Abby X/C hits the trails at Wausau East
The Abbotsford girls cross country team participated in one of the largest cross country meets in central Wisconsin over the past weekend. The Smiley Invitational, hosted by Wausau East, had runners from 60 different schools compete, 34 of which fell into the D2 and D3 category that Abbotsford ran in. The Falcons finished 17th as a team at the race.
It had been 11 days between meets for the young Falcons team. The team had not run in a competitive meet since the Marshfield Invitational held on September 6.
Despite this and the large number of athletes participating at the meet, which can sometimes make pacing oneself difficult, the Falcons continued to see improvement, with Abby’s top two finishers posting personal bests.
Sophomore Azul Diaz came across the finish line first for the Falcons. After missing their first meet of the season, Diaz has established herself as Abbotsford’s top runner, finishing first for her team in the last three meets. In each of those, she has improved on her time, taking off three seconds from her previous personal best at the Smiley meet with her time of 24:56.3. Diaz finished 72nd overall.
Junior Iris Cruz finished second for Abbotsford, setting her own personal best in the process. She broke the 26 minute mark for the first time this season, finishing with a time of 25:57.3. This earned her 81st place.
Following Cruz were sophomores Valeria Aguilera-Hernandez and Reese Molitor, who came in with times of 28:05.8 and 30:27.3. They finished 109th and 120th respectively.
Rounding out the varsity team were freshman Asia Atkinson, sophomore Azalea Atkinson, and junior Ana Flores. The trio finished in a tight group, taking 124th, 125th, and 127th overall. Asia Atkinson finished in 31:23.9, Azalea Atkinson in 31:41.8, and Flores in 31:52.3.
The Falcons continue their season this Thursday, September 22. They’ll head to Spencer to take on the Rockets and nine other schools on the Frey Field course. The meet is set to start at 4:00 p.m. The team also has a meet next Tuesday, September 27 in Edgar. The start time for the Edgar meet is 4:30 p.m.
