EM girls cross country place fifth in Rice Lake, win in Altoona
By Cara L. Dempski
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound cross country teams competed in a pair of invitationals last week.
The Mounder girls copped fifth in the small-school competition in Rice Lake on September 13 and came home with the team title at an invitational hosted by Altoona at the Eau Claire City Wells on September 15. The Elk Mound boys’ team, meanwhile took 12th and seventh in those respective meets.
Rice Lake Invitational
The Mounder girls ran to a fifth-place finish in a pool of 16 small schools and ranked 18th overall against 30 other schools. The boys finished twelfth out of 17 in the small schools and 25th overall.
Coach Jeremiah Fredrickson said Rice Lake was a good meet for both teams to see what it takes to compete. He credits Alana and Brook Plaszcz with leading the team while Elizabeth Fasbender was out with an injury.
“Alana and Brook both stepped up and ran a really smart race,” Fredrickson stated.
Alana Plaszcz led the Elk Mound girls, finishing ninth in the division with a time of 21:31.7; she was 33rd overall. Her twin sister, Brook, was the second Mounder girl across the finish line. Brook was 23rd in the division and 84th overall with a time of 22:52.1.
Freshman Kristin Martinson was the next runner in for the Mounders. She finished in 35th place in the division with a time of 23:48.4, and was 112th in the combined rankings. Claudia Paul followed Martinson in, running her race in 24:42.1 to earn 44th in the division and 129th overall. Paige Romanowski completed the scoring for the Mounders, running with a time of 24:51.8 to end up 46th in the division and 132 in the main scoring.
Victoria Fasbender and Taya Schaefer completed the varsity runners for Elk Mound. Fasbender ran to 51st place in the division and 137th overall on a time of 25:03.0. Schaefer completed the race in 25:41.2 to wind up in 64th for the division and 152nd overall.
“Five of our seven (girls) ran season or personal bests, which was really impressive,” Fredrickson said.
The Menomonie High School girls took top honors for the girls race, while Colfax won the small-school division. Somerset junior Anya Swanson finished the girls race in 19:17.4 for first place, and Rachel Lawton of Flambeau won the small-school race with a time of 19:21.8.
Coach Fredrickson noted the boys continue to improve, with six of the seven varsity runners improving upon their season personal records.
Freshman Cade Hanson again carried the Mounder boys, finishing first for the time with a time of 18:58.9 and earning 25th against the small schools and 66th against the full field. Elk Mound’s second boys runner, Nate Schreiber, finished 54th in the division and 141st overall with a race completion of 20:31.9.
Seth Hazen picked up 61 points in the small-school division with his 63rd-place finish and 150 points overall with a 152nd-place finish for a time of 20:45.8. Ryan Mohr and Jonas Kohls completed the top five boys for Elk Mound with times of 21:15.2 and 21:18.7. Mohr finished in 82nd for the division and 179th in the main race, while Kohls was 86th and 184th.
Nate Lind and Andrew Pathos filled the last two spots for the Mounders’ varsity boys. Lind was 92nd and 190th after finishing the race with a time of 21:33.5. Pathos came in 97th and 200th after crossing the line in 21:56.3.
Fredrickson said, “Cade Hanson ran well against some really good runners and continues to grow as a top freshman.”
Unity’s Alex Binfet won the small-school race with a time of 16:39.5. Maury Miller of Ashland won the full boys race with a time of 16:23.3. McDonell Central High School won the small-school boys division, while Hudson High School won the entire boys meet.
TEAM RESULTS — RICE LAKE INVITATIONAL
Small School Varsity Boys: 1. McDonell Central 65, 2. Unity 88, 3. Bloomer 92, 4. Phillips 124, 5. Webster 141, 6. Colfax 172, 7. Drummond 179, 8. Grantsburg 199, 9. Boyceville 262, 10. Glenwood City 287, 11. Hurley 296, 12. Elk Mound 298, 13. Cameron 303, 14. St. Croix Falls 324, 15. Spooner 332, 16. Cumberland 439, 17. Shell Lake 456.
Small School Varsity Girls: 1. Colfax 67, 2. Grantsburg 91, 3. Glenwood City 92, 4. Cameron 127, 5. Elk Mound 144, 6. McDonell Central 179, 7. St. Croix Falls 196, 8. Boyceville 213, 9. Shell Lake 214, 10. Cumberland 247, 11. Webster 255, 12. Hurley 255, 13. Spooner 279, 14. Barron 289, 15. Bloomer 378, 16. Prairie Farm 416.
Altoona Invitational
The Mounder girls ran for 70 points to land first place in the Altoona Invitational out of 11 teams that figured in the scoring. The boys finished seventh out of ten teams after beating Fall Creek on a tiebreaker with 199 points.
Coach Fredrickson said, “A first place finish is a great team motivator, and the girls keep getting better.”
Alana Plaszcz was the first Mounder girl to finish, doing so in 21:09.3 and picking up second place. Her sister, Brook, finished in sixth place with a time of 21:52.6.
Elk Mound’s top female runner, Elizabeth Fasbender, returned to racing after a bout of tendonitis, running a 22:03.5 race to take seventh place. She was joined a little over a minute later by Victoria Fasbender, who finished 27th with a time of 23:28.6.
Kristin Martinson finished the scoring runners for the Elk Mound girls with her 35th-place finish for her 24:13.5 race.
Paige Romanowski and Claudia Paul ran in the final two spots on the varsity team, coming in 42nd and 52nd with times of 24:27.1 and 25:19.3.
The Plaszcz sisters, Victoria Fasbender, and Romanowski all ran for season best times.
“Alana really learned how to get out front and set the pace,” Fredrickson said of the sophomore.
Dana Feyen of Gale-Ettrick-
Trempeleau won the girls’ race with a time of 18:19.3.
The Elk Mound boys also saw improvement, with their top runner achieving a season best time at the meet.
Cade Hanson was again the first Mounder boy to finish his race, crossing the line in 18:26.8 to take 22nd place. Hanson was trailed by a tight grouping of Elk Mound boys to round out the five scored runners.
Nate Schrieber and Seth Hazen placed 46th and 49th with times of 20:13.3 and 20:22.7. Andrew Pathos was only seven seconds behind Hazen and took 53rd, while Jonas Kohls finished the race in 21:00.3 to take 57th.
Elk Mound’s Nate Lind was able to break the tie with the Fall Creek boys, as he and Ryan Mohr filled out the seven-man varsity roster to beat the Crickets, who had only five boys running. Lind was 67th with a time of 21:34.1 and Mohr finished 68th for his 21:51.6 race.
Altoona High School topped the boys’ competition with 56 points. Dan Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel High School won the boys’ race with a time of 16:54.8.
Coach Fredrickson said both teams continue to push each other to improve, and the varsity spots change on a weekly basis because of each team member’s desire to improve.
The varsity boys and girls cross country teams ran as part of an invitational in Mondovi on September 20, and will be seen again in the same neck of the woods when they go to Durand for an invitational on September 22.
Junior Varsity
The junior varisty squads joined the varsity runners at the Rice Lake and Altoona Invitationals. In Rice Lake, the girls finished 10th of 12 teams with a score of 285, while the boys were 14th of 16 with 371 points.
Kayli Solberg led the JV girls, finishing 65th in 25:50.7. Hanna Hollister was a fraction of a second behind Solberg with a time of 25:50.9 to finish 66th. Ciera Lind slipped across the finish line in 26:31.7 to pick up 81st place, and Mattea Lindberg was 88th after her 26:18 race. Audrey Westcott finished the scoring runners for the JV girls, completing her race in 27:13 to nab 91st place.
Jared Strand led the JV boys, taking 94th on a 22:10 run. Jake Johnson was 40 seconds behind Strand and picked up 116th place. Bowdrie Noller grabbed 117th for his 22:52.1 run, and Dylan Hanson took 122nd with his 22:58 run. Nate Bechel completed the JV runners with a 23:11.7 race to take 128th.
The Elk Mound JV girls team finished first of two scored teams in the Altoona Invitational with 23 points and all five scoring runners placing in the top ten. The boys were fourth out of six after picking up 82 points and four of their five scoring runners in the top 20.
Mounder Taya Schaefer was the first girl to finish for Elk Mound, placing second overall with a time of 24:57.9. Kaitlyn Baier ran to a fifth-place finish in her 25:39.7 race, and Ciera Lind was seventh after crossing the line at 25:41.9.
Kayli Solberg and Meredith Hainstock followed Lind across the line, placing eighth and ninth with times of 25:43.1 and 25:50.7.
Bowdrie Noller led the JV boys, finishing seventh in a field of 48 with his 20:58.8 race. Jared Strand was less than a minute behind him, crossing the line in 21:54 to take 13th. Jake Johnson ran to a 22:10.7 finish and took 18th, while Dylan Hanson took 20th for his 22:15.5 finishing time.
Nate Bechel was the final JV boy across the line for Elk Mound. He ran a 23:13.5 race to take 29th place.
Middle School
The Elk Mound Middle School boys and girls cross country teams also competed in Rice Lake. The boys finished fifth out of 12 teams and had five runners in the top 50 for the race. Brennen Zais led the boys team with his 12:31.2 time and 24th-place finish. Keagan McRea and Avery Lauer finished 30th and 33rd on times of 12:49.5 and 12:51. Luke Lesmeister and Ryan Schuh rounded out the top five boys for Elk Mound, with times of 12:57.5 and 13:12.8 and 38th and 50th placings.
Also running for the middle school boys were Walker Banaszak and Jackson Severson.
The middle school girls finished 10th out of 13 teams with 225 points and one runner in the top 10. Olivia Schrieber crossed the line in eighth place with a time 12:20.3. She was joined a few minutes later by Olivia Schindler, Lilly Tanula and Mercedes Hay, who placed 59th, 60th and 61st. Schindler crossed the line at 14:34.2, Tanula finished in 14:35.3, and Hay ran the race in 14:35.5.
Regan Jenson was the fifth Elk Mound girl to finish, running her race in 14:53.2 to finish 74th. Lileana Williams was 147th with her 22:28.4 run.
TEAM RESULTS — ALTOONA INVITATIONAL
Varsity Boys: Altoona 56, Durand 64, Augusta 73, Columbus Catholic 78, Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau 132, Eau Claire Immanuel 148, Elk Mound 199, Fall Creek 199, Regis 236, Independence-Gilmanton 246.
Varsity Girls: Elk Mound 70, Chippewa Valley Lightning Bolts 73, Altoona 95, Durand 138, Osseo-Fairchild 140, Regis 149, Independence-Gilmanton 168, Augusta 177, Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau 180, Fall Creek 235, Thorp-Gilman 290.