Area cross country teams begin new seasons at Boyceville Alumni Invitational
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ON THE RUN — Glenwood City’s Kendall Schutz (left) ran along side Boyceville competitors Naomi Hillman (center) and Emma Gruenhagen (right) during a portion of the girls’ race at the Boyceville Alumni Cross Country Invitational held August 28 at Tiffany Creek Elementary. Schutz placed 23rd, Gruenhagen was 47th and Hillman took 74th. —photo by Amber Hayden
SIDE BY SIDE — From left to right, Glenwood City’s Elijah Simmons, Austin Nelson and Elek Anderson ran part of the course side by side at the Boyceville Alumni Cross Country meet held Wednesday, August 28. The Glenwood City boys’ team finished in ninth place with 222 points. —photo by Amber Hayden
By Missy Klatt, Sports Correspondent
BOYCEVILLE — Both the Glenwood City Hilltoppers and the Boyceville Bulldogs started their Cross Country seasons with the Boyceville Alumni Invitational meet held at the Tiffany Creek Elementary School on Wednesday, August 28th.
With ideal weather for running, both teams saw some good results for the first meet of the season. The top runner for the day was Cade Hanson of Elk Mound with a time of 17:25.59. Madison Sand of Durand took top honors in the girls’ race with a time of 21:29.04.
Elk Mound won the boys’ title with 60 points while Durand was tops for the girls with 69 points.
Glenwood City
Both the girls and the boys team did well at their first outing.
The girls placed third as a team with 118 points and had two runners, Bella Simmons and Izzy Williams, in the top ten.
Bella finished 6th in a field of 166 runners with Izzy right behind her in 7th place. Rounding out the top five were Kendall Schutz, Kinzie Strong and Emily Bethell.
As a team, the boys finished in ninth place out of 16 complete teams.
Freshman JJ Williams lead the boys with a 17th place finish and a time of 18:56.34. Elijah Simmons was the next Topper to cross the line in 51st position with Brady McCarthy right on his heels in the 52nd spot. Elek Anderson and Austin Nelson completed the top five for Glenwood.
After the meet, head coach Matthew Schutz stated that he was happy with the results.
“The girls team placing third was great, plus having two in the top ten.” Schutz also commended Kinzie Strong remarking that she had a strong race for her first ever meet.
As for the boys, Schutz noted that they saw a lot of improvement compared to last year’s first meet. Even though he had two freshman runners in their top five, Schutz stated that they both have a lot of learning to do.
Coach Schutz praised Elijah Simmons, noting that he ran a great race and his summer training has paid off. He also singled out Brady McCarthy stating that his return has been great for the team and that he ran well considering he is also playing football.
Overall, Schutz remarked that they still have a lot of runners that still need to get into shape.
“Better things will happen as the season progresses.”
Next up for the Toppers is a trip to St. Croix Central on Thursday, September 5th.
Results: Girls: 6. Simmons 22:09.29, 7. Williams 22:16.17, 23. Schutz 23:34.62, 42. Strong 24:48.03, 45. Bethell 25:04.56, 57. Peterson 25:57.25, 66. Moede 26:09.91, 125. Nadeau 29:10.81, 133. Bauman 29:59.22, 136. E. Knops 30:12.34, 140. Swanepoel 30:21.29.
Boys: 19. Williams 18:56.34, 51. Simmons 20:21.14, 52. McCarthy 20:24.22, 58. Anderson 20:45.44, 63. Nelson 20:50.46, 73. Hojem 21:26.24, 104. Booth 22:27.01, 110. Wallin 22.48.90, 155. Hager 24:43.91, 161. Bauman 24:58.93, 168. Hansen 25:29.84, 180. Peralta 28:03.45, 195. Draxler 34:44.52.
Boyceville
Nathan Corr lead the Boyceville boys with a time of 19:04.7 for a 21st-place finish. Steven Rasmussen was only 30 seconds behind. Head coach Corey Day sees these guys being a dynamic duo this year.
The next Bulldog runners to cross the line were Cade Klefstad, Brian Johnson and Dean Olson. The boys’ team finished in 14th place.
For the girls, freshman Emma Gruenhagen lead the team in the 47th spot with a run of 25:17.86. Filling out the rest of the top five spots were: Naomi Hillman, Noelle Wheeldon, Haylie Rasmussen and Emma Chich.
In reference to the girls, Coach Day remarked, “We were unable to field a team last year and with eight girls I am excited to see this team be more competitive.”
Day commented, “The meet was very competitive with 23 schools represented. Some of the younger runners found out what it was like to be in a big race right out of the gates this year.”
And speaking of young runners, Day had a bit of a surprise when sixth grader, Ashlyn Maska won the girls middle school race. He states “I know she is very self-driven and runs a lot on her own, but I didn’t expect her to win against seventh and eighth graders in a competitive race.”
“Overall it was a great day and start to our 2019 season,” concluded Day.
The Bulldogs raced at Bruce on Tuesday, September 3rd and don’t compete again until Saturday, September 14th when they travel to Fall Creek.
Results: Girls: 47. Gruenhagen 25:17.86, 74. Hillman 26:37.77, 98. N. Wheeldon 27:51.16, 130. Rasmussen 29:53.73, 145. Chich 31:14.65, 155. S. Wheeldon 32:58.49, 158. Montgomery 33:15.97, 19. Becker 33:28.77.
Boys: 21. Corr 19:04.7, 39. Rasmussen 19:35.82, 88. Klefstad 21:41.86, 121. Johnson 23:12.91, 169. Olson 25:43.82, 177. Nelson 27:04.47, 182. Farrell 28:47.35, 196. Wagner 43:57.05.
Team Results: Girls: 1. Durand 69, 2. Rice Lake 113, 3. Glenwood City 118, 4. Cameron 144, 5. Somerset 158, 6. Fall Creek 211, 7. Baldwin-Woodville 217, 8. Colfax 226, 9. Spring Valley 241, 10. Prescott 247, 11. Regis 247, 12. McDonell Central 261, 13. Augusta 308, 14. Clear Lake 378, 15. Elk Mound 397, 16. Boyceville 411, 17. Ellsworth 413.
Boys: 1. Elk Mound 60, 2. Clear Lake 68, 3. Ellsworth 122, 4. Regis 135, 5. McDonell Central 154, 6. Spring Valley 171, 7. Rice Lake 173, 8. Prescott 186, 9. Glenwood City 222, 10. Cameron 282, 11. Augusta 302, 12. Cadott 310, 13. Fall Creek 330, 14. Boyceville 337, 15. Somerset 356, 16. Baldwin-Woodville 373.