Local runners face good competition at Athens Invite
ATHENS CC INVITE
The Prentice-Rib Lake and Thorp-Gilman cross country teams ran in unseasonably warm weather and faced good competition Thursday at the 15-team Athens Invitational held at Erbach Park.
Prentice-Rib Lake totaled 186 points and won the sixth-runner tiebreaker to place ninth in the boys standings over Columbus Catholic (186), Thorp-Gilman (270) and the incomplete teams of Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, Laona-Wabeno, Spencer and Three Lakes.
Adam Granberg had a solid day for the Hawks on the Athens course, finishing 26th out of 101 runners in 19:30.4. Jack Regier got under 20 minutes for the first time and placed 30th in 19:46.3, while Ryan Buehler set a personal-best time of 20:04.8 and was 34th.
Ben Petersen made a push toward the 21-minute barrier for the third straight meet, taking 53rd in 21:12.3, while Elijah Scott was 56th in 21:19.8, his second-best time of the fall. Reese Isaacson was 78th in 23:02.9 and Connor Highfill was 90th in 24:05.4.
For Thorp-Gilman, everyone had their second-best times of the fall. Luke Schraufnagel was 39th in 20:29.4, Braxton Starck was 52nd in 21:06.4 and Jacob Barth was 59th in 21:36.2. Daniel Mathison was 81st in 23:22.7, Walker Horgan was 84th in 23:26.5, Hunter Kodl was 93rd at 25:13.3 and Tyler Hughes was 94th in 25:14.1.
Four teams waged a competitive battle for the team championship. Tomahawk just got by Athens 85-87 to win it, while Auburndale (90) and Marathon (95) were right there. Bloomer (141), Loyal-Greenwood (171), Colby-Abbotsford (177) and Stanley-Boyd (178) were fifth through eighth.
Bloomer’s Lucas Anderson won the race in 17:31.1, earning a comfortable margin over Columbus Catholic’s Andrew Scheer (18:03.8) and Isaac Scheer (18:14.4).
Thorp-Gilman had a strong showing in the girls race, placing fifth with 183 points. Tomahawk outscored Colby-Abbotsford 37-49 to win it, while Assumption (64) and Marathon (81) were next. Prentice-Rib Lake was 10th with 243 points, just behind ninth-place Spencer (241) and eighth-place Laona-Wabeno (226). Bloomer scored 215.
Shaylie Zarza led Thorp-Gilman with her best time so far, 23:05.9, good for 23rd place out of 111 runners. Madelyn Windl was 30th with her best time of 23:23.4 and Kate Schraufnagel was 55th, just missing a season-best time at 25:17.4. Cera Philson was 90th in 28:36.4, Pepper Rae Werner was 91st at 28:43.4, Abby Krug was 95th at 29:16.9 and Rachel Boehlke was 96th at 29:21.3.
The Hawks, who did not have their usual number-one runner Kylee Goodrich, were led by Abby Schuetz, who was 59th in a personal-best 25:31.8, and Leah Thums, who was 65th in 25:50.7. JeAnn Johnson was 84th in 27:58.5, Lydia Holm was 94th in 29:10.2, Emma Orlandini was 100th in 30:25.2, Cristy Hartmann was 103rd in 30:52.1 and Ryean Gorski was 104th in 30:53.9.
Ainara Sainz De Ro of Assumption easily won the girls race in 20:10.1, while Colby-Abbotsford’s Daisy Feiten was second in 21:03.6 and Auburndale’s Jordyn Karl was third in 21:09.2.
