Hilltopper harriers race in Amery, Eau Claire
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.
Glenwood City’s cross country teams ran in a pair of meets last week in preparation for this Thursday’s Dunn-St. Croix Conference meet in Mondovi.
The Hilltopper harriers competed in invitationals in Amery and Eau Claire in a span of just three days.
In the 11-school Amery meet, held last Thursday, October 7, head coach Matthew Schutz had his athletes pack run which resulted in some personal best times that saw the boys’ team finish fifth and the girls’ take 11th.
Just two days later, Glenwood City participated in the Old Abe Invitational held at the South Middle School in Eau Claire on Saturday, October 11. There, the boys came in 11th out of 16 teams while the ladies placed 14th among the 18 complete squads. Individually, JJ Williams, Austin Nelson, Bella Simmons and Kendall Schutz all finished in the top 20 in their respective races at the “Old Abe”.
The Toppers will cap the regular season with a run in the annual conference meet which will be held at the Valley Golf Course in Mondovi tomorrow (October 14). Individual and team championships will be determined with running set to begin at 4:15 p.m.
Amery Invite
Employing a “rising tide lifts all boats” strategy in its October 7 races in Amery, Glenwood City’s runners ran as a pack.
“We took our top runners and a few others and had them pack run with other runners to get them to push harder and faster through the race,” stated Toppers’ head coach Matthew Schutz.
“Our main focus was on our 5th-7th runners who need to step it up another level as we head to the conference race,” he added.
The strategy seemed to pay dividends as several Glenwood City runners recorded personal best times in the Amery races.
For the boys, freshman Ilan Anderson, sophomore Connor Berends and junior Anthony Nelson all ran their best times of the year as did sophomore girl Haylie Hannah.
Anthony Nelson finished in 19:22.3 to place 28th, Ilan Anderson took 34th in 19:35.6 and Connor Berends crossed the finish in 19:37.8 to place 38th. Helping to push those individuals were junior JJ Williams and senior Austin Nelson who finished 35th and 37th, respectively. Williams recorded a time of 19:36 with Austin Nelson coming across the line in 19:37.4.
Junior Elek Anderson was the top finisher for the Glenwood City boys, running a time of 18:56.3 to take 20th in a field of 119 runners.
Freshman Zeb Holden was the Toppers’ number seven runner as he finished in 60th place with a time of 21:32.7.
Also competing for the boys were junior Cody Hansen (80th, 23:18.5), senior Henry Draxler (85th , 23:44.2), freshman Elliott Springborn (91st, 24:02.5), senior Brendan Booth (93rd, 24:10.4), freshman Tyler Rogers (94th, 24:10.6), junior Owen Bauman (95th, 24:11.3) and sophomore Xander Jacobsen (112th, 26:25.8).
Haylie Hannah’s personal best time of 25:15.8 saw her finish in 47th place which was less than a second after the girls’ top-pace setters and seniors Bella Simmons and Kendall Schutz completed the race. Simmons took 45th in 25:15.1 and Schutz came in 46th with a 25:15.2.
Freshman Elsja Meijer was the first Glenwood City girl to finish in Amery. She ran a 24:18.9 to place 33rd.
The Lady Toppers fifth, sixth and seventh runners were seniors Ella Knops and Samantha Peterson and sophomore Savanna Millermon, respectively. Knops was 70th in 26:54.6, while Peterson (28:52.4) and Millermon (28:52.9) finished within a half second of one another to place 81st and 82nd.
Sophomore Sydney Grant ran to 92nd place in 30:39.4.
The Topper boys scored 150 points to finish in fifth with Grantsburg (43) and Prescott (57) claiming the top two spots. Senior Will Berger of Grantsburg won the boys’ race in 16:46.9.
For the girls, Glenwood City was last among the 11 competing teams with a 215. Host Amery won the girls’ team title with 22 points while Elk Mound freshman Ellie Schiszik topped the girls’ race with a 20:49.9.
Old Abe Invite
Junior JJ Williams and senior Austin Nelson finished ninth and 11th, respectively, out of 124 boys that ran in Saturday’s Old Abe Invitational held at the South Middle School in Eau Claire.
Toppers’ seniors Bella Simmons and Kendall Schutz had equally impressive finishes in the girls’ competition where they placed 14th and 18th, respectively, in a race that had 121 runners.
Those four helped pace their respective teams as the GC boys came in 11th with 295 points and the girls placed 14th with a 308. 16 schools had complete boys’ squads while there were 18 in the girls’ team competition.
Williams finished his race in 17:20.5 and Austin Nelson turned in a 17:27.5.
Senior Brendan Booth was the third GC boys runner to finish, taking 90th in 20:24.6.
Junior Owen Bauman and freshman Elliott Springborn closed out the scoring as the team’s fourth and fifth-place finishers. Bauman ran a 21:16.1 to place 101st and Springborn came in 103rd with a 21:38.6.
Rounding out the team were freshman Zeb Holden (110th, 22:13.9), sophomore Connor Berends (115th, 22:42.6) and senior Henry Draxler (116th, 22:50.3).
Leading the girls’ 5-member squad in Eau Claire were, as previously mentioned, Simmons (20:36.1) and Schutz (21:02.7).
They were followed by senior Samantha Peterson, who took 89th in 24:55.1, freshman Elsja Meijer was 97th in 25:48.9 and senior Ella Knops ran a 26:21.1 for 101st.
Menomonie senior Isabella Jacobsen ran a 18:04.7 to win the girls’ competition and lead her Mustangs’ team to first with a score of 55. Chippewa Falls senior Lukas Wagner won the boys’ individual title in 16:15.9 while Hudson claimed the team championship with a 79.
