WIAA DIV. 2 STATE CROSS COUNTRY - Better time, place for Kahn in her 2nd state race

WIAA DIV. 2 STATE CROSS COUNTRY

After claiming Great Northern Conference and sectional championships the previous two weekends, the tank may have run a little dry Saturday afternoon for Medford junior Lindsay Kahn, who finished 69th in the WIAA Division 2 girls cross country state championship race at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.

While the finish wasn’t exactly what Kahn and coaches Jake Rhyner and Stephen Reynolds were shooting for, encouragement was taken by the fact Kahn improved over her state time and place of 21:19.3 and 87th last year.

“It was definitely still a good experience to be able to run here at state,” Kahn said. “At the very beginning I was like, ‘I wish I would’ve warmed up a little bit longer.’ I thought I did enough, but everything was tight and I kept on just trying to run through it. The main thing was, don’t walk. That’s the main thing. I was like, ‘I know you want to but it’s not going to happen.’ Just being able to finish the race was good.”

“We thought best-case scenario, she could be in the top 20, maybe top 15,” said Rhyner, who completed his first season as the Raiders’ head coach. “But we haven’t been, besides Smiley, in races where you really have to get out and hang on and it showed today. She’s typically through the mile in 6:30 and you get there today in 6:12 and the race is in front of you. I think she did a good job of staying relaxed, but that was still a pretty hot pace for her.”

Kahn’s time Saturday was 20:43.5, about 50-60 seconds away from her best times of the season. But, of course, the state race is a different beast with its always extremely fast pace and late hills that can make it quite challenging.

“I know at the beginning everyone always starts out really, really strong,” Kahn said. “I was like, ‘don’t do that, run your race,’ like I’ve said before. As we went down the first hill I was feeling good. Just when I got to the 1-mile I could feel I was just getting slower and slower, but I figured I had to stay up for the hills up ahead. I just kept going. I think I slowed down at the 1.5-mark and then I picked myself up a little bit in the two-mile and then I slowed it back down. But that’s OK.”

In a field of 152, Kahn was timed at 6:14.1 at the mile mark, which had her in 54th place, right with one of the runners she said she was hoping to work off of, Antigo’s Lillian L’Esperance, who was 52nd and 0.2 seconds ahead at the time. Kahn was the 65th runner to hit the 2-mile mark at 13:13.9. Her place bounced up and down in the homestretch before she hit the finish line in 69th.

From the GNC, L’Esperance had a nice run, taking 53rd in 20:26.1. Tomahawk’s Alli Palmer was 66th in 20:42 and Lakeland’s Stella Meza was 77th in 20:54.2.

Tomahawk placed 15th as a team with 317 points, beating Prescott (349) to stay out last place.

Deerfield-Cambridge’s Emmerson Drobac got ahead early and was never caught, winning the race in 17:38.9. She was fifth in last year’s race. Bloomer sophomore Ciara Hartman moved up from third to second with her time of 17:43.2. Altoona’s Greta Peters moved up from 14th a year ago to third with her time of 18:15.4. 2022 champion Faith Wehrman of New Berlin Eisenhower was fourth at 18:17.2. University School of Milwaukee and Bloomer took home the gold and silver team trophies with 60 and 80 points, respectively. Mount Horeb was third with 108.

“I think on the backside of the race, you start questioning what you’re doing because it wasn’t what you imagined,” Rhyner said. “She was cramping a bit. But I’m really proud of her finishing in still her best (state) finish. Last year she was in the 21, high-teens and 87th. She’s in the high 60s today. She’s moving in the right direction.

“I think it’s really hard to have some of these big performances,” he added. “You win conference, you win sectionals, there’s a lot of energy around that and that’s good. But it can be exhausting.”

Kahn said she learned a lot this season stepping into the role of team leader after the departure of Meredith Richter, who made the state podium last year in seventh place.

“I was a little worried once Meredith left,” she said. “I was like, ‘well, I’m hopefully going to be in the numberone spot, so I need to work on my leadership skills and just be able to pump up the team and motivate them because I have experience.’ It’s really nice that people look up to you like that.”

Not long after Saturday’s race was finished, Kahn was already collecting thoughts on the track season ahead this spring and her senior cross country season next fall.

“It’ll be good,” Rhyner said. “She’s motivated. I know she’s already thinking about winter running and getting in miles and getting in the gym. She pretty much ran consistently 40-60 seconds faster on every course she’s repeated. What more can you ask for?”

“I think for next year I’m going to train, doing a lot more miles into the summer than I have been, like 60 miles (per week) worth, and then just being able to hold it longer,” Kahn said. “I think that’s the main thing I want to work on. And then the hills too.

“I really enjoyed having Mr. Rhyner this year,” she added. “He really helped with mileage and pace and like tempo. It really helped to be able to run for long distance and then once you get the shorter distances, it feels really easy.”