WIAA Division 2 and 3 state cross country preview

What: The 110h running of the WIAA boys state cross country meet and the 49th running of the girls state cross country meet.

Where: The Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids. When: Saturday, Oct. 29. The girls Division 3 race is at noon, followed by the girls Division 2 race at 12:40 p.m. The Division 2 boys race is at 2:35 p.m.

Who: In Division 2, the Medford Raiders qualified for girls team competition and will start in lane 19, while Tanner Hraby qualified individually and will start in lane 11 in the boys race. In Division 3, Prentice-Rib Lake’s Kylie Orysen qualified individually and will start in lane 15.

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 2 girls

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include Medford, Amery, Shawano, Appleton Xavier, Dodgeville-Mineral Point, Watertown Luther Prep, Port Washington and New Berlin Eisenhower. Sectional runners-up include West Salem, Osceola, Freedom, Green Bay Notre Dame, Monroe, Lakeside Lutheran, Kewaskum and Shorewood.

Dodgeville-Mineral Point is the defending Division 2 state champion and returns six runners from that team. Shorewood was last year’s runner-up and has four runners back. Freedom was third, Notre Dame was fifth, Xavier was seventh, Medford was eighth, Eisenhower was ninth and Amery was 10th last fall. Medford and Eisenhower bring back four runners from last year’s state race.

At the end of the 2022 regular season, Dodgeville-Mineral Point, Xavier and Notre Dame were the top three ranked teams in the state by the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association, followed by Freedom and Osceola. Medford was ranked 12th.

Potential individual contenders (from WIAA preview): A number of returning runners should be in the hunt for the individual crown, including six that placed in the top 10 a year ago. The top returning runner is sophomore Faith Wehrman of New Berlin Eisenhower, who was runner-up as a freshman. Junior Nora Gremban of Northland Pines, who finished third behind Wehrman, and sophomore Ellie Robinson of Dodgeville/ Mineral Point, who was fourth, should also contend for the individual championship. Senior Rachel Ulrich of Osceola returns after finishing in a familiar spot last season. She placed fifth for the third consecutive season. Also returning to the field is sophomore Annie Robinson, twin sister of Ellie, placed seventh in 2021. In addition, senior Fran Peterson of Barron is back after finishing ninth a year ago following a 10th-place result in 2020. Senior Mya Hartjes of University School of Milwaukee returns to the State meet for the fourth time. She fell to 103rd last season after placing eighth in 2020 and 11th in 2019. Other contenders that could possibly challenge for a medal based on their sectional championships, including one with a top-20 finish last year, are freshman Emmerson Drobac of Deerfield/Cambridge; sophomore Britt Fitzgerald of Mosinee; junior Lilie Fouts of Xavier; junior Abigail Sadler of Mount Horeb; and junior Sophie Yetter of Winneconne, who placed 11th last season after placing sixth as a freshman in 2020.

Division 2 boys

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include Mauston, Lakeland, Osceola, Green Bay Notre Dame, Winneconne, McFarland, Lakeside Lutheran and Shorewood. Sectional runners-up include West Salem, Shawano, Northwestern, Appleton Xavier, Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Monroe, Clinton and Waukesha Catholic Memorial.

Shorewood is the defending champion, Notre Dame was last year’s runner-up and Osceola took third. West Salem was seventh in 2021, Shawano was eighth and Lakeside Lutheran was 10th. Notre Dame, Osceola, Shawano and Lakeside Lutheran all bring back five state runners from a year ago.

Lakeside Lutheran, Notre Dame, Xavier and Shorewood were the state’s top four ranked teams at the end of the regular season.

Potential individual contenders (from WIAA preview): In Division 2, just two individuals return after placing in the top 10 last season. The most notable is senior Eli Boppart of Mauston, who should again contend for the title after finishing runner-up last season and seventh in 2020. Senior Riley Huss of Little Chute should challenge for a position on the medal podium after placing ninth the past two seasons. Senior Isaac Nowak of Notre Dame is also back after he finished just outside the top 10 last year in the 11th spot. Other qualifiers that won their sectionals last week, including a couple that finished within the top 20 a year ago, that may be in the running for the State title are junior Owen Clark of Lakeland, who finished 20th last year; senior Kyle Giricz of Catholic Memorial; senior Connor Murphy of Sheboygan Falls; senior Alex Pazdernik of Ellsworth; senior Joseph Stoddard of Mount Horeb, junior Cameron Weiland of Lakeside Lutheran, who was 13th last season; and freshman Grant Wenzelow of Winneconne.

Division 3 girls

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include Phillips, Bonduel, Eau Claire Regis, Cochrane-Fountain City, Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, Oshkosh Lourdes Academy, Boscobel and Dodgeland. Sectional runnersup include Chequamegon, Colby, Colfax, Kickapoo-La-Farge, Laconia, Valders, Lancaster and Cedar Grove-Belgium.

Boscobel is the defending state champion, while Valders was the 2021 runner-up. Lourdes was third, Kickapoo-LaFarge was fourth, Lancaster was sixth and Assumption was 10th in last year’s meet. Assumption was the runaway winner in this year’s Marawood Conference meet and Pacelli sectional. Boscobel has five runners back from last year. Valders and Lourdes have all seven state runners back from a year ago.

Lourdes, Assumption and Boscobel were the state’s top three ranked teams at the end of the regular season.

Potential individual contenders (from WIAA preview): Division 3 defending champion, senior Elsie Kmecak of Catholic Central, is one of seven runners that placed in the top 10 last season returning to this year’s race. Her stiffest challenges for a repeat title could come from junior Autumn Michalski of Chequamegon, who placed third last year, or sophomore Hannah Welch of Valders, who was fourth. Sophomore Nora Jillson of Boscobel should also be considered a contender after placing sixth a year ago, as should junior Marah Gruen of Royall, who was seventh after a 14th-place performance in 2020. Junior Halle Van Horn of Random Lake may also be among the leaders after placing ninth last year, which came on the heels of a runner-up finish in 2020. In addition, senior Ann Boland of Unity seeks to improve on her 10th-place standing in 2021.

Other runners that have had past success in the medal chase are senior Jenna Anders of Fall Creek, who placed sixth in 2020 and 34th last season, and junior Autumn Jacks of Kickapoo/La Farge, who placed 44th in 2021 after finishing 10th two years ago. Other runners with State experience may also be among the leaders. Senior Molly Heidorn of Colfax is a four-time qualifier. She placed 19th a year ago after finishing fourth in 2020 and fifth in 2019. Another group of qualifiers who could be in contention for a top-10 finish based on their sectional titles last week are freshmen Lucy Dolan of Assumption, Addy Duellman of Cochrane- Fountain City and Addison May of Crandon; and sophomore Erin Moore of Lourdes Academy.

Brooke Rudolph reaches the top of a hill just over two miles into Saturday’s girls race at Black River Falls.

Meredith Richter has the finish line in sight as she completes her second-place run in Saturday’s sectional.