Hawks sneak into second place at Barron; Orysen is 21st

HAWKS CROSS COUNTRY

MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

The Bloomer Blackhawks weren’t going to be caught Thursday, but the Prentice- Rib Lake Hawks did the next best thing, outscoring Frederic-Luck by one point to take second in the boys side of the Barron Cross Country Invitational.

The Hawks edged Frederic-Luck 97-98 to secure the second spot in the standings behind Bloomer, who ran away with the title with just 28 points. The Blackhawks had three of the top four finishers in the field of 105 and had all five scorers within the top 14.

The Hawks got a ninth-place effort from their leader, Kaleb Scott, and then got their top six finishers within the top 30. Frederic-Luck’s scorers finished between 13th and 27th.

Compared to the Hawks’ two previous meets, the Barron course was not one conducive to overly fast times as no one set a season-best. In the boys race, the Hawks’ depth continued to impress. Not only did they put six runners in the top 30, five more were 58th or better.

Scott finished in 18:19.04 to easily assure himself a spot in the top 10. He was 14.04 seconds ahead of 10th-place runner Josh Swint of Cumberland. Shell Lake’s Logan Christel was eighth in 18:09.41. Bloomer’s Lucas Anderson won it in 16:54.34. Baldwin-Woodville’s Ian Findlay was second in 17:11.52, followed by Anders Michaelsen (17:18.71) and Seth Rogge (17:24.12) of Bloomer.

Hagan Isaacson pushed his way to the second spot in the Hawks lineup with a time of 19:29.24 that was good for 16th place. He wasn’t too far off his season-best of 19:12.1. Heston Hueckman also moved up the team ladder, taking its third spot with a 23rd-place time of 19:47.01, just ahead of teammate Jack Regier, (19:54.79). Henry Regier was the fifth scorer, placing 29th at 20:16.87, one spot ahead of Elijah Scott (20:20.9).

Jeremy Wiitala and Eliah Harding came in 36th and 37th at 20:54.16 and 20:58.4. Seamus Highfill was a solid 43rd in 21:17.81, Truman Smith was 55th in 21:47.68 and Jackson Schutt was 58th in 21:56.13. Matthew Schmidt came in 61st at 22:14.73, one spot ahead of Connor Highfill (22:15.11).

Rounding things out for the Hawks were Hardy Hueckman, 66th at 22:29.17; Aidan Hause, 73rd at 23:17.65; Korbin Thums, 86th at 24:16.67; Riley Johnson, 87th at 24:21.8, and Nick Nikkila, 98th at 25:46.86.

Shell Lake was fourth in the team standings with 113 points, followed by Spooner (118), Cameron (157), Cadott (193), Baldwin-Woodville (196), Cumberland (206), Birchwood (244) and St. Croix Falls (273).

Kylie Orysen led Prentice-Rib Lake’s trio of varsity girls with a 21st-place finish in a field of 91 runners. Her time was 23:10.72. Olivia Lopez was 29th at 23:51.65 and Kylee Suess was 80th at 30:46.77.

Bloomer’s Ciara Hartman easily won the race in 18:15.32, well ahead of Cameron’s Inez Schmidt (20:11.19). Bloomer dominated the girls race too, totaling just 26 points to beat Baldwin-Woodville (73) and Cameron (85). The Blackhawks put all five of their scorers in the top 10. Aliya Hartman was third in 20:16.3 and Briella Hartman was fifth in 21:04.1. They sandwiched fourth-place runner Adison Wilde of Baldwin-Woodville (21:02.58).

Cadott was fourth with 139 points, followed by Barron (151), Cumberland (161), St. Croix Falls (168), Bruce (177), Shorewood (186) and Shell Lake (282).

The Hawks were sixth in the middle school girls race, led by Ella Orysen, seventh in 13:41.73, and Molly Adams, ninth in 13:43.5. They were eighth in the boys race, led by Dene Zuleger’s 15th-place time of 12:37.06.

Prentice-Rib Lake will next head to Athens for that annual invitational today, Thursday. The meet starts at 4 p.m. The Hawks will be at the Auburndale meet on Tuesday and the Thorp meet, a new trip for them, on Oct. 5.