Hawks win inaugural Thorp meet; Marawood meet is today
HAWKS CROSS COUNTRY
The Thorp Cardinals hosted their first-ever cross country invitational Thursday and the Prentice-Rib Lake Hawks found the course to their liking, setting several season-best times and winning the boys team competition.
The Hawks had nine of the top 17 boys finishers to dominate the seventeam meet held on the Conley property southeast of Thorp. Prentice-Rib Lake compiled just 40 team points to easily outscore Stanley-Boyd (77), Cadott (81), Owen-Withee (88), Thorp (114) and Augusta (125). Lake Holcombe did not have a full team.
Hawk junior Jack Regier had an outstanding race, finishing second in a field of 56 runners, 20 of whom were from Prentice-Rib Lake. Regierâs time of 18:03.3 was the fastest of his high-school career and put him 8.6 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Colton Paczkowski of Owen-Withee. Stanley-Boydâs Lucas Walker won the race in 17:36 and Oriole Zach Haas was fourth in 18:14.7.
But after that, the black uniforms of the Hawks flooded the finish area.
Kaleb Scott, for the first time this fall, wasnât the teamâs top finisher, but he was a solid second on the team and fifth overall at 18:21. Sophomore Heston Hueckman continued to force his way into varsity consideration in the upcoming meets by finishing ninth at a season-best 18:49.7 and freshman Henry Regier was 11th in 18:59.2.
Freshman Hagan Isaacson was the Hawksâ fifth and final scorer, placing 13th at 19:13. He led a pack of Hawks that took five straight places and included Elijah Scott (19:15.2), Donovan Sutherland (19:23.9), Jeremy Wiitala (19:56.3) and Eliah Harding (20:10.7).
Seamus Highfill led the next wave of Hawks who took eight spots between 21st and 33rd place. Highfill was 21st in a season-best 20:27.6, Jackson Schutt was 23rd in a season-best 20:43.7, Matthew Schmidt was 24th in 20:44.5, Truman Smith took 25th in a personal-best 20:46 and Aidan Hause was 27th at 20:57.7. Hardy Hueckman came in 30th at 21:04.3, Korbin Thums was 31st at a personalbest 21:06.1 and Connor Highfill was 33rd at 21:09.2.
Rounding things out for the Hawks were Nick Nikkila, 47th in 22:48; Riley Johnson, 49th in 23:20.9, and Kevin Head, 51st in a new best time of 23:50.8.
Kylie Orysen was back for girls competition and she gave herself momentum going into the seasonâs biggest meets with a time of 22:04.9 that put her in second place in the field of 24 runners. The only runner faster was Thorpâs Shaylie Zarza, who won handily in 21:10.3. Orysen was 14.2 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Jaycee Stephens of Cadott, while Stanley-Boydâs Lucy Wundrow was fourth in 23:02.8.
Hawk sophomore Kylee Suess was 12th in her best time of 26:04.4.
Cadott outscored Augusta 19-36 to win the girls team title. The Hawks, Thorp, Stanley-Boyd and Owen-Withee were incomplete.
In middle school competition, Prentice-Rib Lakeâs boys were second with 36 points, five more than champion Thorp and 17 better than third-place Stanley-Boyd. Dene Zuleger won the race in 11:20.4, Mason Hause (12:29.5) was fourth, Cade Paul (12:47.2) was ninth, Luke Orysen (13:22.6) was 12th and Waylon Thielke (14:36.6) was 17th. The girls also placed second, totaling 47 points, 13 behind Stanley-Boyd. Augusta had 57 points and Thorp had 94. Molly Adams was second for the Hawks in 13:01.9, trailing Augustaâs Laney OâBrien (12:21.1). Ella Orysen (13:32.2) was eighth, Mackenzie Lyons (13:44) was 11th, Statia Isaacson (13:52.3) was 12th and Elsa Schuetz (14:50.2) was 19th.
The seasonâs biggest meets start tonight, Thursday, for Prentice-Rib Lake with the Marawood Conference championships, which start at 4 p.m. at Frey Field just outside of Spencer. Stratford is the host team for this yearâs meet. Phillips is the defending boys champion and the Loggers certainly look like contenders again, though the Hawks have had some good races with them over the course of the season. Assumption is the defending girls champion.
The Hawks then will head to the WIAA Division 3 Solon Springs-Northwood sectional on Saturday, Oct. 21.
