Elk Mound cross country teams eye top three finish

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — Last year’s Mounders’ cross country teams saw two runners named to the the all-conference team and sent one runner to state.

This year, building off a strong group of seniors for the girls and a group of returning letter winners on the boys’ side, coach Jeremiah Fredrickson is hoping to see both teams move up in the standings.

“The women were fourth in the conference and sixth in Sectionals last year, while the men were sixth in the conference and 10th in Sectionals,” Fredrickson said.

The team has set a goal to finish third in the conference for both the girls and boys in 2016. Elk Mound will return five female and three male letter winners after losing a total of six runners from 2015.

On the boys’ team, Nate Kruger, Hayden Kohls, and Grant Kjellberg were the seniors of the team, while the women were Elayna Gutsch, Nevada LaPointe, and Corrine Zimmer. With Kruger, Kohls, and Kjellberg went most of the leadership for the men’s team, while Gutsch, LaPointe, and Zimmer served as dedicated runners who Fredrickson said were the heart of the team.

Returning to lead the girls’ squad for her senior year is three-time letter winner Elizabeth Fasbender. In 2015, she was an all-conference runner and competed for her second year at state. She is joined by fellow seniors Kaitlyn Baier and Meredith Hainstock and a strong team of underclassmen.

Five juniors reported to practice and hope to earn one of the seven open varsity spots on the this year’s team. These runners include Hannah Carlson, Hannah Hawkins, Claudia Paul, Kayla Patterson and Mattea Lindberg.

A quartet of first-year letter winners head a group of nine sophomores runners for the girls. Letter winner Alana Plaszcz is one of the four letter winners and was the only other female from Elk Mound to be named to the all-conference team in 2015. She is joined by fellow letter winners Hanna Hollister, Ciera Lind and and sister Brooke Plaszcz. The sophomore class is completed by Hannah Cynor, Victoria Fasbender, Paige Romanowski, Mary Tamke and Audrey Westcott.

Fredrickson said he has three freshman on his girls’ team that could really push some runners. He identified Kayli Solberg, Tanya Schaefer and Kristin Martinson as having potential to become special runners.

On the boys’ side, the Mounders return one senior in Matt McLaughlin. He is joined by a large group of juniors, including the three returning letter winners. Fredrickson said with letter winners Jonas Kohls, Nate Lind and Ryan Mohr that the boys should be competitive by the end of the season. Also running this year as juniors are Jake Johnson, Bowdrie Noller, Jared Strand, Nate Schreiber and William Stone.

Two sophomores, Nate Bechel and Dylan Hanson are joined by freshmen Seth Hazen, Cade Hanson, and Andrew Pathos. The freshmen are said to be talented, much like their female counterparts, and the coaches are excited to see what happens with them this year.

“Both teams are extremely deep in numbers,” Fredrickson said.

He went on to point out that the women have experience on their side, having done well as a team and individually in 2015. Fredrickson thinks the trials the ladies went through last year will make them tougher this year.

Fredrickson is working with his team to be more competitive this season. He said that last year’s team was young and suffered some growing pains. Overall, he expects both his teams to race instead of just running in the upcoming season.

As a whole team, the Mounders want to improve as individuals, which will lead to the team doing better. They also want to grow, develop healthy life skills and develop a strong work ethic.

Fredrickson said, “Most importantly, we want to have fun.”

The teams Fredrickson sees as the top of the Dunn-St. Croix in 2016 are Colfax and Elmwood/Plum City for the women. He said both teams are returning a lot of runners from 2015. For the men, Glenwood City and Durand are seen as strong as they also return a substantial number of runners from the previous season.

“Overall, our conference is pretty touch with some really good coaches preparing athletes to compete, which makes things a lot of fun,” Fredrickson said.

Fredrickson is in his seventh year as cross country coach for the Mounders and is joined by first-time assistant coach Kristi Lane. Lane is an alumnus of Elk Mound High School and a student at UW – River Falls.

The Mounders opened their season with an invitational at Tiffany Creek Elementary school on August 25.

2016 Roster

Seniors: Kaitlyn Baier, Elizabeth Fasbender, Meredith Hainstock, Matt McLaughlin.

Juniors: Hannah Carlson, Hannah Hawkins, Claudia Paul, Kayla Patterson, Mattea Lindberg, Jake Johnson, Jonas Kohls, Nate Lind, Ryan Mohr, Bowdrie Noller, Jared Strand, Nate Schreiber, William Stone.

Sophomores: Hannah Cynor, Victoria Fasbender, Hanna Hollister, Ciera Lind, Alana Plaszcz, Brooke Plaszcz, Paige Romanowski, Mary Tamke, Audrey Westcott, Nate Bechel, Dylan Hanson.

Freshmen: Kristin Martinson, Taya Schaefer, Kayli Solberg, Cade Hanson, Seth Hazen, Andrew Pathos.