GC, Boyceville run in Spring Valley, with limited participants
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
THE TOPPERS’ trio of cross country runners, from left to right, juniors Henry Draxler and Brendan Booth and freshman Jacob Flettre competed in the varsity boys’ race in Spring Valley last Thursday, October 1. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Missy Klatt
Sports Correspondent
SPRING VALLEY — The year of COVID-19 has brought many changes, restrictions and surprises to everything this year and the cross country season is no exception.
The Glenwood City Hilltoppers experienced one of those surprises this past week when many of their runners had to quarantine due to possible exposure. As a result, only four boys and two girls were able to run this past Thursday, October 1st in Spring Valley. For the Boyceville Bulldogs, whose numbers have been down since the beginning of the season, they had two boys and four girls running.
Elmwood/Plum City was the fourth team competing in the Dunn-St. Croix’s west pod for the cross country race last Thursday, October 1.
The girls had a total of thirteen runners. Spring Valley’s Lydia Hannack won the race in a time of 23:00.3. Bulldogs’ Haylee Rasmussen crossed the line in second with a time of 24:03.42. Less than 30 seconds later her teammate, Jaden Stevens came in for third. The first Hilltopper to cross the finish line was Ella Knops with a time of 25:43.66 in the seventh position. Spring Valley was the only team to have a complete team for a team score.
For the boys, there was twenty runners who completed the race. Spring Valley had the first two runners to cross the line; Charlie Maier with a time of 17:35.6 and Blayne Gregg who came in at the 18:37.47 mark. The Hilltoppers’ Elek Anderson was the third runner to come in with a time of 18:45.23. About ten seconds later it was Bulldog Nathan Corr in fourth. As with the girls, the Spring Valley boys were the only complete team.
Bulldog head coach Corey Day remarked, “I wish we could race more and different competition. These kids are working hard and seeing big gains and it is being slighted by this pandemic!”
Day noted that Noah Evenson ran this race two minutes faster than the first time he ran at Spring Valley while Corr shaved a minute off his time on the same course.
THE BULLDOGS’ freshman runner Jaden Stevens, left, captured a third-place finish, while Ella Knops, center, was the Glenwood City girls top finisher, placing seventh in a cross country race at Spring Valley October 1. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
For the Boyceville girls, Coach Day commented that Haylee Rasmussen and Jaden Stevens both saw improvements of nearly a minute faster and earned it.
“They have really been going at it in practice,” said Day. “Rachel Montgomery and Shiloh Wheeldon improved their times by three minutes. Both had a little trouble the first race with warmer conditions and were able to show their hard work with big improvements.”
Both teams will be at Boyceville on Thursday, October 8th for another competition of the west pod cross country teams.
Results:
Girls:
2. Rasmussen (BV) 23:00.3, 3. Stevens (BV) 24:30.77, 7. Knops (GC) 25:43.66, 11. Montgomery (BV) 29:38.11, 12. Millermon (GC) 31:31.31, 13. Wheeldon (BV) 31:46.91.
Boys:
3. Anderson (GC) 18:45.23, 4. Corr (BV) 18:56.02, 11. Evenson (BV) 21:57, 13. Flettre (GC) 22:43.33, 15. Draxler (GC) 22:59.15, 16. Booth (GC) 22:59.21.