Williams wins CC sectional, Topper boys finish second to earn state berth

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CADOTT — The Glenwood City boys’ cross country team achieved not one but two unprecedented, history-making milestones at last Saturday’s cross country sectional.

When JJ Williams was the first competitor to run across the finish line during the WIAA Division 3 boys’ cross country sectional race at Cadott’s Whispering Pines Golf Course last Saturday afternoon, October 22, the senior became the first boy in the 26-year history of Glenwood City’s cross country program to win an individual sectional championship. Williams’ win set the stage and his teammates responded as the Hilltoppers boys’ finished second overall to earn their first-ever state berth.

“This was a goal we had since last season finishing short at conference (2nd place), and 3rd at sectionals,” said long-time Toppers’ head coach Matthew Schutz. “Knowing the team had one of the best Division 3 runners back in JJ Williams, our goals for the season didn’t change as we only had to replace one (Austin Nelson) from last year.”

Twice before the Glenwood City boys had been on the cusp of a state berth, finishing third in 2000 and again last season.

But the boys got it done this year!

“It had to be a group effort.  And it was, as we often didn’t know whom for the team was going to be our 3rd-7th place runners each meet,” noted Schutz.

“It changed all season long as they all competed with one another. We had 11 boys duking it out for varsity status,” continued Schutz. “It was fun to watch, but difficult to decide who was going to run sectionals.”

As it would turn out, the seven that ran at October 13th conference meet (where GC finished second to Elk Mound) – Williams along with Elek and Ilan Anderson, Anthony Nelson, Zeb Holden, Clayton Hoffman and Sal Stillday – were also tabbed to race in the sectional too.

“We ran tough against a good Elk Mound team,” added Schutz of the conference meet. “So we knew we had it in us to finish one or two at sectionals.”

“We have a good team and we wanted, hungered for recognition of that,” the coach added.  “It also helps when you have great leadership from our seniors who help guide the younger runners to wanting more!”

Chippewa Falls McDonell won the team championship with a score of 60 as all five of the Macks scoring runners placed 18th or higher with senior Paul Pfeifer finishing second to Williams. Of the 22 schools that took part in the sectional meet, 18 boys’ teams fielded complete (5 runner) rosters.

“We knew McDonell was the team to beat as we had already raced them a few times throughout the season,” Schutz said. “Our game plan was to race them so we knew we were running well throughout the race.  Unfortunately, they outraced us in all of our positions except for JJ. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser (3rd) was right in the mix too, but having the number one runner, JJ Williams, scoring one point for your team helped greatly.”

Williams dashed across the finish line during a warm, sun-splashed day in Cadott to finish first among the 123 runners that competed. His time of 16:33.1 was an amazing 35 seconds faster than that of runner-up Paul Pfeifer’s.

It was truly a dominating performance worthy of a historic first-time achievement.

Williams is only the second Hilltopper to ever win a sectional cross country title joining Brittany Schillinger who was the first to achieve the feat back in 2004. 

“JJ Williams has been working hard since last season, this summer,” said Schutz of his seniors accomplishment. “And now, his goal is to get to the top of the podium at state. To do that, you have to train a lot and set goals along the way, which he has done.  It needs to be an internal effort, not much a coach can do. He has been running great this season and Saturday’s 35-second finish ahead of the second place runner showed all that were present that he is ready to compete at state.”

But Williams could not get the team to state by himself. For that he needed the help of his teammates especially that of his fellow seniors Elek Anderson and Anthony Nelson.

And they delivered!

Elek Anderson finished 17th in 18:29.1 with Nelson coming across the finish about 16 seconds later to place 22nd in 18:45.7.

Sophomore Zeb Holden was close behind, finishing 24th with a time of 18:52.5. Freshman Clayton Hoffman flashed his talents finishing fifth for the Hilltoppers in 19:04.6 which was good for 29th and provided the final tally on the Toppers’ score of 85 points.

Glenwood City’s sixth and sevent runners – senior Sal Stillday and sophomore Ilan Anderson – both finished the race in under 20 minutes. Stillday copped 30th in 19:11.2 while Ilan Anderson finished 38th on a time of 19:42.0.

In addition to Glenwood City and McDonell qualifying for the WIAA State Cross Country Championships which will be held this Saturday, October 29 at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, five individuals qualified to compete at state and they are Peter Weir of Cadott, Connor Gentleman of Loyal/Greenwood, Micah Fossum of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, and Owen Hamholm and Elijah Poppe both from Chetek-Weyerhaeuser.

The Glenwood City boys will be competing in the Division 3 state race which is slated to begin around 2 p.m. Saturday.  

Unlike their male counterparts, the Glenwood City girls struggled in Cadott finishing 11th out of the dozen teams that had full rosters with 242 points.

In a repeat of the conference meet, sophomore Elsja Meijer was the first Topper girl to finish taking 32nd place in a time of 23:08.7. Gabriella Williams followed in 40th after a time of 23:43.2, junior Haylie Hannah was next taking 59th in 24:38.2, while sophomore Stephanie Anderson and freshman Ava Multhauf completed the team’s race with finishes of 85th and 92, respectively, in times of 27:05.8 and 28:06.6.

Eau Claire Regis took first in the girls’ race with a score of 63 while Colfax, led by Molly Heidorn who claimed her third individual sectional championship with a run of 19:57.1 (the only girls to break the 20-minute barrier in the race), finished second with 100 points and earned the other state team berth. Five other young ladies, not a part of the two state qualifying teams, received individual state berths and included Lauren Peterson of Durand, Shaylie Zarza of Thorp, Ann Boland of Unity and Megan Johnston and Jenna Anders both of Fall Creek.

Girls’ Team Standings: 1. Eau Claire Regis 63, 2. Colfax 100, 3. Fall Creek 112, 4. Cameron 112, 5. Durand 117, 6. Cadott 120, 7. Loyal/Greenwood 180, 8. Boyceville 195, 9. Augusta 228, 10. Thorp 234, 11. Glenwood City 242, 12. Chippewa Falls McDonell Central 299.

Boys’ Team Standings: 1. Chippewa Falls McDonell Central 60, 2. Glenwood City 85, 3. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 109, 4. Fall Creek 175, 5. Unity 181, 6. Spring Valley 206, 7. Cadott 212, 8. Stanley-Boyd 224, 9. Colfax 262, 10. Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 266, 11. Cameron 283, 12. Eau Claire Regis 292, 13. Clear Lake 335, 14. Thorp 337, 15. Augusta 344, 16. Boyceville 356, 17. Durand 387, 18. New Auburn 518.