Small group competing for Colfax Cross Country in 2023 season
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by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
COLFAX — Colfax cross country coach Joe Doucette, the first and only coach to lead the Viking harriers, begins his 31st year with something he hasn’t experienced before. Just three boys and three girls showed up for the first week of practice, leaving the team short of the five runners required for a team score.
On the girls side, it is a pretty tall task trying to replace Molly Heidorn, one of the school’s strongest runners, along with Aynsley Olson, another extremely talented athlete as well as one-time letter winner Paige Jensen.
Heidorn concluded her career as a four-time Dunn-St. Croix Conference champion, a three-time sectional champ and a three-time medalist at the WIAA state meet. She is currently competing for UW-Eau Claire this fall. Olson was also a four-time all-conference runner and competed in two state meets, including last season. The girls won their ninth conference championship and placed second of 20 teams in the Cadott sectional to qualify for the state meet for the 11th time in school history.
Returning for the Viking girls are three juniors, Kaysen Goodell, Hannah Peterson, and Lauren Becker. Goodell has been placing closely behind Heidorn the past two seasons, claiming all-conference honors both years and competing at the state level twice. Doucette believes she is super tough and one of the school’s best athletes. Peterson is another outstanding athlete and just missed the all-conference team a year ago while Becker is a very solid runner and improved a lot last season. Both experienced running at state with Goodell last season.
The boys’ team also has three runners pounding the pavement so far. Gone are Ashton Yarrington, Mark Sonnentag, and David Lyrek via graduation. Yarrington was second team all-conference last season and was a four-time letter winner for the Vikings while Sonnentag was also a four year letter winner who improved every season. Lyrek was a tough runner who competed just his senior year.
Sophomore Charlie Charbonneau returns after having a super freshman season, just missing an all-conference spot. Junior Logan Swartz has a lot of athletic ability according to Doucette and should have a nice year. Sophomore Eli Obermueller should also help the squad. Junior Theo Hovde may step in to compete when he is not out on the gridiron playing for the football team. Doucette is hoping when school gets going he may pick up a few more runners since there have always been enough boys for a team score for conference and sectional meets. They have won 11 D-SC titles and nine state berths under Doucette’s direction.
Goals for his athletes are to work hard and improve with a chance to get some kids all-conference honors and qualify for the state meet as individuals.
He expects Durand and Boyceville to be strong at the conference meet and Eau Claire Regis at sectionals for the girls, while Elk Mound and Glenwood City will be highly competitive in conference for the boys.
“Cross country is a great, tough sport,” coach Doucette said. “Right now we will look at the individual side of the sport and try to get everyone to improve. We lost a great senior class and haven’t been able to replace them. I am proud of our program since we have had a lot of great people and athletes come through,” he concluded.
COLFAX Cross Country team — Pictured from left to right is this year’s team: Eli Obermueller, Logan Swartz, Charlie Charbonneau, Lauren Becker, Kaysen Goodell, and Hannah Peterson. Coach Doucette is hoping that they can increase their numbers to 5 each to be able to compete as a full team for both boys’ and girls’ meets. —photo supplied