Schmitt sets new record for Hornets in Weyauwega

By Nathaniel Underwood

Colby’s Annamarie Schmitt set a new school record, Abbotsford’s Azul Diaz notched her third top-three finish of the season, and the three local cross country teams squared away their final meet of the 2024 campaign before their respective conference meets as they competed in a field of 16 programs at the Weyauwega-Fremont Warhawk Invitational last Thursday.

Three years ago, Daisy Feiten had one of the best races in Colby cross country history, winning the 2021 Division 3 sectional meet in Athens with a time of 20:20.3 and setting a new school record for the girls’ 5K race. Though there have been several runners who have gotten close to Feiten’s time over the past few years, including Casey Reynolds’s state performance last season, the record remained untouched until last Thursday.

Schmitt, who has continually improved throughout the season, was still a decent bit off from challenging the school record heading into the meet in Weyauwega-Fremont. The junior had just set a new personal best at Levis Mound the week prior, putting in a time of 20:45.48, and while she had been cutting large chunks of time off her season best all year, the Alma Center Lincoln Invitational was the first time time she had run under 21 minutes in her career.

Another impressive performance on Thursday not only registered as Schmitt’s second sub-21 minute race but also surpassed that of any other Colby girls runner since the WIAA changed the distance of the girls cross country course from a 4K to a 5K in 2014. After cutting 23 seconds from her prior PR at Levis Mound, Schmitt made another huge leap on her record-setting day, dropping another 28 seconds from her time to finish with a new school record of 20:17.9.

Schmitt’s record setting pace was nearly identical to that of another school record holder in the race, Abbotsford’s Azul Diaz. The Falcons’ top runner continued to pile up the accolades in her senior season at the Warhawks Invitational, going toe-to-toe with Schmitt down the stretch. The pair went back-to-back earlier in the season, taking third and fourth at the Colby Invitational, and it was a similar story in Weyauwega. Only a few tenths of a second separated the two record holders, Diaz earning the edge with a time of 20:17.4, her second best race of the season. Only Bonduel’s Mariah Wondra and Wittenberg-Birnamwood's Rory Salvesen finished ahead of Diaz and Schmitt.

Colby’s Makenna Herrmann came in as the Hornets’ second runner, placing 22nd with a time of 22:20.4, a season best time for the senior runner. Veronica Mateer came in third for Colby, cutting over 40 seconds off her season best time to finish 32nd overall with a time of 23:10.4. Pearl Feiten posted a time of 24:04.3 to take 43rd for the Hornets.

Carissa Steen finished with a PR of her own as Colby’s fifth runner to finish, shaving off nine seconds from her prior personal best to take 58th with a time of 25:34.9. Jasmine and Jenelle Ertl finished back-to-back to round out Colby’s varsity squad, with the former putting up a time of 25:53.6 to earn herself 62nd and the latter cutting nearly a minute off her previous PR to take 63rd with a time of 25:56.4. The Colby girls placed seventh as a team, finishing the day with 148 points.

Abbotsford’s second runner on Thursday was Monse Ochoa, who picked up 68th place for the Falcons with a time of 26:39.2, narrowly defeating two Weyauwega-Fremont runners for the position. Asia Atkinson had her best race of the 2024 campaign as she posted a time of 26:53.9 to take 71st.

Angie Chavez served as the Falcons’ fourth runner, coming in 77th with a time of 28:30.3 and Azalea Atkinson and Sinai Tomas went back-to-back for Abbotsford, putting up times of 31:51.6 and 35:07.4 to take 80th and 81st respectively. Abbotsford finished in 12th as a team with a final score of 275.

The Colby/Abbotsford boys team also had a solid day on the course as five of their seven varsity runners finished with season best times. They took eighth overall with 204 team points.

Matthew Sprotte was just three seconds off from his PR that he set in Spencer two years ago, shaving off another eight seconds from his 2024 best time to lead the co-op with a time of 19:03.0. The performance earned him 24th place.

Miguel Bautista-Carreon continued his strong 2024 campaign with yet another week of improvement. The senior came across as the second Colby/Abby runner, posting a new personal best time of 19:29.9, a time that earned him 35th place.

Braylon Schoelzel and Jacob Raatz added two more top-50 finishes for the co-op. Schoelzel took 45th with a time of 19:58.8 and Raatz put together his best race of the season, posting a time of 20:08.0 to take 48th for Colby/Abby.

Gavin Reis and Preston Belanger also maintained their fastest paces of the year in Weyauwega as Reis put up a time of 20:18.9 to take 54th and Belanger took 68th with a time of 20:39.6. Jack Sheahan rounded out the boys’ squad with a time of 21:01.7 to take 72nd.

The Abbotsford girls team will travel to Camp Forest Springs north of Rib Lake this Thursday, Oct. 17 for the Marawood conference meet. The first race is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, the Colby girls and Colby/Abbotsford boys teams will compete in the Cloverbelt-conference meet this coming Saturday, Oct. 19th at Levis Mound outside of Neillsville. The start time for that meet is set for 10 a.m.