Viking senior runners end careers at state meet

COLFAX — What better way for eight seniors to finish off a successful cross country career than at the WIAA state meet in Wisconsin Rapids? That’s exactly what six Colfax boys and two girls did last month after competing for the team several seasons.

For two of the boys, Hunter Leiffort and Zack Arvold, it was their second trip to the big show, having run there as freshmen, and for Tucker Hovde, Brett Prince, Brady Simonson and Isaac Lee it was their first time competing there. For Courtney Dressel and Dempsey Fogarty, it was their third chance to strut their stuff as both competed there as freshmen, sophomores and as seniors. In a four year span, the boys won three conference meets and were second once, won a sectional title as freshman and were runners up this year. They were third as juniors and were just 10 points away from advancing to state. After placing sixth at state in 2012, they were 16th this year. The girls won conference titles as sophomores and seniors and were second in the sectional meet their freshmen and sophomore seasons and won the meet this year. After finishing seventh at state as freshmen and fourth their sophomore year, they moved up to third place as seniors, giving them the highest team finish for a Colfax girls’ team in school history.

Hunter Leiffort

Leiffort competed in four conference and four sectional meets in his career, earning All Conference accolades as a freshman and a sophomore. Keeping in mind all courses are designed differently with various degrees of difficulty, and weather conditions also play into a runner’s time, Leiffort ran a personal best time of 18:06 at the conference meet as a sophomore but had his best finish in eighth place his freshman year. His best sectional finish was also as a freshman when he placed 15th in 18:08. Running in a steady rain at state this year, he was 103rd at 20:16.

“After running at state as a freshman with almost all senior teammates, it was a different experience this year,” Leiffort said. “It was great to be able to finish up with teammates who I have been running with for many years. All the hours of practice and all the meets made it worth it when we met our goal of getting to state.”

Zack Arvold

Arvold ran in four conference meets and just three sectional meets, running as a replacement at state his freshman year. He was a First Team AC runner as a senior and Second Team his junior year but his best conference time was 18:22 his sophomore season. His personal best time came in the sectional meet this year at Boyceville where he completed the course in 18:18 for 11th place. He ran a minute slower at state in 19:19 for 138th place.

“Running at state twice was the best experience ever,” Arvold said. “Just being able to run with all the best runners in the state was great. It can’t get any better than having six seniors who were my teammates all through high school winning three conference championships and getting to state. I didn’t finish as well as I had hoped at state this year but I ran my best and that is what cross country is about—giving it your all in every race,” he added.

Tucker Hovde

After pounding the pavement in the off-season, Hovde had a breakout year when he led the Vikings at the conference, sectional and state meets. Competing in four conference and sectional meets, he was First Team AC this year with a third place finish and was Second Team his sophomore and junior seasons. He was seventh in the sectional meet this year with a time of 17:58 but his personal best came at both the conference meet as a sophomore and the Ladysmith meet this year where he cruised both courses in 17:53. He made the most of the poor weather conditions and finished his high school career by placing 89th in Wisconsin Rapids in 18:21.

“I put in a lot of hard work over the summer to reach my goal of getting to state,” Hovde said. “But for the whole team to get there made it all that much better. When I was a freshman, we had a great group of seniors who were good leaders, and our group tried to do the same for the younger kids this year. It’s a tradition with this team to encourage the underclassmen and that’s why the program is so successful. It was a fun four years for me and to finish at state made the extra work all worth it.”

Brett Prince

Prince made a decision after his freshman year to move from football to cross country and ended up being a three time All Conference runner. He was First Team as a senior by placing fourth and Second Team the other two years. His personal best time came at the conference meet his sophomore season in 18:12 and his best finish at a sectional meet was 17th this year in 18:33. He ended his career by placing 107th at state in 18:45.

“I ran cross country in sixth grade but played football the next three years,” he said. “I remembered that I liked running and decided to switch to cross country my sophomore year. It was hard work but winning conference and getting to state was a big achievement for our team and to have six seniors running together at state was a great feeling. I wanted to run under 18:00 in a race this year and came up a little short but getting to state with the team made up for it I guess,” he added.

Brady Simonson

Simonson was another convert from the football team which he was a part of in middle school. He ended up running in three conference and three sectional meets for the team and ran fast enough to make the Second Team AC team as a junior and senior. His best conference finish came as a junior where he ran a personal best 18:26 for ninth place and his highest sectional place was also that year when he was 22nd in 18:45. He finished 123rd at state this year in 19:12.

“It was exciting to run in such a big meet,” he said about the state competition. “But running as well as we did to win conference and take second at sectionals to get to state was awesome. We maybe could have ran better in our final race but it was a great opportunity to be around the best runners in the state and it’s something I will always remember.”

Isaac Lee

Lee competed four times at the conference meet and three times at sectionals. He was just two places away from making All Conference this season, placing 16th in 20:10. Showing steady improvement throughout his career, Lee moved from 63rd at the sectional meet as a sophomore to 50th his junior year and was 43rd as a senior with a time of 19:41. His lowest career time was 19:19 at the conference meet as a sophomore. He ended his high school running days with a 139th place at state in 20:02.

“Running with these guys the past few years made us all push each other and that’s why we got better every year,” Lee said. “Having the chance to compete at state was our goal at the beginning of the season and we had to work hard to make it. Running in that atmosphere will be a great memory for me.”

Courtney Dressel and Dempsey Fogarty

Back when Dressel and Fogarty were just freshmen, the two of them were already leading the team in just about every race which was a 4K at that time. Fogarty was second in the conference and sectional that year and Dressel seemed to always be chasing her down as she was third in both races. Their sophomore year, Fogarty was the conference and sectional champion while Dressel was third at conference and fourth in the sectional. But Fogarty decided to take her junior year off and with the race now a 5K, Dressel remained consistent and was third at both the conference and sectional meets. And when Fogarty came back for her senior year, the roles were reversed as Dressel, along with a freshman teammate, led the Vikings to the finish line in every race. She was the runner up at conference, making her a four time First Team AC pick and was third at the sectional meet. Fogarty ended up sixth at conference, putting her on the First AC team for the third time, and she was sixth at the sectional. In their three trips to state, Fogarty was 11th as a freshman, 37th as a sophomore and 36th this year with a time of 20:53 under wet and windy conditions. Dressel was 15th her freshman season, 57th as a sophomore and finished her high school career in 38th place with a time of 20:54.Dressel’s best 5K time was 20:17 at the Ladysmith meet this year while Fogarty had a pb time of 19:55 back when she was a freshman at the Griak Invite at the University of Minnesota.

“I really don’t remember a lot about running at state as a freshman other then our team placed pretty high,” Fogarty said. “But I remember everything about the course this year. I was more focused and even in the rain, I paid more attention to where I was and how I wanted to run the race. This group of seniors were all very close after running together so many years and the hard work paid off for us to end at state. I will remember that I was a part of a girls team that had the highest finish of any Colfax team at the state meet,” she added.

Dressel had the same sentiment after being a part of that same team.

“It was my goal after my sophomore year to beat Dempsey,” she said with a laugh. “It was a little different this year running ahead of her. Running at state for three years was a great experience. My freshman year I was scared to death and my sophomore year was a little easier. Our coaches did a great job of keeping us calm this year and we had a nice finish. This group of kids was like a family and to finish together at state was just a wonderful ending for us,” she concluded.

Head coach Joe Doucette commented on each individual athlete many times throughout the season but had this to say after the season ended:

“Overall, this was a great class of kids,” he said. “They have a ton of respect for each other after many years in the program. Both teams faced some adversity throughout their time and they also had great success. We can’t replace them but we can enjoy what they did for the program, school and our community,” he concluded.