Eagles’ boys XC team third at Rapids Invite

Sauk Prairie’s cross country teams made the trek to the site of the annual state meet to battle a highly competitive field at the annual Wisconsin Rapids Invitational at the Ridges Golf Course last Saturday. “The Rapids Invite is held at the same location, but not much of this race is run on the actual state course,” Sauk Prairie coach Andy Sherman said. “We like to provide our teams with the opportunity to see that site and use that as motivation to get to the actual state meet in the future.” The weather was also similar to what the Eagles could find if they advance to the state meet. “The conditions were not ideal,” Sherman said. “It was holding at about 33 degrees and there was a steady wind in the 15-20 mph range for the entire day. And, of course, there was the occasional white stuff falling from the sky. The course still ran pretty fast though.” It was a great day for Sauk Prairie with the boys placing third out of 20 schools and the girls finishing eighth out of 17 teams. But the Eagles had to quickly put the weekend behind them. On deck is the annual Badger North Conference Cross Country meet, which will be hosted by DeForest on the Don Batty Cross Country Course at the Windsor Sports Complex on Saturday. The varsity girls race is set to start at 9:30 a.m. with the boys’ varsity race to follow at 10:10 a.m. Sauk Prairie’s boys are out to defend their title, while the Eagles’ girls are looking to improve from last year’s seventh-place finish. “The boys top eight are healthy and ready to go,” Sherman said. “A couple are coming off some illness issues, but by Saturday, they should be good to go. “The girl’s team is a bit more banged up with some of those end of season injuries that they are battling through. But I am very pleased with the progress both teams have made.” In the conference boys’ race, Sherman said Mount Horeb and DeForest will push the Eagles for the team title. “There are always surprises, and if there is one on the boys’ side, it will come from one of those two teams,” Sherman said. “Individually, I like John Roth from DeForest followed by Gavin Czarnecki from Beaver Dam and then (Sauk Prairie’s Hudson) Haas, (Camden) Desroches, (Noah) Wankerl maybe even (Jack) Boerger in that top eight, with (Dalton) Zirbel and (Sam) Beattie not far behind.” Waunakee is favored to repeat as the girls’ team champion with the Warriors’ Emma Bertz the favorite to win the individual title. Beaver Dam, Mount Horeb and Baraboo are expected to contend for the runner-up spot. But Sherman is looking for the Eagles to take another positive step forward. “I fully expect our girls to move up from a year ago,” Sherman said. “If they can believe in themselves and trust in their training, I know they can be the surprise team of the meet. I am really looking forward to seeing them compete.” • Wisconsin Rapids Invite — Stevens Point, ranked first in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Division 1 poll, repeated as the boys’ team champion with an impressive 21 points. Marshfield, ranked 15th, was second with 94. Sauk Prairie, ranked 20th in the poll, finished third with 103 points. Stevens Point’s Jake Lepak covered the 5,000-meter course in a winning time of 16 minutes, 1 second to pace five SPASH runners in the top nine. Sauk Prairie senior Hudson Haas finished a team-best 10th overall in a time of 16:49. Haas was followed by senior Camden Desroches, who was 15th in 17:06. Rounding out the top five finishers for the Eagles were senior Noah Wankerl, 21st in 17:19, freshman Jack Boerger, 33rd in 17:41, and junior Sam Beattie, 38th in 17:54. Rounding out the rest of the varsity lineup were sophomore Carson Enge, 42nd in 17:59, sophomore Dalton Zirbel, 43rd in 18:04, and senior Casey Vande Hey, 50th in 18:17. Sherman said one of the highlights for Sauk Prairie was the varsity debut of Enge, who emerged as one of the team’s top JV runners this season. “In his first varsity race, he got right into it and was able to be our sixth runner for the day,” Sherman said of Enge. “He has had a great season with so much improvement from a year ago. If he can run that well next weekend and our other guys do what they are capable of, we will be pretty tough to beat.” In the girls’ competition, Kate Kopotic won the individual title in 18:45 to lead ninth-ranked Sun Prairie team to the team championship with 28 points. Marshfield was second (82) and Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln took third (102). Sauk Prairie finished eighth with 236 points led by sophomore Kassia Marquardt, who was 35th overall in 21:45, followed by senior foreign exchange student Livia Jurt, who was 42nd in 22:03. Rounding out the Eagles’ top five were junior Cassie Radl, who was 49th in 22:21, sophomore Marissa Howard, who was 50th in 22:23, and junior Mabel Schneller, who was 76th in 23:35. The rest of the varsity lineup for Sauk Prairie included sophomore Trinity Doerre, who was 82nd in 24:03, junior Emily Herbrand, who was 95th in 24:44, and senior Ella Drescher, who was 104th in 25:10. “I was very pleased with how Kassia, Livia, Cassie and Marissa ran,” Sherman said. “Both Cassie and Marissa continue to improve, both setting new (personal records) again even in the conditions. They have both had great seasons and have solidified themselves within our top four.” Sherman said the highlight of the meet was the performance of sophomore Abby Dovin, who has cracked the starting lineup for the conference meet. “She was running in the JV race and looked like a different runner,” Sherman said. “She set a new PR by just under two minutes. “What makes me really happy about this race for her is all that she has been dealing with outside of cross country. Sports can be a powerful thing when it comes to dealing with tragedy, and in this case it helped propel her into our top five.” Oct. 12 Wisconsin Rapids Invitational BOYS Team scores: 1, Stevens Point, 21; 2, Marshfield, 94; 3, Sauk Prairie, 103; 4, Wisconsin Rapids, 160; 5, Manitowoc Lincoln, 173; 6, Tomah, 174; 7, Deerfield/Cambridge, 200; 8, Oshkosh West, 209; 9, Sun Prairie, 215; 10, Darlington, 280; 11, Sparta, 286; 12, Luther, 316; 13, Rosholt, 343; 14, Green Bay West, 350; 15, Athens, 392; Adams-Friendship, inc.; Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, inc.; Edgar, inc.; Gillette, inc.; Birchwood, inc. Top 10 finishers: 1, Jake Lepak, SPASH, 16:01; 2, Jacob Bourget, SPASH, 16:06; 3, Joshua McKee, Mar., 16:12; 4, Joseph McKee, Mar., 16:13; 5, Matthew Marcinske, B, 16:18; 6, Garrett Dolan, WRA, 16:21; 7, Zach Scharbarth, SPASH, 16:40; 8, James Jacobs, SPASH, 16:44; 9, Christian Manthey, SPASH, 16:44; 10, Hudson Haas, SP, 16:49. Sauk Prairie finishers (overall/scoring): 10/8, Hudson Haas, 16:49; 15/13, Camden Desroches, 17:06; 21/18, Noah Wankerl, 17:19; 33/30, Jack Boerger, 17:41; 38/34, Sam Beattie, 17:54; 42, Carson Enge, 17:59; 43, Dalton Zirbel, 18:04; 50, Casey Vande Hey, 18:17. GIRLS 1, Sun Prairie, 28; 2, Marshfield, 82; 3, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln,102; 4, Stevens Point, 124; 5, Gillett, 146; 6, Darlington, 166; 7, Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, 226; 8, Sauk Prairie 236; 9, Edgar, 245; 10, Tomah 247; 11, Manitowoc Lincoln, 262; 12, Deerfield/Cambridge, 299; 13, Luther, 316; 14, Sparta, 322; Adams-Friendship, inc.; Athens, inc.; Green Bay West, Inc. Top 10 finishers: 1, Kate Kopotic, SunP, 18:46; 2, Eliana Kanitz, Mar., 19:41; 3, Dani Thompson, SunP, 19:47; 4, Hannah Ray, SunP, 19:55; 5, Marissa Ellenbecker, E, 20:15; 6, Hannah Wilcox-Borg, T, 20:20; 7, Michaela Dick, Mar., 20:25; 8, Amber Hodges, SunP; 20:26; 9, Sarah Price, WRL; 20:27; 10, Sylvia Hansen, G, 20:32. Sauk Prairie finishers (overall/scoring): 35/33, Kassia Marquardt, 21:45; 42/40, Livia Jurt, 22:03; 49/47, Cassie Radl, 22:21; 50/48, Marissa Howard, 22:23; 76/68, Mabel Schneller, 23:35; 82, Trinity Doerre, 24:03; 95, Emily Herbrand, 24:44; 104, Ella Drescher, 25:10.