Thorp-Gilman CC co-op ends its season at Boyceville sectional
WIAA DIV. 3 CROSS COUNTRY
Freshman Shaylie Zarza made a run at a top-10 finish and senior Abby Krug set her best time of the year for the Thorp-Gilman girls cross country team at Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Boyceville sectional.
Zarza placed 11th in the girls field of 101 runners with her time of 21:27.8, her best of the fall. She fell 2.5 seconds shy of the top 10 and about 45 seconds shy of contending for a spot in this Saturday’s WIAA state championships.
Sophomore Madelyn Windl was 43rd for Thorp-Gilman in 23:39.4 and senior Kate Schraufnagel was 58th in 24:25.3. Krug, a Gilman senior, came in 69th at 25:19.7, which was about 13 seconds better than her previous best time of 2021. She finished in 25:32.3 at Owen-Withee on Oct. 5.
Junior Rachel Boehlke was Thorp-Gilman’s fifth scorer, finishing 88th in 27:08.3, and sophomore Pepper Rae Werner was 96th in 28:50.7.
It all added up to a 10th-place finish for the team and 226 points. The co-op beat Loyal-Greenwood (231), Boyceville (261), Cadott (300) and McDonell Central (340), while six more squads were incomplete. Colfax edged Cameron 87-90 to win the sectional championship, but both teams are headed to state. Eau Claire Regis was third with 105 points, followed by Fall Creek (135), Augusta (157), Glenwood City (166), Prairie Farm (173), St. Croix Falls (196) and Spring Valley (203).
Augusta senior Bailey Peterson completed the course at Tiffany Creek Elementary School in 19:48.4 to win the individual championship and earn a trip to state. Colfax junior Molly Heidorn was just 3.5 seconds behind Peterson, while Fall Creek junior Jenna Anders was third in 19:59.1. Also qualifying for state were fourth-place runner Eydie Myers of Eau Claire Regis (20:15.3), fifth-place runner Kendall Schutz of Glenwood City (20:29.2) and sixth-place runner Carly Borst of Regis (20:42.5).
Thorp-Gilman was 14th out of 15 scoring teams in the boys race with 336 points. Boyceville was 13 points behind and five more schools were incomplete.
Sophomore Luke Schraufnagel led the team with a 37th-place time of 19:30.5, his second sub-20 minute time of the fall. Braxton Starck was 70th out of 116 runners in 20:47.2, Walker Horgan was 80th in 21:11.7, Syrus Rondorf was 89th at 22:00.6, Jacob Barth was 93rd in 22:09.1, Daniel Mathison was 96th in 22:14.3 and Hunter Kodl was 100th in a season-best 22:17.6.
Dan Anderson of McDonell Central easily won the race in 16:03.9 and led his team to the sectional championship. Cadott’s Peter Weir was second in 17:08.7 and joined third-place runner Viktor Knigge of St. Croix Falls (17:14.7), fifthplace runner Austin Nelson of Glenwood City (17:17.4), sixth-place runner of JJ Williams of Glenwood City (17:20.2) and seventh-place runner Andrew Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (17:21.8) as the meet’s individual state qualifiers.
McDonell edged Spring Valley 7379 to win the meet. The Cardinals will head to state, led by fourth-place finisher Charlie Maier (17:15.5). Glenwood City placed third with 110 points, followed by St. Croix Falls (166), Stanley-Boyd (172), Chetek-Weyerhaeuser (200), Colfax (208), Fall Creek (222), Immanuel Lutheran (225), Cameron (237), Augusta (239), Clear Lake (255) and Cadott (283).
