Pettis, Crist to represent Area at state meet
COLBY - Zale Pettis recalled a similar race during track season last spring.
"I was running the two-mile and I had two other runners split right around me to the finish," Pettis said. "I didn't l let that happen again. I was able to catch the runners in front of me and pass them."
No he didn't, Not only is the Augusta High School junior is a more experience runner but stronger too which helped him finish fourth individually in the WIAA Division 3 Colby Sectional Meet and qualify for the State Cross Country Meet this Saturday, Oct. 31 at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
Pettis won't be alone from the Tri-County Area.as Eleva-Strum freshman Elsie Christ also qualified for state by finishing sixth at sectionals. Christ will be running at noon in the Division 3 girls race and Pettis will compete at 2 p.m. in the D-3 boys race.
Pettis credits technique changes and good training this past summer for helping him be the Area's top male runner and winning the Dairyland Conference meet.
"I put in 300 miles this summer of training," Pettis said. "And my form is much better. I'm not running as flat-footed as maybe I was a year ago."
Pettis left no doubt he would be an individual qualifier by finishing in the top five on the 5000-meter course in 17:47. Winning the boys race was Marathon senior Logan Peters in 17:08 and with he his six other teammates finishing in the top 15, there was no doubt the top-ranked Raiders would win the team title and qualify for state as a team along with Stratford which finished second. Also qualifying individually were Athens junior Ben Hartwig who finished third, sophomore Hunter Ogle of Stanley-Boyd, junior Grayson Truskowski of Bangor and sophomore John Smith of S-B.
As a team AHS finished 13th out of the 23 teams entered in the sectional meet. Sophomore Jeremy Christoph was 50th in 20:25.2; senior Riley Charlo finished 73rd in 22:26.3; freshman Kasen Balts was 78th in 22:40.3 and senior Thomas Truog was 94th in 23:52.
While Pettis gave AHS something to celebrate, the girls race earlier in the meet was a disappointment for the Beavers. The Augusta girls finished ninth with 200 points after hoping they had a chance to snag a qualifying spot at state in the more wide-open team field in the girls meet. It certainly wasn't a good meet for Dairyland Conference teams as No. 7 ranked Cochrane-Fountain City finished fourth and Independence/Gilmanton seventh. Qualifying for state were sectional champion Auburndale with 99 points and runner-up Stanley-Boyd with 111. However, three individuals from the DC qualified for state because they finished 1-2-3 in the girls race: Freshman Taylor Laufenberg of Melrose-Mindoro won in 19:34; junior Paxtyn Duellman of Cochrane-Fountain City was second in 19:45 and her teammate sophomore Kinley Arneson finished third in 19:47. Also qualifying individually for state were sophomore Kenli Gollnick of Bangor, fourth in 19:51 and junior Phoenix Losievski of Pittsville placed fifth in 19:56.
Augusta runners and times were junior Laney O'Brien, 21st in 22:19.6; freshman Aubree O'Brien, 32nd in 23:09; freshman Tessa Schroeder 43rd in 24:06; junior Sophie Bergman 49th in 24:49.8; senior Viola MacDonald 55th in 25:18; freshman Hadley Bergman 62nd in 25:53.8 and freshman Mya Grangaard, 66th in 26:16.9.
The other three Tri-County Area prep harrier teams were at the Division 3 Unity Sectional Meet in Balsam Lake. Christ crossed the finish line in 20:59 on the 5000-meter course and was the fourth individual qualifier not on a qualifying team along with Eau Claire Regis junior Ellie Doubler, Prairie Farm/Clayton freshman Kaci Dunn and Unity senior Ava Miller. St. Croix Falls junior Hazel Lindquist also qualified finishing eighth.
There were no surprises as far as the teams which qualified for state. The two ranked girls teams, No. 6 Cameron and No. 14 Boyceville, finished 1-2 with Boyceville's Jaycie Oberle winning the girls race in 19:52 and the Comets placing three runners in the top 10 led by third place finisher senior Inez Schmidt. The top ranked teams in the boys field, No. 5 Cadott and No. 14 Mondovi were the top two and both qualified for state as teams. The home team Unity snagged three individual qualifying spots as their runners finished 1-2 and 4. Winning the race was the Eagles' junior Isaiah Morales in 16:36. Also going to state are two Cameron runners: sophomore Walter Gestner and senior Jaden Reed.
Twenty-Two teams were entered into the Unity Sectional meet. The Eleva-Strum boys finished 14th with 363 points. The Cardinals' runners were sophomore John Kempf 39th in 20:05; sophomore Nolan McConnell, 65th in 20:59; sophomore Michael Lahn, 69th in 21:12; sophomore Sam Gehrke, 102nd in 22:54 and junior Brayden Nelson, 105th in 23 minutes even. Fall Creek placed 17th with 430 points. Senior Alex Anderson finished 73rd in 21:20; junior Hudson Abts was 86th in 21:51; sophomore Aiden Christenson placed 92nd in 22:07; junior Weston Mielke finished 100th in 22:49; freshman Vincent Wilkom, 103rd in 22:57; sophomore Andon Koehler, 109th in 23:46 and sophomore Hunter Munz, 11th in 23:54. Osseo-Fairchild's runners were freshman Alfons Jesunas, 71st in 21:14; sophomore george Clark, 74th in 21:21; sophomore Kole Bratina,
110th in 23:53 and senior Emmerick Korger, 123rd in 28:07.
Fall Creek's girls had a full team and finished a solid fourth with 148 points. Senior Aubrey Koehler led the way for the Crickets finishing 19th in 23:03; sophomore Paige Anderson placed 21sr in 23:15; senior Rylee Winsand finished 37th in 24:06; junior Emily Volbrecht was 47th in 24:54; senior Kamryn Dahlberg placed 51st in 25:03; senior Iris VanWormer finished 60th in 25:21 and senior Autumn Steinke placed 77th in 26:15. Besides Christ, E-S had three other runners competing in the sectional. Senior Avery Glenz finished 49th in 24:57 and seniors Lily Ross and Grace Hulett placed 109th and 110th in times of 36:44 and 36:45 respectively. Osseo-Fairchild's lone runner, sophomore Layne Armstrong-Baglien, finished 107th in 32:37.
There will be a new look atop the Division 3 leaderboard this season in the girls race as the top four teams from last season are not in the field. The top three teams were elevated to Division 2. Defending champion Darlington and runner-up Kohler failed to qualify while La Crosse Aquinas qualified in Division 2. The teams that placed fifth through ninth last season are all back to contend for the title. Fennimore is the top returning team with three of its five runners back from last year’s fifth-place finish. Lomira (sixth), Boyceville (seventh), Cameron (eighth) and Phillips (ninth) all earned return trips to the state meet. Sophomores Mackenzie Knuckey of Southwestern and Delaney Rennhack of Dodgeland are the top two returning individuals after fourth and fifth place finishes last year, respectively. Sophomore Jaycie Oberle of Boyceville (seventh) and Paxtyn Duellman of Cochrane-Fountain City are the only other two returning top 10 finishers. Senior Inez Schmidt from Cameron has placed in the top 16 in each of the past three years with a sixth place finish in 2024.
Five teams from last year’s Division 3 top 10 will compete at this year’s state boys race. Phillips lost its top three runners to graduation, but is back after placing third a year ago. Marathon has four of its top five runners returning to build on its fourth place finish, while Cadott also has four runners back from a fifth place team finish. Brookwood returns all five of its top runners from last year’s sixth place team. Sheboygan Lutheran is back in the field after placing 10th last season. Senior Nolan Waltz of Three Lakes/Phelps is the top returning Division 3 competitor, placing runner-up last season and eighth in 2024. Other returning top 10 finishers include Wisconsin Rapids Assumption sophomore Michael Dolan, who placed fourth, Cadott senior Beau Steinke, who was sixth, and Manitowoc Roncalli senior Elliott Onesti, who was 10th.
The WIAA contributed to this article
