Girls, Richter stay unbeaten at Marshfield; Hraby a speedy sixth

MEDFORD CROSS COUNTRY

The Medford Raiders made it three for three in girls cross country Tuesday, running past Stratford and Marshfield to win the overall and Large Schools divisional titles at the Marshfield Invitational held at Wildwood Park.

With their top seven runners among the top 22 finishers in a field of 97 runners, the Raiders totaled 52 points to beat Stratford by 15 and Marshfield by 32 on the last day of a late summer heat wave that prompted Marshfield to push back the race start times to try to beat that heat just a little bit.

Meredith Richter also made it three for three individually, winning the girls race in 20:12.7. She held a comfortable 13.5-second margin over Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Rory Salveson, while Marshfield’s Natalie Scharenbroch was third in 20:33.1.

Sophomore Lindsay Kahn continued her strong start to the fall, placing sixth in 21:52.4, while senior Ella Daniels just missed the top 10, taking 11th in 22:19.4, 4.1 seconds behind Brianna Sheahan of Athens.

Morgan Liske was 17th in 23:12.2 and freshman Willow Dassow had her best race of the young season, earning Medford’s fifth scoring spot with a 20th-place finish in 23:18.1. Mallory Richter was 21st in 23:31.4, Ella Dassow was 22nd in 23:33.6 and Lillie Gleichauf took 38th in 24:43.2.

The Rhinelander Hodags were fourth in the team standings with 138 points and third in the Large School Division. Sparta was fifth overall with 165 points, followed by Marathon (170), Wittenberg-Birnamwood (189), Tomah (204), Wisconsin Rapids (220), Auburndale (247), Abbotsford (293), Columbus Catholic (314) and Spencer (378). There were four incomplete teams represented in the race.

Tuesday’s meet was the first for Medford with a varsity and JV split. The JV team placed second out of three scoring teams with 44 points, only trailing Marshfield (18). Stratford was third with 79 points.

Senior Kylie Potvin led the Raiders with a fourth-place time of 25:19.9 that left her not far behind runner-up Hayley Schiek of Rhinelander (25:09.2) and thirdplace runner Lauryn Katzenberger of Marshfield (25:16.6). Ava Raab of Marshfield won in 23:54.4.

Esmeralda Anderson cracked the top 10 in a field of 51 with her time of 26:44.5. Amy Espinoza was 16th in 27:20.3, Kayla Daniels was 17th in 27:20.4 and Riley Clark was 19th in 27:43.8 as Medford’s fifth scorer. Lexi Hraby added a 33rdplace finish in 30:08.4, Abbie Marzinske was 36th in 30:29.7 and Lauren Stark was 37th at 30:40.8.

Medford’s varsity boys team placed seventh overall out of 14 scoring teams with 163 points and ranked fourth in the Large Schools Division.

Senior Tanner Hraby led the Raiders by posting his fastest time of the early season. He took sixth out of 107 runners in 17:48.9, just ahead of Pittsville’s Derek Grossman (17:50.1). No one was catching Columbus Catholic standout Isaac Scheer, who won in 16:49.2. Marshfield’s Owen Hoerneman was second in 17:24.1, while Cree DeFoe of Stratford (17:31.9), Greyson Gremban of Rhinelander (17:42.7) and Luke Eiden of Stevens Point Pacelli (17:43.1) rounded out the top five.

Seniors Logan Gubser (20:20) and Nick Steliga (20:21.9) worked off each other to place 35th and 36th. Brandon Curtis had his third straight solid race for Medford by taking 47th in 20:55.5 and Peyton Ried was the fifth scorer, taking 49th in 21:12.8.

Hudson Briggs knocked 18 seconds off his time from a week earlier at Mosinee and placed 55th for Medford in 21:30.4, Evan Pagel was 82nd in 23:15.7 and Cullen Jones was 97th in 25:01.

Small schools Pacelli (84) and Marathon (117) topped the overall team standings, while Rhinelander was third with 121 points and won the Large Schools title. Stratford was fourth with 144 points, beating Wisconsin Rapids by four. Sparta was sixth with 151 points, just ahead of Medford’s 163.

Columbus Catholic was eighth with 172 points, followed by Athens (189), Tomah (194), Pittsville (227), Wittenberg-Birnamwood (294), Merrill (312) and Auburndale (370). Marshfield and Spencer both had only four finishers.

Medford was second in the JV team standings with 43 points, trailing Marshfield’s 21 points. Tomah was third with 70 points and Wisconsin Rapids was fourth with 92.

Will Daniels, a sophomore, returned from injury and led the Raiders in his cross country debut with a ninth-place time of 22:46 that was one second ahead of 10th-place runner Sam Bannan of Tomah. Rylee Duckart of Port Edwards won in 20:32.1, well ahead of Marathon’s Brayden Pinter (21:51.5).

Freshman Jordan Lavin ran his first high school race and took 11th in 22:57.5, Silas Briggs was 12th in 23:01.4, improving by 1:34 over his Aug. 29 race, and Hunter Briggs was 14th in 23:36.3, improving by 58 seconds. Also competing for the first time, Ayden Tyznik was 18th in 24:20.2, while Nevyn Gripentrog was 21st in 24:28.1 to set a new best time for the season. Logan Langdon was 25th out 47 runners in 24:52.5, a new best by 16 seconds, and Cash Carbaugh was 42nd in 28:00.4.

Medford’s boys were sixth in the middle school race, led by Corbyn Radlinger, who was 10th in 13:40, and Ace Arndt, who was 39th in 14:30. The Raider girls were eighth, led by Taytem Brahmer, who was 14th in 14:50.

Medford’s next big meet is at Colby Saturday. The 10:30 a.m. meet will give the Raiders a look at their sectional course, though most team members have become quite familiar with the course over the years.

The Smiley Invitational in Wausau is also on the horizon on Sept. 16.

Hudson Briggs