Augusta girls make it to state rankings, show they belong there
For the first time in program and school history, Augusta High School's cross country team made the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association (WCCCA) statewide rankings, listed as the No. 15 best team in the state in Division 3 a couple of weeks ago.
And given their performances the past two weeks, AHS could very well move up in those rankings even though they were out of the rankings last week.
The Beavers showed they belonged among the state's best when they finished third out of 15 teams as a team in the Smiley Invitational's Division 3 girls' race in Wausau on Saturday, Sept. 19.
And it was a closely contested D-3 team race. Sheboygan Lutheran won first place with 100 points, followed by Albany 107 and Augusta 113. Independence/Gilmanton placed fourth with 127 points.
The Beavers participants were junior Laney O'Brien, third at 20:30.2; freshman Aubree O'Brien, 15th at 22:17.1; freshman Mya Grangaard, 22nd at 22:51.0; freshman Tessa Schroeder, 30th at 23:34.2;
senior Viola MacDonald, 43rd at 24:54.5 and freshman Hadley Bergman, 48th in 25:39.7. Indy/Gilmanton junior Ally Sylla won the 5000-meter race in 19:59.
In the boys' race, Augusta got another top finish from junior Zale Pettis, sixth in 18;16 on the 5000-meter course. Also running for the Beavers were sophomore Jeremy Christoph, 34th in 20:28; senior Thomas Truog, 62nd in 22:56; senior Riley Charo, 65th in 23:23; freshman Kasen Balts, 67th in 23:36 and junior Ethan Zacharias, 72nd in 25:44. AHS finished 11th with 234 points. No. 8 ranked Sheboygan Lutheran was first in the boys' team standings with 34 points with No. 9 Albany second at 64 and Chequamegon third at 106.
In the Colby Invitational held on Saturday, Sept. 12, the Beavers finished second behind Stanley-Boyd in the girls' race standings. Their times and places were Laney O'Brien, second in 21:36.8; Sophie Bergmann, sixth in 22:36.8; Aubree O'Brien seventh 22:42.2; Grangaard eighth 22:56.9; Schroeder 10th in 24:12.8; Hadley Bergman 14th in 26:35.4; MacDonald, 17th in 27:28.2.
Augusta's boys placed fifth in the Colby Invite but Pettis won the race in 17:18 on the 5000-meter course. Christoph also finished in the top 10 in 9th at 20:18.6. Also running for the Beavers were Truog, 24th in 23:13.8;
Charlo, 30th in 24:42.7; Balts, 33rd in 27:01.6 and Zacharias, 34th in 27:15.2.
AHS also had success in their own invite meet held last week Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Centennial Field. AHS scored 20 points followed by Wabasha-Kellogg/Pepin/Alma 49 and Arcadia 63 out of eight teams competing. Laney O'Brien won the race in 21:24. All of their varsity runners finished in the top 15. AHS's other varsity runners were Sophie Bergman, third, 23:07.3; Aubree O'Brien, fourth in 23:51; Grandgaard, fifth in 23:51; Schroeder, seventh in 24:33; sophomore Kinley Nelson, 10th in 26:49 and Bergmann, 11th in 26:54.
Also running in the girls' race was Osseo-Fairchild's Layne Armstrong-Baglien, 34th in 36:18.
Pettis didn't run in the AHS Invite so the Beavers finished sixth in the team standings with 131 points out of eight teams. Wabasha-Kellogg/Alma/Pepin won the meet with 34 points led by race winner senior Griffin Riesgraf in 17:06.4. Also running for Augusta were Christoph, 13th in 20:44.8; Truog, 25th 23:24.4; Riley Charlo, 29th in 24:19.2; Balts, 31st in 25:00.9 and Zacharias, 33rd in 25:32. Osseo-Fairchild had four runners in the meet led by sophomore George Clark, 18th in 21:44; freshman Alfons Jesunas, 19th in 21:46; sophomore Kole Bratina, 42nd in 27:06 and senior Emerick Korger, 47th in 28:41.
O-F also ran in the Bloomer Invitational back on Sept. 8. Clark had the Thunder's best result at 45th in 22:56; Jesunas, 53rd in 23:55; Bratina, 70th in 26:55 and Korger, 73rd in 28:53. Armstrong-Baglien finished 61st in the girls race in 39:48. Bloomer won the girls team title led by the Hartman sisters senior Clara first in 18:13.4 and sophomore Briella Hartman second in 19:27.3. No. 6 Osceola won the boys' team title led by race winner junior Bryce McDonald in 17:00.9.
All of Eleva-Strum’s cross country team members ran season-best times last two weeks. Many of those season bests were also personal records.
The Cardinals traveled to Ettrick on Thursday, Sept. 10, for the G-E-T Red Hawk Invite. Freshman Elsie Christ took charge for the Cardinals, stopping the clock at 21:10 on the 5000-meter course to secure third overall and personal best. Senior Avery Glenz trailed behind with a time of 24:05 good for 26th place—also a personal best. Senior Grace Hulett surpassed her previous personal best by a little over four minutes, completing the race in 36:04, achieving 68th place. Not far behind, senior Lilian Ross finished the race with a time of 37:35 acquiring 71st place for a new personal best. In the boys’ race, sophomore John Kempf took the lead for the Cards finishing with a time of 20 minutes flat, good for 32nd place and season best. Sophomores Nolan McConnell and Micheal Lahn followed closely together, and crossed the line at 20:18 and 20:43, placing 37th and 45th, respectively. Junior Samuel Gehrke, came in with a whole minute personal best, froze the clock at 22:47 and earned 67th place. Sophomores Brayden Nelson and Jack Acevedo completed the race with times of 24:04 and 27:37, finishing in 75th and 81st places, respectively—both personal bests.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, the E-S cross country team traveled to Cameron for a sectional course preview meet. The girls team started it off once again, with Christ running strong, leading the Cardinals with a time of 21:52, obtaining fifth place overall. Glenz, carrying that momentum, achieved a time of 24:17 and claimed 20th place. Ross broke her previous personal best by a little less than two minutes, posting a time of 35:51 and securing 73th place. Following closely was Hulett with a time of 37:19, finishing 74th overall. .
Kempf set the pace for the boys once again, blazing into 20th, with a time of 19:25. Lahn finished eight seconds faster than his previous personal-best time, recording a time of 20:10 good for 31st overall. McConnell stopped the clock at 20:27 securing 36th place. Then Gehrke finished with a whole minute season-best with a time of 23:00, earning 58th place overall. Nelson reached the finish line at 23:02, good for 59th. Acevedo completed the race with a time of 27:59, earning 76th place.
E-S took part in the Conway Invitational held last week Thursday, Sept. 17 hosted by Chetek-Weyerhaeuser. Christ placed sixth in 22:27 followed by Glenz, 22nd in 25:09 and Hulett 64th in 37:30. No. 2 ranked Cameron placed three runners i9n the top three to win the girls' team title with a near-perfect 19 points led by race-winner senior Inez Schmidt winning in 20:15. In the boys' race, E-S finished eighth out of the 15 teams competing led by Kempf, 23rd in 20:43.2; McConnell, 27th in 21:03.2; Lahn, 33rd in 21:33.2; Gehrke, 45th in 22:52.0; Brayden Nelson 56th in 24:19.9; and Acevedo, 64th in 27:27.
The annual Knudtson Invitational was Fall Creek's main meet for the past two weeks. The FC girls edged Eau Claire Regis for the team title 29-34 led by senior Audrey Koehler's third place individual finish in 23:30. She was followed on her team by senior Rylee Winsand, fourth in 23:57.4; sophomore Paige Anderson, eighth in 24:51.3; junior Emily Volbrecht, 10th in 25:40.8; senior Kamryn Dahlberg 12th in 25:47.1; senior Autumn Steinke, 113h in 25:48.0 and senior Iris VanWormer, 16th in 27:03.2. Regis junior Ellie Doubler won the race in 20:59. Osseo-Fairchild's Layne Armstrong-Baglien was 50th in 37:39. No. 3 Cadott won the boys' team title with 29 points to Regis' 67. Fall Creek finished sixth out of the eight teams competing, FC sophomore Andon Koehler had the team's best finish in 18th at 20:04.9 followed by freshman Vincent Wilkom, 30th in 22:00.4; sophomore Aiden Christenson, 31st in 22:17.9; senior Alex Anderson 34th in 22:25.3; junior Hudson Abts, 38th in 23:38.7; junior Weston Mielke, 39th in 24:09 and freshman Caleb Widdicombe, 42nd in 27:11.4.
The upcoming schedule has Tri-County Area teams competing in the Cadott (Fall Creek, Osseo-Fairchild and Augusta) and Blair-Taylor (Eleva-Strum) invite meets on Tuesday, Sept. 22 starting at 4:30 and 4 p.m. respectively followed by the big Durand-Arkansaw Invitational at Rolling Greens Golf Course on Thursday, Sept. 24. starting at 4 p.m. with the Melrose-Mindoro Invitational next Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 4:30 p.m.
Lilian Ross and Zackary Marco, E-S student writers, contributed to this story
