GC harriers compete in Barron, Durand

After their third race in a five-day span, fatigue and injuries were having an effect on the Glenwood City cross country teams as the season hit its midpoint last week.

The Hilltoppers followed up a run at the Osceola Invitational on September 19 with competitions at Barron and Durand, on September 22 and 24 respectively leaving the squads a bit weary and worn.

Both squads ran well in the Barron Cross Country Invite held at Barron High School Tuesday, September 22 according to Toppers’ head coach Matt Schutz. The girls’ team finished fourth in the field of 15 teams with 101 points while the boys, minus Jack Kremer and Jacob Nadeau who were both nursing injuries, came in tenth with 223 points. The event featured several larger schools including Ashland, who won the girls competition with a low tally of 23 points, and Rice Lake, the boys’ winner with 50 points.

The biggest and most pleasant surprise during the Barron Invite was the finish of Kaylie Scalze. The junior was the second runner to cross the finish line for the Glenwood girls taking 17th place in a time of 22:32.7.

“We started her out faster than normal,” said Coach Matt Schutz. “And she realized that she could run faster.”

Senior Morgan Kadinger was the girls’ top finisher once again as she ran a 21:51.1 to finish eighth overall.

Makayla O’Brien was the third Toppers finisher as she crossed the line in 22:40.2 to take 20th. Maya Petersen was 26th in a time of 23:05.5 and Elizabeth Wink ran a 24:13.8 for 40th to round out Glenwood City’s top five finishes.

Emma Scholler was 57th and Tia Carlson ran in at 70th with times of 25:47.6 and 26:17.3 respectively in a field of 127 runners.

Riley Schutz topped the Glenwood City boys’ finishes as the sophomore placed 20th  in a time of 19:11.6.

Andrew Bauman had one of his better races of the year coming in 34th with a sub-20-minute effort of 19:58.5.

Four other Glenwood City athletes competed among the 138 competitors in the boys’ race.

Owen Wagner, the Toppers’ number three runner, took 55th after turning in a time of 20:39.1. Corey Klatt followed in 62nd place in a time of 20:54.3. The Toppers’ fifth and sixth place finishers were Matthew Bauman 69th (21:15.7) and Nathan Hill 91st (25:43.7).

Glenwood City’s middle school teams fared well in Barron. They placed first among the seven competing squads while the boys were third.

Three GC middle school girls finished in the top ten. Isabella Williams was fourth with Emily Bethell and Bella Simmons taking sixth and seventh respectively. Aaron Holmquist finished ninth for the boys.

Thursday’s meet in Durand drew more than a dozen area schools including all eight from the Dunn-St. Croix as they had an opportunity to run the course that will host this year’s conference meet in a few weeks’ time.

Unfortunately, the Toppers were a weary bunch for their third run in less than a week.

“The Durand meet proved to be too much for most of the team,” stated Schutz. “It was added to our schedule because it gave us the chance to run where conference will be held in two weeks.”

“We had limited team participation so our placings were poor,” added Schutz.

Neither Elizabeth Wink nor Makayla O’Brien competed in Durand leaving the girls with just five runners.

Despite being short-handed the girls ran to a seventh place out of a dozen teams, scoring 167 points. Colfax claimed the girls’ title with 41 points as four of its runners finished in the top ten.

The Glenwood City girls’ finishes were as follows: Morgan Kadinger, 11th, 22:43.4; Kaylie Scalze, 27th, 24:39.5; Maya Petersen, 30th, 24:51.8; Emma Scholler, 43rd, 26:38.3; and Tia Carlson, 70th, 28:41.1.

The boys finished 12th with 280 points behind Boyceville who was 11th. Altoona took the team title with 53 points.

Riley Schutz led the way with a 19:42.4 to finish 19th. Andrew Bauman was 45th in 21:00.0; Corey Klatt took 78th in 22:24.9; Owen Wagner placed 82nd in 22:36.6; Matthew Bauman was 85th in 22:39.2; Nathan Hill finished 118th with a 26:48.2 and Jack Kremer, who returned from injury and ran at an easy pace was just a step and split second behind Hill in 119th with a 26:48.3.

Isabella Williams won the girls’ middle school race with a 13:11.2 to lead the Hilltoppers to a first-place finish. Emily Bethell and Bella Simmons finished third and fourth respectively. The GC boys’ middle school team finished fourth as Elijah Simmons and Lane O’Meara top the list in 12th and 14h respectively.

Glenwood City will race just once this week when they compete in Spring Valley on Thursday, October 1. The Toppers travel to Amery on Tuesday, October 6.