WIAA Division 2 and 3 state cross country preview

What: The 112th running of the WIAA boys state cross country meet and the 50th running of the girls state cross country meet.

Where: The Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids.

When: Saturday, Nov. 2. The girls Division 3 race is at noon, followed by the girls Division 2 race at 12:40 p.m. The Division 3 boys race is at 2 p.m., followed by the Division 2 boys race at 2:35 p.m.

Who: In Division 2, Medford’s Lindsay Kahn is a sectional champion and will start in lane 10 in the girls race. In Division 3, the Prentice-Rib Lake Hawks are a sectional team champion and will start in lane 12 in the boys race.

Tickets: The WIAA uses GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $9 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. Buy tickets at www.wiaawi.org/Tickets.

Division 3 boys

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include Prentice-Rib Lake, Solon Springs-Northwood, Stratford, La Crosse Aquinas, Cedar Grove-Belgium, Iowa-Grant, Valders and St. Ambrose-Abundant Life Christian. Sectional runners-up include Phillips, Unity, Bonduel, Necedah, Pardeeville, Boscobel, Manitowoc Lutheran and Dodgeland.

Kohler won the 2022 and 2023 state titles, but the Blue Bombers were bumped up to Division 2 this year. Five teams that placed in last year’s top eight are back, including runner-up Solon Springs-Northwood, which returns five runners from last year’s team. Cedar Grove-Belgium returns six runners from last year’s third-place team. Aquinas and Phillips both return four runners from teams that placed fourth and sixth, respectively, last year.

Prentice-Rib Lake and Phillips, who finished one-two at the Cadott sectional Saturday, are the top two teams in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Division 3 state rankings. Cedar Grove-Belgium was ranked third at season’s end and Aquinas fourth.

Potential individual contenders (from WIAA preview): The race for the individual crown in Division 3 features five top-10 finishers returning from last year’s championships. Senior Taylor Karcz of Crandon is the top returning runner after finishing runner-up last year. He should again contend for the crown this year. Senior Gavin Stewart of Ladysmith finished fourth in 2022 and added a fifth-place effort last season. He also qualified as a freshman, finishing 55th in 2021. Senior Isaac Scheer of Columbus Catholic is also back after placing sixth last season. In addition, seniors Isaac Dickenson of Solon Springs-Northwood and Matthew Wilterdink of Oostburg were eighth and ninth in 2023, respectively. Wilterdink also qualified in 2022 and finished 35th.

Qualifiers that were sectional champions last week that may finish among the leaders are Senior Declan Gregg of Aquinas, who was 11th last year; senior Bret Connolly of Iowa-Grant, who was 35th a year ago; junior Gavin Esterholm of Phillips, who was 18th last season; junior Ben Beck of Iola-Scandinavia, who was 55th last season; sophomore Nolan Waltz of Three Lakes, who was 22nd last year; and sophomore David Simon of St. Ambrose Academy/ Abundant Life Christian.

Prentice-Rib Lake’s Jack Regier ran at state last year, finishing 38th in 17:22.6.

Division 2 girls

Potential individual contenders (from WIAA preview): In Division 2, three of the top six finishers at last year’s state meet return in pursuit of the individual crown this season, including 2022 champion and 2021 runner-up Faith Wehrman, a senior from New Berlin Eisenhower. She aims to challenge for another title after slipping to sixth a year ago. Sophomore Clara Hartman of Bloomer returns to contend for the title after placing third last year. Junior Emmerson Drobac of Deerfield-Cambridge is among the contenders for the title coming off a fifth-place finish last season and a ninth-place standing in 2022. Senior Nora Jillson of Boscobel, a three-time qualifier in Division 3, moves up to Division 2 to challenge for the individual title. She was 12th last season, runner-up in 2022 and sixth in 2021. Other qualifiers that could possibly challenge for a medal based on their sectional championships last weekend are junior Lindsay Kahn of Medford, who 87th last season; senior Bella Grenier of University School of Milwaukee, a fourtime qualifier who placed 11th last season, 13th in 2022 and 15th in 2021; senior Ashley Wilson of Little Chute, another four-time qualifier who was 16th last year, 15th in 2022 and 32nd in 2021; senior Erin Moore of Lourdes Academy, who was 16th the past two seasons in Division 3 and 46th in 2021.