Big Wins for Cross Country!

On October 23rd, the cross country team had their sectional meet at University of Wisconsin - Parkside and were determined to both come out as sectional champions. When it was time to run, the boys race was listed first. The gun was fired, and the boys were on their way. At 16 minutes and 50 seconds, Owen Klaus finished in 2nd place, and not far behind came Aaron Nehls (4th place) as well as Calvin Mckee (5th place). Tyler Mueller was able to finish in 13th place, and as the fifth runner for the warriors, Riley Borchardt finished in 32nd place. These places combined were able to score the warriors 51 points (the lower the better). To determine the difference between first place and second, there was only a 9 point difference, but the Warriors were still able to emerge triumphant and were crowned sectional champs. This is the second time since 1983 that the boys were able to qualify for state as a team, and only the 3rd time in Ozaukee history.

While the girls had a strong season for cross country, it wasn’t exactly reflected at the sectionals meet. The girls had a strong season all fall, however, at sectionals, the team’s season was sadly cut short when they finished in 3rd place as a team. This upset was felt throughout both the boys and girls. On the light side, however, Becky Hoffmann was able to finish the meet in 3rd place, which qualified her for the state meet. Not only her, but Becky was joined by Addison Schubert, who was able to qualify for state as the final qualifier in the warrior’s sectionals.

A week later, Hoffmann and Schubert were sent off to Wisconsin Rapids to race one last time as individuals. Come race time, both girls were in positions that put them ahead of the competition that they were striving for during the meet. Hoffmann was able to keep a strong fourth place position throughout most of the race, however, this was overcome when she fell during the race, and was not able to finish in the position that she had been fighting for. Even though the race did not go as planned for Becky, she was still able to pull off an impressive 29th place overall. Schubert, a freshman, finished the meet in 69th place. “It was the highlight of my day,” Schubert said. “My time wasn’t very good but when I saw what place I took it kind of made up for my bad race.” The girls will be returning five out of the six runners that they had this season, with senior Sophie Uhlenberg graduating this school year. The girls look to have a promising season yet again next season, and look forward to seeing what next year has in store for them. The boys ran as a team at Wisconsin Rapids on October 31st and were projected to finish 7th place as a team. Leading up to the meet, the team walked the course, went through their routines, and warmed up for the race. When it came to race time, everyone had their strategies in mind, and at the end of the day, the boys were able to come out in a position that satisfied them all, that being 3rd place. This is the highest the boys team had ever placed at the state meet as a team. Place wise (team qualifying scores only), Riley Borchardt was able to finish in 85th place, Tyler Mueller in 35th, Calvin Mckee placing 16th, Aaron Nehls taking 14th, and Owen Klaus taking 7th in team scoring, 11th overall in the combined meet, just .8 seconds behind the podium spot. Valders was able to place 1st as a team with a total of 78 points, followed by Grantsburg with 85. The Warriors scored a total 158 points. The team looks forward to what next year's season has in store for them.

By OWEN KLAUS