Tiger boys third, Raiders fourth at Nightfall Classic

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford’s varsity boys cross country squad took third place among 16 small schools that had full teams at Friday’s Nightfall Classic 715 at RiversEdge Golf Course in Marshfield. There were a total of 23 small schools with runners in the race. The Marathon boys placed fourth.

Tigers head coach Kevin “Tiny” Michalski was pleased with his boys team’s performance.

“The guys ran great,” he said. “We had seven of the 11 runners obtain their best times of the year so far. Taking third was a great finish for the team with all the tough competition that was at this meet.”

Phillips won both the small school boys and girls Nightfall Classic 715 team championships, just like they both won Marawood Conference championships last season. The Cedar Grove-Belgium boys cross country squad, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 3 in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches poll, took second place at the Nightfall Classic 715.

The Prentice/Rib Lake boys cross country squad, which didn’t compete in the Nightfall Classic 715, are ranked No. 2 in Division 3. The Phillips boys are ranked No. 5, Marathon No. 7 and Stratford No. 9. There are so many Marawood Conference boys teams ranked high in Division 3 this season that it’ll be an interesting conference championship race at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, hosted by Prentice/Rib Lake at Timms Hill.

Michalski still likes his Stratford boys team’s chances of competing for a conference title this season.

“Phillips and Prentice/Rib Lake are both great teams who are ranked in the top five in the state, but if we can stay healthy, I believe we can give them a run at the conference meet,” he said. “We have only had a full team in two meets this year so hopefully by the time the conference race rolls around, we will be at full strength.”

Stratford senior Cree DeFoe placed the highest, ninth, among local runners. There were 164 small school boy runners competing in the Nightfall Classic 715. DeFoe ran the 5,000-meter race in 16 minutes, 49.40 seconds. Marathon sophomore Logan Peters was the next highest local boys competitor by taking 12th place in 17:29.20. Stratford senior Ethan Heeg placed 17th in 17:50.30 and Marathon sophomore Brady Annis was 19th in 17:52.

See CROSS COUNTRY/ page 10

SISTERS COMPETE - Marathon sisters Calyse, left, and Aubrey Fieri run next to each other at a meet in Marshfield earlier this season.

PHOTO BY ROSS PATTERMANN Cross country

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Tigers freshman Jayden DeFoe took 32nd place in 18:30.80 and his sophomore teammate, Christopher Stuttgen, was 39th in 18:37.40. Marathon junior John Kahon placed 40th in 18:37.80 and his junior teammate, Gavin Matthiae, was 44th in 18:40.

Stratford freshman Joey Cable placed 48th in 18:48.30 and junior Cooper Bosmans was 49th in 18:51.80. Marathon sophomore Matthew Kindlarski took 50th place in 18:53.80.

Tigers junior Calvin Rasmussen took 54th place in 19:00.10 and senior Derek Wiese was 56th in 19:02.60. Red Raiders freshman Brevyn Johnson placed 65th in 19:16.50 and Tigers freshman Henry Heeg was 69th in 19:25.70. Marathon junior Ethan Huebsch took 76th place in 19:36.

Stratford freshman Theodore Hiebl took 98th place in 20:25.90. Marathon freshman Alec Miller took 100th place in 20:33.40 and junior Brayden Pintor was 103rd in 20:36.10. Red Raiders freshman Ywv Pheng Vang placed 123rd in 21:34.80 and junior Nicholas Falkowski was 136th in 22:44.60. Tigers freshman Daniel McMeeken placed 141st in 23:15.10.

Girls run in Nightfall Classic

Stratford’s varsity girls cross country team took fifth place among 13 full small school teams competing in Friday’s Nightfall Classic 715. The Marathon girls placed 11th. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption’s girls cross country squad, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 3, took second place behind meet champion Phillips.

Stratford senior Kayla Casperson placed the highest, eighth, among local runners. There were 144 small school girl runners competing in the Nightfall Classic 715. Casperson ran the race in 19:59.60. Marathon senior Shilo Blake was the next highest local girls competitor by taking ninth place in 20:35.90.

Tigers senior Breleigh Skaya took 18th place in 21:18.90. Stratford sophomore Breleigh Shanks fnished with a time of 22:36.10, followed by senior teammate Samantha Mielke placing 45th in 22:42.40. Stratford junior Kaylie McHugh took 63rd place in 23:33.10. Marathon sophomore Aubrey Fieri took 64th place in 23:33.40. Tigers junior Lilly Dabbert placed 67th in 23:45.30 and Red Raiders senior Jayden Henrichs was 84th in 24:50.50.

Marathon junior Mya Yach placed 92nd in 25:23.50 and freshman Bristal Bauman was 95th in 25:52.60. Stratford junior Hayden Fecker finished 98th in 25:56.10. Red Raiders senior Addie Molepske took 102nd place in 26:07.20 and her senior teammate, Cayden Sapinski, placed 103rd in 26:07.20. Tigers sophomore Avery Skays placed 104th in 26:09.50 and sophomore Ali Anna Bohman was 105th in 26:24.80.

Stratford freshman Brooke Varsho took 114th place in 27:13.60 and sophomore Kassedey Downey was 117th in 27:29.70. Marathon sophomore Greenly Treankler placed 118th in 27:33 and junior Addison Baesman was 122nd in 28:40.60.

Tigers sophomore Chloe Post placed 127th in 30:11.20. Red Raiders senior Kennedy Blake placed 128th in 30:38.10 and Tigers senior Haley Woodford was 129th in 30:59.50. Marathon senior Katie Cliver took 135th place in 33:20.20. Stratford sophomore Savanna Kobs placed 138th in 33.43.10 and junior Sylvia McMeeken was 143rd in 37:09.30.

Wildcats in Westfield Classic

Edgar junior boys cross country runner Cade Koch took seventh place among 59 competitors in Thursday’s Westfield Classic. He finished the race in 18:35.20. The Wildcat boys placed sixth among eight teams competing in the meet.

Wildcats junior Dillan Sondelski placed 12th in 19:29.80. Freshman Fynn Olsted took 34th place in 21:41.60, junior Isaac Reemtsma was 45th in 23:04.30, sophomore Isaac Socha 47th in 23:19.30, senior Eli Stack 55th in 25:07.20 and freshman Trevor Apfelbeck 57th in 25:57.80.

Edgar freshman Adeline Peterson led the Edgar girls with a 21st place finish in 24:12.20 among 67 competitors in the race. Junior Sam Schmidt placed 28th in 25:11.40, freshman Ashley Krause 29th in 25:14.10, sophomore Samantha Schneider 48th in 28:16.30, freshman Paige Reinders 55th in 29:39, freshman McKenzie Mueller 56th in 29:47.20, senior Kendra Mucha 57th in 30:06.80 and freshman Abby Halama 59th in 31:16.80.

Bluejays at Spencer meet

Athens senior girls cross country runner Brianna Sheahan took second place at the Spencer meet on Sept. 24 in 21:34.90. Abbotsford senior Azul Diaz took first place in 20:47.70. Athens sophomore girl Ellis Baer placed fourth in 21:47.70 among 24 runners competing in the race.

Bluejays freshman boy Ben Hartwig took third place in 18:11.90 among 30 boys competing in the race. Athens junior Eli Paul placed 12th in 20:07 and junior Brandon Krause was 13th in 21:05.70.

HUSTLING TO THE FINISH LINE - Athens junior cross country runner Eli Paul runs ahead of a Medford competitor at an earlier meet this season in Marshfield.

PHOTO BY ROSS PATTERMANN