Colfax’s Erica Kallstrom wins sectional, earns state cross country berth

By Cara L. Dempski

DURAND — The Colfax girls’ cross country team had one member qualify for the state cross country championship slated for this coming Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids. The Viking boys’ finished ninth out of 17 teams at the WIAA Division 3 sectional hosted by Durand at the Rolling Greens Golf Course October 22.

Colfax sophomore Erica Kallstrom won the girls’ individual championship with a time 20:00.8 and led a strong group of Viking girls, one of the pre-race favorites for the sectional team title.

The Lady Vikings, however, were unable to capture a second straight sectional crown or state berth as only four of its runners finished Saturday’s race in Durand.

All season the Colfax girls have been fighting to stay healthy noted head Coach Joe Doucette. The girls started with a full team, but Hailey Prince went down with only 300 meters left to run taking the Vikings out of the running for a team award and state berth.

“The girls were right in it until the end,” Doucette said. “But the injuries and lack of depth caught up with us.”

Colfax had three runners in the top 21 and its fourth came in at 40th. But without a fifth runner to cross the finish line, the Vikings were unable to post a complete team score and were, therefore, out of contention to defend its 2015 sectional championship or earn a state berth.

Senior Abbagail Schotter was the second Viking to finish, and took home 13th individually with a time of 21:44.7. Schotter finished her high school career with three trips to state as an individual, and two times as part of a top-five team.

Freshmen Jayna Bowe and Juelia Berger rounded out Colfax’s girls team. Bowe finished 21st after racing across the finish line in 22:51.6, and Berger was 40th after finishing in 23:55.2.

While Kallstrom won the overall race, it was the Glenwood City and Elk Mound girls who earned trips to Wisconsin Rapids for the October 29 state meet. The Hilltoppers, who placed second behind Colfax a year ago, captured their second sectional title in three years with 57 points. The Lady Mounders were the recipients of the Vikings’ misfortune as they finished second with 79 points to earn their first state cross country berth.

Doucette complimented both teams, saying they are well coached and full of good runners.

“We really pull for our conference to do well,” Doucette said.

He also stated that Kallstrom is running very well and a stronger runner than last year, and is very excited to see how she does.

On the boys’ side, Doucette said the team had a good season and improved with each meet. He said he is proud of the year the boys had and they will lose some good runners to graduation next May, but there are some talented young runners who can replace the seniors.

That being said, he said the team did not run well at the sectional on October 22.

“Everybody tried hard, but we just couldn’t get anything going,” Doucette stated.

Underclassmen Trey Hovde and Luke Heidorn led the Viking boys with placings of 38th and 40th and times of 19:21.9 and 19:26.1. They led another tight grouping of Colfax runners.

Freshman Cole Seehaver ran in the team’s third spot and finished the race in 19:52.2 to take 56th. Matthew Reisdorf was 63rd after his 20:05.6 race, and Trevor Rothbauer ran to a 20:18.1 finish to take 75th. Senior Rowdy Kadinger pushed his team across the line from 87th place with a time of 20:38.5.

Durand and Augusta earned state berths after finishing first and second respectively. The Panthers boys claimed the sectional title with 34 points bettering than half the 70 points put up by Augusta. Eau Claire Immanuel’s Dan Lau won the overall boys race with his 17:10.1 finish to qualify as an individual.

While all the Vikings but Kallstrom have hung up their running shoes for the year, Doucette is looking forward to watching the sophomore runner in Wisconsin Rapids.

“I think you always hope to do a little better,” Doucette said. “We had some years in which everything went great, but this year we could not get everyone going at the same time.”

Kallstrom will be participating in the WIAA Division 3 State race at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids around 1:45 p.m. on October 29.

TEAM SCORES — BOYS VARSITY: 1. Durand 34, 2. Augusta 70, 3. McDonell Central 116, 4. EC Immanuel Lutheran 162, 5. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 187, 6. Elk Mound 202, 7. Spring Valley 238, 8. Boyceville 246, 9. Colfax 255, 10. Glenwood City 262, 11. Fall Creek 266, 12. St. Croix Falls 266, 13. Cameron 282, 14. EC Regis 316, 15. Cadott 331, 16. Cornell/Lake Holcombe 351, 17. New Auburn 536.

TEAM SCORES — GIRLS VARSITY: 1. Glenwood City 57, 2. Elk Mound 79, 3. Cameron 103, 4. Durand 144, 5. Boyceville 160, 6. McDonell Central 178, 7. St. Croix Falls 180, 8. Elmwood/Plum City 183, 9. EC Regis 196, 10. Spring Valley 218, 11. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 230, 12. Thorp/Gilman 294, 13. Cadott. 322.