Mounders race at Rice Lake Invite

RICE LAKE — The 90 plus degree temperature didn’t bode well for most of the Elk Mound cross country runners as the boys team placed ninth and the girls were 11th in the Small Division 16 team field at the Rice Lake Invitational Sept. 11.

Ben Holzwarth did manage a top 10 finish for the boys, coming in right at 10th place with a time of 18:24, but teammate Mitch Zimmer was back in 47th place at 20:14 after completing his last two races under the 20 minute mark.

“Ben seems to thrive in hot weather but the rest of the team kind of wilted in the heat,” coach Jeremiah Fredrickson said.

Shawn Lane was the third runner in for the Mounders, completing the course in 20:26 for 50th place while Andrew Zabel was 59th at 20:51 and Caleb Kruger followed in 65th at 21:10. Rounding out the varsity was Drew Sternecker in 89th at 22:52 and Hunter Hermes in 99th with a time of 23:37. There were 127 individuals competing.

The heat took its toll on the girls side too, as Elk Mound’s Emma Hayes completed the 5K race in 22nd place but suffered from heat exhaustion and dehydration afterwards. Hayes finished in a time of 23:42 while the winner, Andrea Ostenso ran the longer then normal course in a time of 19:13. With 116 individuals competing, Sam Jain was the second Mounder to cross the finish line at 26:04 in 45th place while Waive Melgaard was back in 78th with a time of 28:10. Jamie Solum followed in 84th with a time of 28:46, Danae Sternecker was 89th at 29:14 and Alex Hagberg was 96th at 30:40.

“Overall, I’m proud of the performance from our kids,” Fredrickson said. “This meet had great competition and we fought through some issues. I expect our times to go down when we can run in cooler weather,” he added.

VARSITY BOYS SMALL DIVISION TEAM: Colfax 61, Grantsburg 90, McDonell Central 106, Unity 125, Chetek0Weyerhaeuser 150, St. Croix Falls 169, St. Croix Central 186, Boyceville 199, Elk Mound 218, Barron 258, Cameron 280, Glenwood City 299, Bloomer 314, Hurley 345, Cumberland 417, Bruce 459.

VARSITY GIRLS SMALL DIVISION TEAM: Colfax 68, Bloomer 113, Glenwood City 123, Flambeau 123, St. Croix Falls 138, Cameron 152, Hurley 181, Ladysmith 223, St. Croix Central 225, Webster 245, Elk Mound 277, Cumberland 307, Grantsburg 311, Shell Lake 329, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 338, Unity 367.