Hawks turn in solid times at Tuesday’s Stratford cross country meet

HAWKS CROSS COUNTRY

The Prentice-Rib Lake cross country team packed its five scorers among the top 22 boys finishers and senior Kylee Goodrich led the girls with a 21st-place finish in Tuesday’s Stratford cross coun- try meet.

The Hawks finished fourth in the girls team standings and fifth among eight boys teams represented at the meet, which was won by the Mosinee girls and Rhinelander boys.

With three runners in the top eight, the Hodags won the boys meet with a team score of 53 points, 17 places fewer than the host Tigers. Athens had 73 points led by third- and fourth-place runners Nathan Wolf and Andrew Schaer. The Blue Jays were followed by Pittsville (91), the Hawks (95), Mosinee (106) and incomplete teams from Spencer and Port Edwards.

Senior Adam Granberg led Prentice-Rib Lake with a time of 19:53.61 that put him in 15th place in a field of 51 runners. Freshman Jack Regier wasn’t far behind, taking 17th in 20:14.51. Hawks Will Hartke (20:36.77), Ryan Buehler (20:38.03) and Elijah Scott (20:52.1) finished the team’s scoring by taking 20th through 22nd.

Two more Hawks cracked the top 30 as Ben Petersen was 28th in 21:55.37 and Matthew Schmidt was 30th in 22:10.84. Reese Isaacson added a 34th-place time of 22:36.39 and Connor Highfill was 43rd at 24:21.85.

Regier, Buehler, Scott, Schmidt and Highfill all set their best times of the fall.

Rhinelander’s Cal Laggis won the race in 17:53.46, easily beating runner-up Cooper Szekeress of Mosinee (18:32.48).

With three of the top five finishers and four in the top 10, Mosinee did just enough to outscore Stratford 33-37 in the girls race. Rhinelander wasn’t far off the pace with 51 points. The Hawks edged Pittsville 124-139 for fourth. Athens and Spencer were incomplete.

Goodrich’s time of 24:32.11 was a second off her best time in the season’s first four meets and put her just under five seconds away from a top-20 finish in a field of 49. Also hitting the top 30 for the Hawks were Abby Schuetz, 27th in a season- best 25:33.88, and Leah Thums, 30th in 25:55.41.

Lydia Holm was 40th in 27:59.3 and Ryean Gorski was the team’s fifth scorer at a season-best 29:40.95, good for 42nd. Senior newcomer Emma Orlandini was 43rd in 29:50.12 and Amy Espinoza was 48th in 35:06.5.

Rhinelander freshman Sophia Miljevich won the race in 21:32.2 ahead of Mosinee senior Kate Fitzgerald (21:46.23) and Mosinee freshman Britt Fitzgerald (21:47.24).

Prentice-Rib Lake dominated the boys middle school race, scoring just 22 points to finish ahead of Stevens Point Pacelli (54), Stratford (71) and Colby (80). Henry Regier led the way by taking second in 12:32.18, while Josh Hartke was fourth, Hagen Isaacson was fifth and Eliah Harding was sixth. Hawk Kylie Orysen won the girls race in 14:04.34, while Ella Orysen was 12th.

The Hawks will head to Wausau Saturday to compete in the prestigious Smiley Invitational. One of the state’s largest regular-season meets, the Smiley Invite has been moved to a new course at Wausau East High School this year and will start at 8:30 a.m.

Prentice-Rib Lake is scheduled to attend the Barron Invitational on Tuesday.