Sauk Prairie’s boys shine at Badger Challenge

WATERTOWN — Different approach, same results summed up the performance of Sauk Prairie’s boys cross country team at the annual Badger Conference Challenge hosted by Watertown on Sept. 17 The Eagles finished second overall and placed first out of eight teams in the Badger North Conference on the Watertown High School course. Meanwhile, Sauk Prairie’s girls team finished 11th overall and was fifth in the Badger North. Coming on the heels of the River Valley Invitational three days earlier, it was a fine line between going all out for personal-best performances and focusing on the big picture of the rest of the season. “It was not a meet that we focused on for the whole team,” Sauk Prairie coach Andy Sherman said. “We have many who could use a little time off, before they end up with a major injury and others who were pretty tired after River Valley and didn’t have enough time to recover by Tuesday. “So we had a variety of strategies for both teams at the Challenge. This is a very crucial time for us to stay healthy and take care of each other.” The meet was run in four different races with both the boys and girls running a freshman/sophomore race and a junior/senior race. Medals were awarded to the top 10 finishers of each race. The meet was scored by taking a team’s fastest five runners from both races combined and adding their times together. “Some teams don’t run everybody,” Sherman said. “Some kids are doing workouts while others are just running and others are doing workouts within the race. “ In the boys competition, Monona Grove won the overall team title in a time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, 33 seconds, followed by Sauk Prairie (1:32:20), Monroe (1:33:29), Oregon (1:33:40) and Watertown (1:33:56). Sauk Prairie competed without one of its top runners when senior Noah Wankerl was held out of the competition after aggravating a knee injury the previous weekend. “We got a nice chance to rest him,” Sherman said of Wankerl. Seniors Hudson Haas and Camden Desroches led the way for the Eagles, finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the junior/senior race. DeForest’s John Roth won the individual title covering the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 58 seconds. Beaver Dam’s Gavin Czarnecki was second in 17:05 followed by Haas (17:45) and Desroches (17:55). Desroches said he was feeling the effects of running two competitive events in three days. “We went out slow knowing from watching other people run that it was a slow overall course,” said Desroches, one of only six runners to break the 18-minute mark. “So we knew we’d be slower than our average pace. We wanted to go slower than that anyways. “We used this more as a workout than a (personal-best) day. It was so humid so you were dripping sweat and just got tired from being dehydrated.” Freshman Jack Boerger also medaled for the Eagles, placing fifth in the freshman/sophomore race and 20th overall in 18:37. “It was pretty cool to be back with people at my (age) level,” said Boerger, who has emerged as the Eagles’ top freshman this season. “I feel better than I thought I would, but I’m still tired.” Sophomore Dalton Zirbel (18:53) was 10th in the freshman/sophomore race, and junior Sam Beattie (19:13) took 29th in the junior/senior meet to round out Sauk Prairie’s scoring lineup. “Our junior/senior guys definitely put in a really good race,” Sherman said. “The freshman/sophomore boys did, too. Again, the goal was to get out of here healthy. I’m hoping we did. “The nice thing is we got a chance to see everybody again. It’s hard to know who was resting, who was doing a workout, that kind of stuff. We can take a look now and say we’ve seen everybody. I like where we are.” In the girls’ competition, Monona Grove (1:48.00) won the team competition with Oregon (1:49:58), Watertown (1:51:18), Mount Horeb (1:53:03) and Beaver Dam (1:53:07) rounding out the top five. Fort Atkinson’s Jenna Lovejoy (20:28) won the girls meet. Sauk Prairie (2:00:24) was again led by senior foreign exchange student Livia Jurt (22:34), who finished 27th overall, including 17th in the junior/senior race. Sophomore Kassia Marquardt (24:09) placed 24th in the freshman/sophomore race, junior Cassie Radl (24:11) was 41st in the junior/senior race, sophomore Marissa Howard (24:35) took 28th in the freshman/sophomore race, and junior Emily Herbrand (24:57) finished 57th in the junior/senior race to round out the Eagles’ scoring. “The girls didn’t run as well as they wanted to,” Sherman said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but they’re tired. You can see it on their faces. We just have to take care of them this week. With it being Homecoming and not having a meet this weekend, it will allow us some time to rebound.” Sherman said while the idea of the Badger Challenge is a good one, the timing isn’t. “This meet could be a fantastic meet if everybody came and wanted to go after it,” he said. “If this could be on a Saturday, it could be one of the premier meets in the state. But we have to take care of our kids so they are ready for the stretch push starting (this week).” • On deck: After competing at the Baraboo Invitational on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie will race at the Reedsburg Invitational on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17 Badger Conference Challenge BOYS Overall team times (top five runners): Monona Grove 1:31:33; Sauk Prairie 1:32:20; Monroe 1:33:29; Oregon 1:33:40; Watertown 1:33:56; Mount Horeb 1:34:08; DeForest, 1:35:03; Milton 1:35:10; Waunakee 1:36:38; Fort Atkinson 1:37:26; Beaver Dam 1:38:01; Baraboo 1:38:07; Stoughton 1:43:38; Portage 1:44:19; Reedsburg 1:50:04. Grade 11-12 race Top 10 individuals: 1, John Roth, D, 16:58; 2, Gavin Czarnecki, BD, 17:05; 3, Hudson Haas, SP, 17:45; 4, Camden Desroches, SP, 17:55; 5, Gavin Model, St, 17:58; 6, Jake Giftos, MG, 17:58; 7, Ayden Gnewuch, MG, 18:02; 8, Alex Henry, Mon, 18:11; 9, Devin Woodcock, Mil, 18:15; 10, Jacob Holmes, FA, 18:16. Grade 9-10 race Top 10 individuals: 1, Yordanos Zelinski, Or, 18:15; 2, Jacob Anderson, MG, 18:15; 3, Leo Schleck, Or, 18:33; 4, Anthony Henrichon, FA, 18:37; 5, Jack Boerger, SP, 18:37; 6, Raymond Woller, MH, 18:39; 7, Zander Slack, Mon, 18:44; 8, Andrew Regnier, Wau, 18:47; 9, Joseph Stoddard, MH, 18:49; 10, Dalton Zirbel, SP, 18:53. Sauk Prairie scoring: Haas, 17:45; Desroches, 17:55; Boerger, 18:37; Zirbel, 18:53; Sam Beattie, 19:12. Sauk Prairie 11-12 race: 3, Haas, 17:45; 4, Desroches, 17:55; 29, Beattie, 19:12; 30, Casey Vande Hey, 19:13; 56, Sam Juckett, 20:21; 78, Owen Kolnik, 21:12; 85, Phillip Geiselman, 21:32; 87, Cameron Tucker, 21:33; 131, Hunter Kent, 23:08. Sauk Prairie 9-10 race: 5, Boerger, 18:37; 10, Zirbel, 18:53; 19, Carson Enge, 19:35; 23, Jonah Richard, 19:54; 24, Jay Dregney, 20:00; 38, Ritchie Wolff, 20:40; 81, Ryan Godwin, 22:22; 126, Kaleb O’Donnell, 24:22; 130, Luke Taylor, 24:30; 145, Julian McCann, 25:22. GIRLS Overall team times (top five runners): Monona Grove 1:48:00; Oregon 1:49:58; Watertown 1:51:18; Mount Horeb 1:53:03; Beaver Dam 1:53:07; Fort Atkinson 1:53:41; Waunakee 1:53:51; Milton 1:56:26; Madison Edgewood 1:57:45; Sauk Prairie 2:00:24; Portage 2:01:40; Reedsburg 2:04:37; DeForest 2:05:17; Monroe 2:08:36; Stoughton 2:10:10. Grade 11-12 race Top 10 individuals: 1, Jenna Lovejoy, FA, 20:28; 2, Emma Bertz, Wau, 20:43; 3, Peighton Nelson, MG, 21:16; 4, Teal Coil-Otto, MG, 21:18; 5, Jacie Hayes, Mon, 21:18; 6, Molly Stewart, Bar, 21:25; 7, Zoe Frank, Or, 21:31; 8, Acacia Holmquist, MG, 21:32; 9, Clara Hughes, Or, 21:52; 10, Mariah Alvarez, BD, 21:57. Grade 9-10 race Top 10 individuals: 1, Mikaylah Fessler, Wtn, 21:33; 2, Dasha Vorontsov, Or, 21:45; 3, Allison Yundt, MG, 21:47; 4, Jessica Redman, BD, 21:49; 5, Kelsey King, Wau, 22:03; 6, Jordyn Jarvi, Wau, 22:04; 7, Grace Riedl, Or, 22:15; 8, Haylie Weyh, Bar, 22:21; 9, Madeline Hogan, MG, 22:22; 10, Rhya Brandemuehl, MH, 22:30. Sauk Prairie scoring: Livia Jurt, 22:34; Kassia Marquardt, 24:09; Cassie Radl, 24:11; Marissa Howard, 24:35; Emily Herbrand, 24:57. Sauk Prairie 11-12 race: 17, Livia Jurt, 22:34; 41, Cassie Radl, 24:11; 57, Emily Herbrand, 24:57; 98, Emily Caflisch, 27:54; 115, Grace Sibila-Ott, 29:50; 117, Taylor Bierstaker, 30:30; 130, Caitlyn Kinnamon, 33:14. Sauk Prairie 9-10 race: 24, Kassia Marquardt, 24:09; 28, Marissa Howard, 24:35; 58, Natalie Curtis, 27:15; 61, Trinity Doerre, 27:22; 68, Emma Kopecky, 28:01; 72, Abby Dovin, 28:17; 73, Claire Theide, 28:19; 92, Signe Begalske, 29:46.