Falcons battle best in Marawood

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford girls cross country team wrapped up their 2024 regular season campaign with the Marawood conference meet held at Camp Forest Springs north of Rib Lake last Thursday. The Falcons did not have enough runners in the varsity race to place as a team, but they did manage to get one all-conference honor.

While the weather held for Thursday’s meet, the hilly course made for an all-around slower meet as the athletes had to navigate numerous changes in elevation. Auburndale edged out Assumption for the top spot in the girls’ competition, the Eagles finishing with 57 points to the Royals’ 61. Rib Lake/Prentice took first in the boys’ race, beating Phillips by five points for the conference title, 34 points to 39 points.

Abbotsford’s Azul Diaz grabbed the final first-team allconference selection after placing eighth at Thursday’s meet. The Falcons’ top runner stuck with the top runners in a very strong field, defeating Auburndale’s Luise Meyer by five seconds to claim the last first-team all-conference spot. While her time of 21:29.5 was off-pace from her fastest times this season, the aforementioned hilly terrain of the course seemed to have a similar effect on many times.

Monse Ochoa and Asia Atkinson also ran for the Falcons in the varsity race. Ochoa closed out her regular season with a 46th place finish, putting up a time of 27:15.8 while Atkinson defeated Marathon’s Greenly Treankler by five seconds for 51st place, finishing the course in 28:23.9.

Three Abbotsford runners also competed in the JV race on Thursday. Angie Chavez led the JV squad by taking 12th in the competition, finishing with a time of 29:39.1. Azalea Atkinson followed, placing 18th with a time of 32:39.0 and Sinai Tomas rounded out the Falcons team by posting a time of 34:44.2, earning herself 20th.

The Falcons will head into the postseason with a short trip south to Colby for the Division 3 sectional on Saturday, Oct. 26th. Diaz will have another shot at advancing to the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids after narrowly missing out last year when she took ninth place, four seconds and one spot out from the final individual qualifier. The girls race has a start time of 10:30 a.m.

PICKING UP SPEED - Azul Diaz uses the downhill slope to her advantage at the Marawood conference meet just north of Rib Lake last Thursday. The senior took eighth overall and earned first team allconference honors for her performance.

STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY