Viking runners record double win at Ladysmith Invite

LADYSMITH – Both the Colfax boys’ and girls’ cross country teams breezed past the competition to win the Ladysmith Invite on a near perfect day for running weather wise Oct. 1. The boys outdistanced their nearest opponent by 38 points while the girls were 61 points ahead of their nearest competitors.

Just 49 seconds separated the top five Colfax boys as Tucker Hovde placed second in 17:53 which was eight seconds behind Chetek-Weyerhaeuser’s Jeshaiah Snyder who clocked in at 17:46. Brett Prince was right behind Hovde in third place at 18:18, Zack Arvold was fifth overall and third in the team standings at 18:25, Brady Simonson finished ninth individually and eighth for team points at 18:33 and Jacob Larson was 12th overall and 11th for the team in 18:42. Ike Lee was 16th overall in 19:20, Hunter Lieffort placed 26th at 20:27 and Rowdy Kadinger was 49th in 22:16.There were 70 individuals and seven complete teams in the race.

“This was by far the best race of the years for our boys,” coach Joe Doucette said. “Brady and Jacob are critical to our success and they both ran a great race. The boys were excited about running so well after all the hard work they have put in.”

Competing without their number three runner Dempsey Fogarty who was ill, the girls won rather convincingly as Courtney Dressel and Erica Kallstrom both finished under the 21 minute mark. Although Flambeau freshman Rachel Lawton won yet another race in a time of 19:39, Flambeau did not have a full team for a score. So in the team scores, the Vikings were 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, as Dressel ran a time of 20:17, Kallstrom 20:20, Abbagail Schotter 22:23, Hailey Prince 22:24 and Ally Heidorn 23:04. There were seven teams and 54 competitors in the race.

“Although the girls are also very excited they ran well, they all think they can improve,” Doucette said. “We have good senior leaders and we have a good chance of being in the mix late in the season,” he added.

The Vikings have one more race in Eau Claire Oct. 10 before the conference meet Oct. 15 in Durand.