Athens boy runners race champs

Stratford girl competitors win the meet

By Casey Krautkramer

The Athens varsity boys cross country team captured the Auburndale Invite championship on Oct. 5, by beating host Auburndale by 28 points.

Athens scored a team-low 43 points, followed by second-place Auburndale with 71. Stratford took third place with 76 points, Pittsville fourth with 94, Rib Lake fifth with 101 and Marshfi eld Columbus sixth with 105.

Bluejays sophomore Nathan Wolf was the top local boys runner with a third-place finish at the Auburndale Invite in 18 minutes, three seconds. Athens sophomore Andrew Schaer placed fifth in 18:13, senior Brooks Kraus eighth in 18:29, freshman Nicholas Pittman 10th in 18:41, Connor Sheahan 17th in 19:17 and Garrett Knot 48th in 25:13.

Stratford freshman Cree Defoe was the top Tigers runner with a seventhplace finish in 18:17. Tigers junior Lance Krieg placed 11th in 18:45, freshman Ethan Heeg 12th in 18:46, senior Brett Bangart 15th in 19:03, freshman Caden Foster 35th in 21:14, senior Tanner Oertel 38th in 21:33, freshman Derek Weise 39th in 21:59, sophomore Logan Wright 46th in 23:36, sophomore Brandon Gebelein 50th in 27:10 and freshman Connor Ostricki 51st in 28:31.

Stratford’s varsity girls cross country squad won the Auburndale Invite title with a low score of 15 points, well ahead of second-place Rib Lake with 50. The other schools, including Athens, didn’t have complete teams to score points.

Tigers junior Ella Heidmann was the top local girls runner with a third-place finish in 21:19, followed by Athens freshman Brianna Sheahan placing fourth in 22:08 and Stratford freshman Kayla Casperson taking fifth in 22:13.

Stratford freshman Breleigh Skaya placed seventh in 22:35, senior Sarah Zuelke was eighth in 22:46, sophomore Kressa Wenzel ninth in 22:57, freshman Samantha Mielke 10th in 22:57 and senior Lydia Goldbach 11th in 23:14.

Athens junior Addyson Zettler took 14th place in 24:28. Stratford junior Lexie Christopherson placed 19th in 25:17, senior Cecilia DeFoe 21st in 26:32 and freshman Haley Woodford 26th in 27:54. Malaina Telschow of Athens placed 27th in 28:31.

Red Raiders in Seymour

Marathon’s varsity girls cross country team took fifth place out of nine teams competing in the Small Schools Division at the Seymour Invitational on Oct. 7.

Red Raiders senior Julianna Thurs took ninth place in 20:44.6, senior Laci Hoeksema was 23rd in 21:51.4, senior Jada Prihoda 24th in 21:58.6, senior McKinnley Marks 38th in 22:42.2, freshman Calyse Fieri 41st in 22:50.3, freshman Shilo Blake 44th in 23:03.9 and freshman Jayden Henrichs 48th in 23:25.

Marathon’s varsity boys cross country squad took sixth place out of nine teams running in the Small Schools Division at the Seymour Invitational.

Red Raiders sophomore Jacob Smith took eighth place in 17:43.3, junior Jaron Gage was 15th in 18:21.2, sophomore Derek Veseley 21st in 18:28.9, sophomore Dylan Dodson 35th in 19:28, senior Owen Marks 36th in 19:29.1, junior Pierson Hamann 42nd in 19:57.3 and junior Ian Blake 43rd in 19:58.9.

The Athens, Edgar, Marathon and Stratford boys and girls cross country teams will compete in the Marawood Conference championship races this Thursday, Oct. 14, at a farm on Moonlight Lance three miles south of Phillips. The high school varsity boys race starts at 4 p.m. and the high school varsity girls race begins at 4:45 p.m. The combined junior varsity race is at 5:15 p.m.

Individual high school boy and girl runners who place first though eighth will receive first team All-Marawood Conference this season. Boys and girls who place ninth through 16th will receive second team all-conference and those who finish in 17th through 24th places will be honorable mention allconference.