Athens boys 13th again at state

Squad ran at state second straight year

By Casey Krautkramer

The Athens varsity boys cross country squad took 13th place at the warmer- than-usual WIAA Division 3 state tournament race on Saturday, held at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, for the second straight season.

Athens qualified for the state tournament after winning its second consecutive WIAA Division 3 sectional championship the previous week at Erbach Park in Athens.

Korey Rottscheit is the team’s head cross country coach and Karla Erickson is the assistant coach. Piper Wagner is the team’s manager.

On Saturday, Athens senior Connor Sheahan took fifth place overall in the WIAA Division 3 state tournament race to garner a spot on the state podium. He ran the state race in 16 minutes, 28.6 seconds. He was ranked as the ninth best Division 3 boys runner going into the state tournament race.

His senior Athens teammate, Nathan Wolf, placed 59th at the state race in 18:01.2.

Bluejays junior Andrew Schaer finished the state race 77th in 18:15.1. Athens freshman Riley Schultz-Becker took 80th place in 19:31.8.

Athens runners Brandon Krause, Eli Paul and Drew Haines also competed in the state tournament boys race. Garrett Knott is also a member of the Athens boys cross country squad.

Other local state runners

Edgar senior Morgan Schnelle capped off her solid high school cross country running career with a 77thplace finish in the state girls race on Saturday.

Stratford sophomore boy Cree De-Foe placed 73rd in his first time running at the state tournament.

Marathon senior boy Jaron Gage took 85th place in the state race on Saturday in his final high school cross country race.