Boyceville girls win D-SC cross country title

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DURAND — From the very beginning of the season, members of the Boyceville girls’ cross country team had their sights set on this race – the Dunn-St. Croix Conference meet, with aspirations of winning it.

The day for that race finally arrived last Thursday, October 12 when the eight conference schools converged at Durand’s Rolling Green Golf Course for the 2023 Dunn-St. Croix Cross Country meet.

Undeterred by the overcast skies that kept temperatures in the low 50s and a persistent wind, the Bulldogs girls ran to their first conference cross country championship since 2005.

“The girls have stated from very early on in the season that their goal was to win the conference,” stated Boyceville head coach Jacob Peterson. “They showed that in all of their runs, repeats and daily routines.”

“This group of girls is not only competitive, but a close knit group that makes sure that all girls are a part of the team. They push each other at practice, talk about their race strategies, and openly discuss their goals with one another,” he added.

With four runners finishing in the top 13 to earn all-conference honors, Boyceville scored 34 to finish ahead of runner-up Elk Mound who tallied 48 points. Just two other schools – host Durand-Arkansaw and Spring Valley – field full teams. The Panthers finished third just two points behind the Mounders and the Cardinals scored a 99 to finish in fourth place.

“I knew it would be a tough race with Elk Mound and Durand, as we have tied with both of those teams and have gone back and forth with Elk Mound over the last few weeks,” Peterson noted.

Boyceville sophomore Ashlyn Maska has steadily improved throughout the season which culminated in a third-place finish at last Thursday’s conference meet. Maska finished in a time of 21:36.05.

Senior Jaden Stevens was the second member of the Boyceville girls’ squad to cross the finish line in Durand as she placed sixth in a time of 22:17.82.

With those finishes, Maska and Stevens both earned spots on the first team all-conference squad which are awarded to the race’s top seven finishers.

Two other Lady Bulldog harriers earned second team all-conference recognition, which is awarded to runners that finish in eighth through 14th place. Freshman Ellie Engeman ran a 22:49.48 to finish in ninth place while sophomore Halle Tonn was 13th in a time of 23:07.48. Freshman Sydney Larson closed out the varsity scoring for the girls with a 21st-place showing in 24:02.37.

Also competing in the varsity competition were freshman Layla Score and senior Sarah Stoveren. Score was 32nd in 26:08.95 with Stoveren taking 33rd in 27:08.71.

The Bulldogs’ Ashley Prestrud competed in the junior varsity competition where the sophomore finished seventh after clocking a 28:58.71.

“This kind of team mentally is what a coach wants to see and is the reason they came into the conference race focused and ready to race their best,” stated Peterson.

There were 37 total runners in the girls’ varsity competition which was won by senior Courtney Stadter of Mondovi who set a course record in 19:45.44.

The Boyceville boys had a goal to be more competitive in this year’s race and finish ahead of at least one conference school, Peterson said.

While they were indeed much improved with all of the boys’ running personal records (PRs) for the season in Thursday’s conference meet including six that established lifetime PRs, the team finished last among the six schools that sported full squads after scoring a 133.

Glenwood City won the boys’ championship with 37 points, Mondovi placed second with a score of 60, last year’s boys’ champion, Elk Mound, took third with 71 points, host Durand-Arkansaw tallied a 103 to place fourth and Spring Valley finished with 111 points to take fifth.

Junior Michael Montgomery led the Boyceville boys to the finish line as he finished in 19:35.80 for 19th place.

A pair of freshmen were the next to finish for the Bulldogs. Isaac Williams took 23rd in 19:54.19 and Nicholas Keeley ran a 20:42.20 to take 30th.

Rounding out the scoring for Boyceville were sophomore Forest Bettendorf, who trucked across the finish in 21:17.40 to take 33rd, and junior Aidan Madison placed 35th in a time of 22:12.78.

The boys’ sixth varsity runner was Dominic Anderson who took 39th in 22:32.10.

Freshman Jace Traxler competed in the junior varsity competition where he was 18th in 26:01.80.

“I was happy with their performances. With no seniors on the boys’ team, I hope this year and with some summer training that we can look forward to being more competitive in the conference in future years,” stated Peterson.

There were 43 total runners in the boys’ 5,000-meter varsity race which was won by Landon Clark of Mondovi in 17:11.29.

The future looks bright for the entire Boyceville cross country program as both the middle school boys’ and girls’ teams finished first in the October 12th conference competition that covered 3,200 meters.

Boyceville’s middle school girls dominated their competition as they had four of the top five runners and finished with a score of 25, 41 points better than runner-up Glenwood City who tallied a 66. Boyceville’s middle school boys nipped Elk Mound by a single point, 56 to 57, to win their competition.

The Boyceville middle school girls were led by sixth-grader Brielle Jeske who took second in 13:03.39, eighth-grader Brooklyn Talmage was third in 13:03.72, seventh-grader Katy Maska ran a 13:08.67 to take fourth, and eighth-grader Blake Jeske placed fifth in 13:24.96.

Also running for the middle school girls were: Ella Engeman (12th, 14:11.50), Lydia Day (18th, 15:26.33), Kendall Pomasl (20th, 15:30.55), Danica Score (22nd, 15:34.09), Elizabeth Tegart (46th, 20:27.10), and Bianca Anderson (53rd, 23:14.44).

Seventh-grader Clayton Score placed second in the boys’ middle school race with a time of 11:39.23. Eighth-grader Tegan Lydon also cracked the top ten as he finished in eighth place with a time of 12:38.69.

Several other boys competed in the middle school race for Boyceville. They were: Riley Naughton (11th, 12:45.00), Treylyn Heinz (20th, 13:34.87), Logan Monfort (24th, 13:47.97), Easton Lange (29th, 14:14.75), Harry McGee (30th, 14:16.71), Brady Maska (31st, 14:18.24), Asher Hovind (38th, 14:59.22), Tristan Engeman (45th, 15:52.59), Noah Bohn (46th, 16:03.59), Sawyer Wirth (47th, 16:17.95), James Webb (48th, 16:28.85), Christopher Madison (49th, 17:01.57), and Aiden Feeney (50th, 17:05.52).

“I couldn’t be any more proud of the middle school program this year,” stated Coach Peterson.

“Both teams, boys and girls, have been working so hard throughout the year.  Coach Melissa does a great job introducing the sport and teaching the athletes not only how to run, pace and race, but also how to look at the results from last year and set goals for the upcoming races,” he added. 

“The girls’ middle school team came into the conference race with quite the record, they had won all their races but two, finishing second to New Richmond twice. The boys have some younger boys in their top 5 that have really stepped up in the last few weeks, helping the team win an extremely close victory against Elk Mound,” concluded Peterson.  

The Boyceville varsity squads will compete in the WIAA Division 3 sectional meet that will be held in Cadott at the Whispering Pines Golf Course this Saturday, October 21. Racing begins at 11:00 a.m.