Elk Mound girls cross country second, boys fifth at Osseo-Fairchild Invitational

By Cara L. Dempski

OSSEO — The Mounders’ cross country teams ran their second-to-last race before the Dunn-St. Croix Conference meet when they travel to Osseo last Thursday, September 29. The girls raced away with second place with a score of 71, the boys, meanwhile, finished seventh with a score of 171.

Both teams have shown steady movement throughout the 2016 season, with Elk Mound’s girls team taking its first win last month in the Altoona Invitational. The boys have yet to win as a team, but have been maintained their status in the middle of the pack at most meets.

Coach Jeremiah Fredrickson said the Osseo meet couldn’t have gone any better given the circumstances.

“With a couple of key ladies out, the rest of the team stepped up,” Fredrickson said. “Taya Schaefer ran a great race, as did Claudia Paul.”

Sophomore Alana Plaszcz just keeps getting better this season, as she finished the girls’ race in second place overall with a time of 21:23.2. Elizabeth Fasbender, who is in her final year with the team, ran to a sixth-place finish with a time of 21:52.6.

Fasbender’s younger sister, Victoria, was just ten placings behind Elizabeth, finishing in 23:07.8 to take 16th. Kristin Martinson and Claudia Paul finished 26th and 29th with times of 24:12.6 and 24:36.3 to finish the scoring runners for the Mounders.

Taya Schaefer and Hanna Hollister, Elk Mound’s final two varsity runners, completed their runs with times of 24:47.8 and 25:52.4 to place 32nd and 41st.

Augusta’s Carolyn Shult was awarded top individual honors for the girls after running a 21:13.8 to reach the finish line. The Chippewa Valley Lightning Bolts edged out Elk Mound by scoring only 66 points to win the team race.

For the Elk Mound boys, freshman Cade Hanson continued to be the first Mounder across the finish line, racing to 11th place with a time of 18:12.5.

Elk Mound’s next finisher was Nate Schreiber, who raced across the line in 19:45 to earn 34th. Following him by less than 30 seconds was Seth Hazen, who took 39th for his 20:13.7 run.

Ryan Mohr and Jonas Kohls were the final two scoring runners. Mohr ran in at 20:36.8 to take 45th, while Kohls nabbed 51st with a time of 20:58.5.

Matt McLaughlin and Andrew Pathos completed the varsity team for the boys. McLaughlin was 52nd with his 21:01.1 race, and Pathos was 59th after finishing in 21:36.9.

“On the men’s side, we continue to have competition for the varsity spots,” Fredrickson stated. “Nate Schrieber and Nate Lind both got under 20 minutes, and the others ran season bests.”

Eau Claire Immanuel’s Dan Lau led the boys race, finishing first with a time of 17:03.2. The August boys copped the team win with 50 points.

Fredrickson said most of the team will be headed to Eleva-Strum on October 6, but he is sending the varsity girls to run the rescheduled Durand Invitational that day so they can get a look at the sectional course. The Mounders will run as a full team again at the October 13 conference meet in Mondovi.

TEAM SCORES — BOYS VARSITY: 1. Augusta 50, 2. Altoona 62, 3. McDonell Central 89, 4. Black River Falls 139, 5. Colby-Abbotsford 141, 6. Eau Claire Immanuel 150, 7. Elk Mound 171, 8. Cadott 184, 9. Fall Creek 185, 10. Osseo-Fairchild 234.

TEAM SCORES — GIRLS VARSITY: 1. Chippewa Valley Lightning Bolts 66, 2. Elk Mound 71, 3. Colby-Abbotsford 85, 4. McDonell Central 88, 5. Osseo-Fairchild 118, 6. Augusta 122, 7. Fall Creek 166, 8. Cadott 194.

Junior Varsity

While there were no team scores for the Elk Mound boys and girls junior varsity teams, the runners did join the varsity team in Osseo.

Nate Lind as the first Mounder on the JV boys squad to cross the finish line. He took second place for his 19:57.7 run. Jared Strand was less than a minute behind Lind, taking seventh place for his 20:53.9 race.

Bowdrie Noller took ninth place for crossing the line in 21:02.5, Jake Johnson ran to 15th with his 22:09.3 race, and Dylan Hanson was 17th after a 22:11.5 finish.

Nate Bechel also ran for the Elk Mound JV boys. He raced to 25th with a time of 23:01.2.

Augusta’s Ryan Dorf won the JV race for the boys on a time of 19:29.8.

On the girls JV team, the top five runners finished in the top 10, with four girls taking third through sixth places. Meredith Hainstock was in third place after her 25:19.4 run, Ciera Lind ran across the line in 25:26 to take fourth.

Kayli Solberg finished fifth with her 26:01.3 race, and Hannah Cynor was sixth after finishing in 26:21.6. The final runner in the top ten was Mattea Linberg, who ran a 26:40.2 race to take eighth.

Runners Audrey Westcott, Hannah Carlson and Hannah Hawkins also participated in the JV race.

The winner of the girls JV race was Marisa McLain of the Chippewa Valley Lightning Bolts, who ran to a 25:00.1 finish.

Middle School

The Mounder middle school girls’ team placed fourth out of nine teams in Osseo with a score of 115. The boys were fifth out of nine with 124 points.

Elk Mound’s Olivia Schreiber again led her teammates across the finish line, ending her race in third with a time of 10:42. Olivia Schindler took home 21st for her 11:51.3 run, and Lilly Tanula was 31st after a 12:18.9 race.

Mercedes Hay finished in 12:27.9 to take 35th and Sidney Wenzel was 66th after her 13:41.4 race to the finish line.

Runners Phoebe Darr and Lileana Williams also competed in the Osseo race on September 29.

McDonell Central won the girls middle school race with a score of 76. Fall Creek’s Jenna Anders ran to a first-place finish individually with a time of 9:40.4.

Brennan Zais was the first boy to finish for Elk Mound, earning 16th place overall with a time of 10:31.3. Keagan McRea, who crossed the line in 10:40.7 to take 19th, swiftly followed him.

Avery Lauer and Luke Lesmeister were next to finish. Lauer ran to 26th place with his time of 10:54.5, while Lesmeister finished in 10:58.4 to take 28th. The duo was joined less than 20 seconds later by Luke Hanson, who took 38th for his 11:14.4 dash.

Jackson Severson, Mitchell Hainstock and Walker Banaszak also participated in the boys race for Elk Mound.

The middle school boys team from Gail-Ettrick-Trempeleau copped the win with a score of 34, while their own Riley Kirkey won the individual race with a time of 9:32.2.