of 23:39.4 and came in ….
of 23:39.4 and came in seventh overall as Colby’s second runner. Following her was freshman Annamarie Schmitt, who placed eighth overall. Schmitt has set a new PR in each race this season and this race was no different. She shaved nearly two minutes off her previous personal best, finishing in 23:45.5. Junior Casey Reynolds and senior Payton Roth both had their fastest times in 2022, coming in at 23:47.9 and 23:48.1 to finish ninth and 10th respectively.
Rounding out the girls’ varsity team, sophomores Veronica Mateer and Jennelle Ertl both had seasonal bests. Mateer finished 14th overall with a time of 24:35.7 and Ertl came in 21st with a time of 24:50.5.
“The girls really stepped up in the absence of Willow and Pearl,” head coach Bryon Graun said. “And it was all of them. I can’t pick out one person to highlight. Each one worked hard with their running partner to move up in the field as the race went along.”
The boys’ team also showed continued improvement, with six of their top seven varsity runners posting PRs.
Junior Max Adams finished sixth overall with a personal best time of 18:10.6, inching ever closer to the 18 minute mark. Freshman Matthew Sprotte finished second for the Colby/ Abbotsford co-op, cutting over two minutes off his time at Loyal to finish under 20 minutes with a time of 19:39.5. He would come in 15th overall. Finishing neck and neck were sophomore Braylon Schoelzel and junior Jack Schindler. Schoelzel finished with a seasonal best time of 19:43.3 and Schindler set a new personal best at 19:54.1. They came in at 17th and 18th respectively. Junior Carter Roth was not far behind at 20th position, setting a new PR with a time of 20:00.8 Freshman Jack Sheahan and junior Joseph Streveler also set new goalposts for themselves. Sheahan finished 29th overall with a time of 21:20.7 and Streveler came in 30th with a time of 21:53.3.
“Our goal was to make some gains on Marshfield Columbus and we did that,” Graun said of the boys’ performance. “They were without their top runner but it felt good to get past them this weekend too.”
Next up for the team is the September 17 Smiley Invitational hosted by Wausau East. This meet tends to be one of the largest events that the team attends outside of the potential state meet, with runners from 20-30 schools usually attending. The JV boys team is to start at 8:30 a.m., the boys’ varsity tentatively at 9:00 a.m., the girls’ varsity at 9:25 a.m., and the girls’ JV at 10:00 a.m.
