WIAA DIV. 2 CROSS COUNTRY - Kahn surges to state; team seasons end at Colby sectional

WIAA DIV. 2 CROSS COUNTRY

For about the past decade, the Medford Raiders have been blessed to have at least one dominant runner at the top of their girls cross country lineup.

This year, junior Lindsay Kahn has taken her place as the next one keeping that tradition alive.

Six days after earning the Great Northern Conference’s Runner of the Year award, Kahn got another big win Friday, taking over in the second mile and earning the individual sectional championship at the WIAA Division 2 meet hosted by Colby-Abbotsford.

Seemingly hitting her stride at the right time of the 2024 season, this was Kahn’s fourth win in her last five races. Her time of 19:53.3 gave her a 6.9-second margin of victory over Shawano junior Bailey Hendricks and a 10.4-second margin over Tomahawk senior Alli Palmer.

Kahn will represent Medford at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 state championship race at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The gun will sound at 12:40 p.m.

“It really hits personally because of the fact that freshman year, eighth grade year were a struggle,” Kahn said. “Finally getting here is just remarkable.”

Kahn finished 13th in this sectional race a year ago in 20:59.2 and posted a time of 20:30.23 while taking second in this year’s Colby Invitational on Sept. 14.

She smartly didn’t go out too fast Friday and bided her time, waiting for the right time to take over. That time came around the 1.75-mile mark as the course wound in front of Colby High School and the football field.

“At the beginning I was in fifth place and I was just like, ‘well that’s all right, it’s just the first mile so nothing really to worry about’ and it was really windy at the beginning too,” Kahn said. “But then I got to the point where you get out of the woods and there’s a decline and I was still sticking with the girls. Normally by the water tower is where I struggle, but I kept telling myself, ‘keep pushing, keep going, you’ve got this.’ As I started to feel really good still I was like, ‘I think I can pass them here.’ So it was really cool to see myself out in the front.”

Kahn started to widen her lead as she hit the 2-mile mark. Coming out of the small stretch of woods before the final 300 meters, there was no question Kahn was going to win it.

“She ran smart and tough and she has the ability to be a top-15 finisher at the state meet next weekend,” Medford head coach Jake Rhyner said.

“It felt awesome,” Kahn said of running toward the finish line. “I was like, ‘this is mine. I have to push it’ and I just started cruising as soon as I got out of the woods, just gave it my all. It was awesome to come through.”

Kahn’s time was her third fastest of the season, surpassed only by the 19:41.1 she posted at the Oct. 19 GNC meet at Northland Pines and the 19:48 she had in the second meet of the year hosted by Mosinee.

“I was shooting for 19 minutes,” Kahn said. “I really wanted to get sub-20 because I have not gotten a sub-20 at this race. That was my main goal.

“I think I’ve definitely finally gotten that mileage down and finally figured it out,” she said of her late-season surge. “I’m actually not too tired, I’m definitely not telling myself to slow down.”

A year ago, as part of Medford’s statequalifying team, Kahn placed 87th out of 150 Division 2 state finishers in a time of 21:19.3. All signs point to a significant jump this time around. Kahn said the state course is one of her favorites because it is hilly, particularly in the back half, and using declines is one of her strengths.

“I personally love that course and I’m so excited to be able to go back there again,” she said. “My goal is to definitely get in the top 25.”

As a team, the Medford girls had a goal of making it to state for the sixth straight time the Raiders had competed in Division 2. But they also knew going into Friday’s meet it would probably take some luck. While all of the Raiders smashed their times from the Sept. 14 meet on this course, it was not enough as they placed fourth with 116 points, well behind the two state-qualifying scores from GNC champion Tomahawk (67) and last year’s sectional champion Shawano (68). Oconto Falls, the team Medford won a tiebreaker with last year to qualify, placed third with 104 points. Medford was well ahead of fifth-place Lakeland (141).

“We couldn’t hang with Tomahawk and Shawano, but we mixed it up with Oconto Falls and hung tough for a respectable fourth-place finish,” Rhyner said.

“We were really focusing mentally this past week just trying to get to state, trying to get second,” Kahn said. “We knew that we had to worry about those specific teams. We were like, ‘we just have to make sure we pass these people.’ Maybe next year.”

All but one of Medford’s sectional entrants could return next year.

Junior Morgan Liske had her best time of the season at 21:24, which was good for 17th place out of 79 finishers. She cut 1:13 from her Sept. 14 time on this course. Junior Mallory Richter was 31st in 22:24.4, cutting 44 seconds from earlier this season.

Ella Dassow, the lone senior in Friday’s lineup, closed her solid four-year varsity career with a time of 22:25.4 that was her second-best of the season and good for 33rd place. Dassow was 1:22 faster than she was in Colby in September. Freshman Greta Seidel emptied her tank for a personal-best time of 22:33, good for 34th and an improvement of 1:28 over September. Sophomore Willow Dassow was 38th in 22:59.5, about 1:41 faster than September, and junior Esmeralda Anderson was 42nd in 23:21.2, tying her season-best time from a week earlier and an amazing 1:50 faster than when she won the JV race at Colby in September.

Along with Kahn, the individual state qualifiers from Friday’s race were Hailey Delzer of Oconto Falls, who was fourth in 20:12.7; Lillian L’Esperance of Antigo, who was fifth in 20:29; Haylee Rusch of Seymour, who was sixth in 20:33.5, and Stella Meza of Lakeland, who was seventh in 20:46.8.

Boys place 10th

Medford’s boys team finished its 2024 season with a 10th-place team finish in Friday’s meet. The Raiders totaled 249 points. New London (76) and Rhinelander (86) earned the team state berths, while GNC champion Lakeland was third with 101 points and Menominee Indian (129) and Seymour (132) rounded out the top five.

Medford’s top runner, senior Brandon Curtis, finished 25th out of 95 finishers in 18:23.4 to end his steady and impressive improvement of the last two seasons.

“This young man gave it his best,” Rhyner said. “He was on pace for a 17:30 through the midpoint, but it was just too much and he struggled in the last kilometer. He looks to take his talent to the track this spring in hopes of a state qualification.”

Like the girls, the rest of Medford’s crew could be back for another shot next fall.

Freshman Corbyn Radlinger was 47th in 19:04.2, a 49-second improvement over September. Sophomore Peyton Ried was 58th in 19:24.8, junior Evan Pagel was 59th in 19:25.4 and sophomore Jordan Lavin was 60th in 19:34. From September, Pagel improved by 58 seconds, Ried was 51 seconds faster and Lavin, who won the JV race, was 1:30 faster.

Freshman Ace Arndt was 67th at 19:44.7, 52 seconds faster than the earlyseason meet. Freshman Angus Hamland, filling in for the injured Will Daniels, took 79th in a season-best 20:16.3 that was 1:09 faster than his JV race in September.

Seymour sophomore Logan Boehnlein won the race in 16:35.3, handily beating Lakeland’s GNC champion Ashton Bremer (16:50). Rhinelander’s Greyson Gremban (16:55.9) and Avrom Barr (16:58) led the Hodags’ charge to state by placing third and fourth. The rest of the individual state qualifiers were Menominee Indian freshman Bryant Waupoose II, who was fifth in 17:00.3; Seymour sophomore Taren Schadrie, who was sixth in 17:02.9, and Shawano sophomore Josiah Kuehl, who was eighth at 17:24.2. “It is bittersweet to end our team run and we losing some exceptional seniors,” Rhyner said. “It really has been a great season for the boys and girls, but it’s not over yet. We will bring the intensity next Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids to help Lindsay to her best performance yet.”

Medford’s Corbyn Radlinger surges past the flag a little more than a mile into Friday’s WIAA Division 2 boys sectional race at Colby. Radlinger was Medford’s second finisher in the race, taking 47th in 19:04.2. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Medford senior Brandon Curtis gets into the homestretch of his last cross country race as he places 25th in Friday’s sectional. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS