Sauk Prairie’s boys XC team shines

Conditions couldn’t have been much better for the 42nd annual Blackhawk Invitational hosted by River Valley last Saturday, and Sauk Prairie’s boys and girls cross country teams made the most of it. Competing in the Large Schools’ Division, the Eagles’ boys placed third out of 20 teams, while Sauk Prairie’s girls were ninth out of 17 teams running on the Spring Green Municipal Golf Course. “We had a great day in Spring Green,” Sauk Prairie coach Andy Sherman said. “The competition is always really good here, and I am happy with how the teams competed. They both are continuing to improve, and I am very proud of how they all ran.” The Madison La Follette boys repeated as Large Schools’ Division team champion placing four runners in the top 10 to finish with 39 points. Pleasant Valley was second with 61 points. Sauk Prairie (92), which improved from its fourth-place finish of a year ago, Mount Horeb (173) and Dodgeville/Mineral Point (178) rounded out the top five. Platteville’s Max Murphy was the individual champion, covering the 5,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 57.4 seconds. “The competition of this meet is always one of the best in the area,” Sherman said. “Bringing some very good teams from all divisions together is great for our sport. “So when you get to compete with the teams of our conference, La Follette, McFarland, Monroe, Darlington and Boscobel, to only name a few of the traditional powerhouses, it is a big confidence booster when you can be considered in the conversation.” On the boys’ side, Sauk Prairie placed three runners in the top-18 led by senior Hudson Haas, who finished in 16:50.5 to place seventh. Senior Camden Desroches (17:01.7) and sophomore Dalton Zirbel (17:23.4) placed ninth and 18th, respectively. “Dalton Zirbel continues to steadily improve his time, but also his race strategy each week,” Sherman said. “He has set a new (personal record) in each of our races so far this season.” Senior Noah Wankerl returned after being sidelined for the Norski Invitational and was the Eagles’ fourth runner, placing 28th in 17:45.6. Freshman Jack Boerger continued his strong debut season, finishing 30th in 17:49.2 to round out Sauk Prairie’s scoring. “Noah has been battling an IT band issue, which is really painful,” Sherman said of Wankerl. “We gave him some much needed rest over the past week or so, and he was feeling better at the start. “But as the race went on, it reaggravated it. I give him a great deal of credit because he gutted through the race and still ran a good time. But we will need to go back to resting him in hopes we can get him healthy before the bigger meets coming in October.” Junior Sam Beattie was 45th in 18:12.0 and senior Casey Vande Hey was 52nd in 18:24.2 to complete the Eagles’ varsity lineup. “Jack Boerger, as a freshman, is having a phenomenal first season,” Sherman said. “His times, so far, have been moving up the ranks of our fastest freshmen times we’ve had since I started coaching nine years ago. The only ones left are Noah’s and Cam’s from their freshmen season. “Carson Enge has had a great sophomore year. He medaled in the JV race by dropping a full minute from his previous PR and is making a move to be in our top eight.” In the girls’ race, Wisconsin Dells placed two runners in the top four to win the 17-team Large Schools’ Division, finishing with 74 points. Mount Horeb (98), McFarland (124), Madison La Follette (166) and Prairie du Chien (179) rounded out the top five. Madison Krev of River Valley was the individual champion, covering the 5,000-meter course in 19:50.0. Sauk Prairie, which was 11th a year ago, finished ninth with 220 points. The Eagles were again led by senior foreign exchange student Livia Kurt, who was 15th in 21:31.3. Sophomore Kassia Marquardt placed 31st in 22:04.3, junior Cassie Radl was 48th in 22:50.3, junior Emily Herbrand was 67th in 23:22.5 and sophomore Marissa Howard was 74th in 23:40.0 to round out the Eagles’ scoring. Junior Briar Lohr (24:19.4) was 82nd and sophomore Trinity Doerre (25:14.6) was 102nd to round out the Sauk Prairie varsity lineup. Sherman said he is still getting to know Kurt and how good she can be. “Each race she has run so far, she continues to drop time, but also learn how to run this distance,” Sherman said. “In Switzerland, she ran cross country, but rarely ran 5K. “Kassia (Marquardt) and Cassie (Radl) both had very good performances. Cassie was able to set a new PR and Kassia was only two seconds off. Meadow Liedtke, who has been battling some injuries, was able to place sixth in the JV race to earn a medal, and she moved back into our top seven.” • On deck: After competing at the Badger Challenge on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie is off until running at the Baraboo Invitational on Sept. 24 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14 River Valley Invitational BOYS Team scores: 1, Madison La Follette, 39; 2, Pleasant Valley, 61; 3, Sauk Prairie, 92; 4, Mount Horeb, 173; 5, Dodgeville/Mineral Point, 178; 6, New Glarus / Monticello, 181; 7, DeForest, 193; 8, Baraboo, 227; 9, Monroe, 231; 10, McFarland, 291; 11, Holmen, 299; 12, Lodi, 334; 13, River Valley, 377; 14, Mauston, 397; 15, Viroqua, 408; 16, Reedsburg Area, 420; 17, Wisconsin Dells, 456; 18, Southwestern/Cuba City, 496; 19, Richland Center/Ithaca, 549; 20, Waunakee, 581. Top five finishers: 1, Max Murphy, PV, 15:57.4; 2, Chris Wolfe, MLF, 16:11.4; 3, John Roth, DF, 16:22.8; 4, Karl Olson, MLF, 16:26.5; 5, Ian Kaffenberger, PV, 16:46.5. Sauk Prairie finishers: 7, Haas, 16:50.5; 9, Desroches, 17:01.7; 18, Dalton Zirbel, 17:23.4; 28, Noah Wankerl, 17:45.6; 30, Jack Boerger, 17:49.2; 45, Sam Beattie, 18:12.0; 52, Casey Vande Hey, 18:24.2. GIRLS Team scores: 1, Wisconsin Dells, 74; 2, Mount Horeb, 98; 3, McFarland, 124; 4, Madison La Follette, 166; 5, Prairie du Chien, 179; 6, Dodgeville/Mineral Point, 180; 7, Baraboo, 188; 8, DeForest, 205; 9, Sauk Prairie, 220; 10, Holmen, 227; 11, New Glarus / Monticello, 272; 12, Mauston, 277; 13, Lodi, 277; 14, River Valley, 307; 15, Waunakee, 331; 16, Viroqua, 458; 17, Richland Center/Ithaca, 533. Top five finishers: 1, Madison Krey, RV, 19:50.0; 2, Laura Beghin, WD, 20:02.5; 3, Jacie Hayes, Mo, 20:31.0; 4, Lindsay Cunningham, WD, 20:32.7; 5, Molly Stewart, B, 20:47.6. Sauk Prairie finishers: 15, Livia Jurt, 21:31.3; 31, Kassia Marquardt, 22:04.3; 48, Cassie Radl, 22:50.3; 67, Emily Herbrand, 23:22.5; 74, Marissa Howard, 23:40.0; 82, Briar Lohr, 24:19.4; 102, Trinity Doerre, 25:14.6. BOYS SOCCER • Sauk Prairie 2, Baraboo 2: The host Thunderbirds scored in the 76th minute to forge a tie with the Eagles in a Badger North Conference opener for both teams on Sept. 10. Sauk Prairie (4-0-1, 0-0-1 Badger North) had taken an unbeaten record, including three shutouts, into the league match. The Eagles had also outscored their opponents 19-2 and were ranked seventh in Division 2 team in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll. But Baraboo (3-2-1, 0-0-1), which had lost the previous six games in the series, broke the ice in the 23rd minute when freshman forward Ronaldo Lopez corralled a loose ball near midfield and drove a deep shot over Sauk Prairie senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek for a 1-0 lead. “After the start we had, we were feeling pretty high,” Sauk Prairie coach Drew Kornish said. “All things considered, we were fortunate to get the results that we got out of that game. We might have overlooked them a little bit. We were riding high on the wave and that brought us down a little bit.” Eagles’ senior forward and co-captain Evan Carlson delivered the equalizer when he converted a throw-in from senior Simon Enerson at the 29:19 mark. Sauk Prairie grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second half when senior Trent Schneeberger scored off an assist from sophomore Sam Drescher at 66:20. Baraboo’s Ronaldo Lopez then capped the scoring when he connected with his twin brother, Johan Lopez, to tie the game at 2-2 in the 76th minute. “Baraboo has an incredibly strong team this year. They are going to do some things in the conference that are going to surprise some people,” Kornish said. “They’ve got a lot of talent with their two freshman twins up top. They have a pretty potent attack.” Senior goalkeeper Riley Jelinek finished with five saves for the Eagles. • Woodside Invitational: Sauk Prairie split a pair of games, losing 3-0 to Lakeville (Minn.) North on Friday and defeating Green Bay East 2-1 on Saturday. Ethan Sedlacek scored two goals to power Lakeview North with Nathan Mewhorter stopping three Sauk Prairie shots. Riley Jelinek had seven saves for the Eagles. “They were Class AA state semifinalists out of Minnesota and were an outstanding team,” Kornish said. “It was refreshing to play a team that values the possession of the ball the way we want to. It was really clean, technical soccer, something that we strive for. “It was a big learning process, a big step back to see where we are and where we want to reach to. Although it was a loss, it was a great learning experience for us.” Sauk Prairie bounced back against Green Bay East on Saturday to improve to 5-1-1. Senior Evan Carlson tallied a goal and an assist, and Jelinek made four saves. Senior Jakob Wilson scored in the seventh minute on a throw-in from Carlson to stake the Eagles to a 1-0 halftime lead. Carlson then intercepted a pass and scored an unassisted goal in the 57th minute. “We ended up playing quite a few of our bench players and some JV players we brought up with us as well,” Kornish said. “We really put the focus on those guys to make sure they are continuing to develop at the rate we need them to.” Green Bay East got on the board on an own-goal on a deflection off a corner kick in the 75th minute. • On deck: Sauk Prairie hosted Portage/Poynette in conference match on Tuesday and hosts Wisconsin Heights in a non-conference match on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Eagles will then host a quadrangular event on Saturday beginning with a game against Appleton West at 10 a.m. Sauk Prairie travels to Beaver Dam for a conference dual on Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. Sept. 10 Sauk Prairie 2, Baraboo 2 Sauk Prairie …...............… 1 1 – 2 Baraboo ……................….. 1 1 – 2 First half: B – Ronaldo Lopez, 22:49. SP – Evan Carlson (Simon Enerson), 29:19. Second half: SP – Trent Schneebeerger (Sam Drescher), 67:00. B – Johan Lopez (R. Lopez), 76:00. Saves: SP (Riley Jelinek) 5; B (Gunnell) 7.