Colfax boys win third straight conference title, girls finish runner up at Mondovi

MONDOVI — Not only did the Colfax boy’s cross country team win the Dunn-St. Croix Conference meet for the third year in a row, their score of 22 was the third best score in the history of the meet, according to coach Joe Doucette. The girl’s team saw their string of five straight conference championships snapped by a dominant Spring Valley team as they placed second.  The races were held at the hilly Valley Golf Course in Mondovi Oct. 11.

“Our boys were great and this was by far their best race of the year,” Doucette said. “We had run very well here earlier in the year but we were much better this time. Even our non-point scorers ran very well. Our seniors have worked and willed this group to become a very good team. As individuals and as a team, they have improved so much this year.”

With six of the Colfax runners placing in the top ten including the 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 spots, the team finished 61 points ahead of the runner up Elk Mound team. Senior Lachlan Hinwood came in second behind the repeat conference champ Sasha Maro of Mondovi with Hinwood’s time at 17:22, 20 seconds behind Maro. Filling the third spot was another senior, Michael Larson at 17:47, and senior Matthew Almquist followed at 17:49. Jeremiah Harder, another senior was just a second behind him at 17:50 and a freshman, Hunter Lieffort claimed the eighth spot at 18:08. Yet another senior, Garrett Miller was tenth at 18:20.

The seventh runner in for the Vikings was freshman Zac Arvold in 34th place at 20:07, and fellow freshman Tucker Hovde, who had been the number 6-7 runner most of the season but was battling an injury, finished 44th at 20:33. Sophomore Nate Liebfried came in 51st at 20:49 and running in a pack, senior Zac Christianson was 53rd at 20:55, freshman Daniel Schneider was just behind him in 54th at 21:01 and freshman Joey Verdon was 55th at 21:04. Another freshman, Isaac Lee placed 73rd at 23:02 while sophomore David Blanchard was 93rd at 25:41. There were 98 individuals in the contest.

On the girl’s side, there wasn’t any doubt over who would win the individual race, and  there was very little doubt concerning the team standings. Breanna Colbenson of Spring Valley, the state runner up last year and returning conference champ, breezed through the course at 15:19. Although Colfax filled the next two spots with a pair of freshmen including Dempsey Fogarty at 15:47 and Courtney Dressel at 16:00, the Cardinals took the next three places ahead of  the Viking’s Brittany Rothbauer who was eighth at 17:08. Spring Valley had three more runners cross the line before Heidi Lieffort of Colfax finished in 23rd place at 18:29 and three spots back came teammate Kenna Breckner at 18:43. Mallie Doucette crossed the line in 38th place at 19:24 and Mackenzie Anderson was 51st at 20:43. There were 70 competitors in the race.

“We really wanted to win another championship but we knew it was going to be tough to do,” Doucette said. “Spring Valley was seventh at the state meet last year and they are much better this year. We ran pretty well but they are stronger in the 4-7 spots and they were a lot better then us today. It was tough to see our streak end but with a lot of hard work, maybe we can start a new one next year.”

Colfax won the middle school girl’s race as eighth grader Abbagail Schotter was the individual winner, and the boys were second as a team with eighth grader Jacob Larson placing tenth for the Vikings.

Up next for the varsity is the sectional meet on Saturday, Oct 20 at Fall Creek.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: Colfax 22, Elk Mound 83, Boyceville 88, St. Croix Central 95, Glenwood City 142, Elmwood-Plum City 160, Mondovi 161, Spring Valley 165

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Spring Valley 29, Colfax 61, Mondovi 72, Glenwood City 105, Elmwood-Plum City 146, St. Croix Central 151, Elk Mound 153, Boyceville 184