dean Knetter’s recruiting speech for the next decade or more. A feel good story about a guy who has proven the value of hard work in this sport. Mattei was just one of many huge accomplishments on a day that once again saw the Chiefs establish itself as a cross country powerhouse. If there was any question about the team’s ability after the Westfield opener, both teams showed at Lodi they are no flash in the pan. Hickey-Swatek 1-2 Mattei’s race win came on the heels of a second straight 1-2 finish for senior Taylor Hickey and junior Stacey Swatek and a second straight event that saw the pair lead from gun to tape. Amazing improvements from runners like sophomore Theresa Madland, who finished a high school career best 13th helped the girls to a solid second place showing while Mattei and junior David Biffert may have been the biggest surprises in a more than respectable fourth place finish for the boys team. The race for Hickey and Swatek was mostly with each other. Hickey reached a pre-race goal finishing under 17 minutes in 16:54 and Swatek was within sight the entire way, just 12 seconds behind at the end. Meanwhile, third place Annaliese Cramer was third, some 22 seconds after Swatek. The runners are best friends and all of the teammates seem to have a great chemistry. But on the course, they both understand it is all business. Asked about their competitiveness after the race, they first look at each other and laugh. "Well, yeah, I want to beat her and she obviously wants to beat me," said Swatek. "That’s clear." The pair joked about their competitiveness and running away from the crowd in the forest, but Hickey said as long as she is in front, she can tell when Swatek is making a move. "She breathes really heavy, so I always know when she’s close to me," said Hickey with a smile." Football pool However, in a neat competitive twist to the race, Swatek apparently did get the last laugh in the end. While representing the varsity boys and girls teams in the race, the Chiefs were running on one of three other teams as well, captained by Swatek, Hickey and Mattei. While Hickey carved some 16 seconds off of her time at the same event a year earlier, Swatek said she was 50 seconds ahead of last season’s pace and other runners, like Madland helped their respective teams as well. "She did so good. She took like a minute off of her time from last year," said Swatek who benefited having selected Madland in the pool. "We picked teams, like we have teams inside of our team. You had to pick who was going to PR the most and I picked Theresa on my team. I got Theresa, me, Tesa (Barney), Dakota Hammerly and Dakota Grimsled." Hickey said she had among her team members Jessica Sweet and Kiersten Norgard. Head coach Dean Knetter was surprised as the runners and fans about some of the surprises at Lodi. "I never trained Max to win that race," said a shocked, but obviously thrilled coach Dean Knetter after the completion of the day. "It wasn’t on my list to do’s, but Max...just progressing further than I thought. It’s amazing." While Mattei charged a solid 11th, missing a top 10 finish by one second. David Biffert enjoyed his best race and his likely new time goal is clear with a finishing time of 20:11 just 24 seconds and six spots in front of impressive freshman Jacob Synott. Max Hocker was also close behind in 21:05 with Dakota Hammerly crossing in 22:31 and Tony Mueller in 23:52. Alex Whiteside had likely his best showing as well in the junior varsity race, cracking the top 20 in a time of 23:19 that could see him running varsity next time around. Meanwhile senior Chad Marthaler made his first run of the season as he works his way back from shin splints. For the girls, the front two were still catching their breath when they were shocked to see Madland racing to the line in 18:58. Senior Kiersten Norgard also finished under 20 minutes in 19:42 while Jessica Sweet crossed in 20:25, just six seconds in front of Tesa Barney. Freshman Abby Vandenlangenberg put in another excellent showing, finishing in 20:59 to round out the varsity team. In the junior varsity race, Brianna Metcalfe wrapped up a solid 12th place finish in 23:14. The Chiefs will take their act to golf courses in the next two events, making their annual appearance at Pauquette Pines Golf Course Thursday, then making their debut at a competitive event in Spring Green Saturday. There will be at least one familiar opponent at the Spring Green meet as the Chiefs square off with the always strong Mauston Golden Eagles for the first time this season. BOYS RESULTS TEAM SCORES TOP 10 WISCONSIN DELLS — 1, Max Mattei 17:55; 11; Dakota Grimsled 19:00; 30, David Biffert 20:11; 37, Jacob Synott 29:35; 46, Max Hocker 21:05; 57, Dakota Hammerly 22:31; 68, Tony Mueller 23:52. GIRLS RESULTS TEAM SCORES TOP 10 WISCONSIN DELLS —1, Taylor Hickey 16:54; 2, Stacey Swatek 17:06; 13, Theresa Madland 18:58; 22, Kiersten Norgard 19:42; 38, Jessica Sweet 20:25; 40, Tesa Barney 20:31; 45, Abby Vandenlangenberg 20:59.