Colfax runners finish strong at Rice Lake, Osceola

By virtue of taking three of the top five spots, the Colfax girls’ cross country team won the 16 team Small School Rice Lake Invitational Sept. 17. The boys, running without their first runner, finished eighth of 14 teams. Traveling to Osceola for a Saturday meet Sept. 21, the girls had yet another impressive showing, winning the four team Small Division while the boys were fourth in a field of seven.

Rice Lake

Dempsey Fogarty finished as the runner up in the longer than usual race (5K just like the boys instead of the normal 4K) with a time of 20:25 which was 26 seconds behind Cora Bruxvoort of Bloomer. (Bruxvoort also won the Knudtson Invite last week in Fall Creek while Fogarty was fourth). Courtney Dressel pushed Fogarty all the way and place third with a time of 20:42 and Abbagail Schotter was just 24 seconds behind for fifth place in 21:06. Heidi Lieffort and Ally Heidorn had a top 20 finish among 109 individuals as Lieffort completed the course at 23:00 for 18th place and Heidorn was 20th at 23:30. Cienna Cooper placed 27th at 24:00 and Mallie Doucette came in at 24:19 for 32nd place. Dannielle Dachel did not compete in the race due to a volleyball commitment.

“Dempsey is healthy now and is getting better all the time,” coach Joe Doucette said. “Courtney and Abbagail also ran very well and our 4-7 runners were solid. We have a lot of potential but it is still early in the season. The big meets will be coming up soon though.”

With Hunter Lieffort missing the meet with a hamstring injury, Tucker Hovde led the Colfax boys with a 19th place in a time of 18:36. Brett Prince followed with a 30th place at 19:05 and just four spots behind Prince, Zach Arvold came in at 19:15 for 34th place. Isaac Lee ran to a 65th place at 20:13 and close behind him came Jacob Larson for 68th place in a time of 20:22 while newcomer Brady Simonson finished 73rd at 20:38 and Daniel Schneider came in at 20:54 for 81st place. There were 126 individual runners and Jacob Ohnstad of Grantsburg won the race with a time of 16:19.

“Missing Hunter really hurt our team score,” Doucette said. “But Tucker had a personal best time to lead us and Isaac also had a nice race. We saw a lot of conference and sectional teams in this race and they are quite a bit better then us now. All we can do is keep working but I really think both teams can keep improving before the conference and sectional meets,” he added.

The Colfax girls won the Middle School race among 11 Small School teams and the boys were third against 10 teams. Erica Kallstrom placed second for the girls while Dalton Schotter led the boys with an 11th place finish.

GIRLS VARSITY TEAM SCORES: Colfax 44, Bloomer 83, St. Croix Central 131, Barron 157, St. Croix Falls 194, Flambeau 198, Somerset 216, Hurley 221, Elk Mound 238, McDonell Central 240, Unity 246, Grantsburg 252, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 269, Boyceville 314, Shell Lake 337, Cumberland 390

BOYS VARSITY TEAM SCORES: McDonell Central 70, Grantsburg 87, Unity 124, Chetek-Weyerheauser 136, St. Croix Central 156, Boyceville 177, Elk Mound 203, Colfax 206, Webster 208, Bloomer 226, St. Croix Falls 238, Barron 255, Hurley 304, Ladysmith 387

Osceola

Fogarty apparently ran so fast the computerized timing system didn’t pick her up but she again took the runner up spot behind a runner from Mahtomedai who finished at 15:47. Dachel was the second runner in for the Vikings in fifth with a time of 16:25, followed by Schotter in tenth at 16:54, Dressel was 12th at 17:19 and Heidorn was 41st at 18:35. Leiffort came in at 18:42 for 46th place and Doucette was 77th in the field of 120 competitors at 19:48.

“With Abbagail running under 17 minutes, we now have four girls who have done that this season,” coach Doucette said. “Our big key is having the 4-7 runners getting better.”

Hunter Leiffort was still unable to compete for the boys and Hovde again claimed the top spot for the team, finishing 31st out of 149 runners in a time of 19:19. Arvold was a solid second runner, crossing the line in 37th place at 19:32 and also finishing under the 20 minute mark was Prince in 42nd at 19:43. Larson was 52nd at 20:11, Simonson 68th at 20:42 an Schneider 96th at 21:24. Also competing were Nate Leibfried who was 103rd at 21:41, Brad Foyt 115th at 22:10, Grady Gibson in 120th at 22:36 and David Blanchard was 145th with a time of 26:14. Ohnstad of Grantsburg won again with a time of 16:54.

“Our boys battled and worked hard but we are not talented enough to lose Hunter and be a good team,” Doucette siad. “We have a long way to go if we want to compete against Boyceville and St. Croix Central for a conference title.”

Kallstrom won against 118 other runners in the Middle School race to lead the girls to first place out of 10 teams and the boys were fifth out of 10 teams as Schotter was fifth in a field of 141.

GIRLS VARSITY TEAM SCORES: Colfax 24, Glenwood City 45, Prescott 51, Grantsburg 93

BOYS VARSITY TEAM SCORES: Grantsburg 42, Boyceville 52, Webster 77, Colfax 82, Durand 124, Prescott 144, Glenwood City 185