End of the road

MADISON — It has been a remarkable four-year run for the seniors on Sauk Prairie’s boys cross country team. But all good things eventually come to an end, and so it was for the trio of Camden Desroches, Hudson Haas and Noah Wankerl, who along with Casey Vande Hey, helped lead Sauk Prairie to two runner-up finishes and back-to-back Badger North Conference titles. Desroches finished 14th overall in a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 51 seconds, while Haas came in 20th (17:13) and Wankerl placed 37th (17:35) to pace Sauk Prairie to a seventh-place finish at the WIAA Division 1 Madison West sectional at Lake Farm County Park last Saturday. Sauk Prairie won four invitational titles in addition to its conference championship this season. But the Eagles, who are assigned to one of the state’s most competitive sectionals that include several schools that are nearly three times its enrollment size, were unable to qualify for the state meet. “Trying to run against giant schools that can pull talent from enrollments three times our size, we’re doing more with less,” Sauk Prairie coach Andy Sherman said. “But what are you going to do? There’s nothing you can complain about.” Only the top two teams and the top five individual finishers, who aren’t on the state qualifying teams, advanced to Saturday’s WIAA state meet at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Second-ranked Middleton cruised to the team championship with 35 points, placing all five of its scoring runners in the top-10. Fourth-ranked Madison West was second with 73 points. Verona (86 points) took third, and Madison Memorial (108) was fourth. Freshman Jack Boerger was 47th (17:48) and sophomore Dalton Zirbel finished 53rd (18:04) to round out the scoring for the Eagles, who finished with 171 points. “What a great season these guys have had and careers,” Sherman said of the Eagles’ seniors. “We gave it our best shot.” Sherman said from his vantage point, both Desroches and Haas, who qualified for state as an individual his sophomore year, were hanging with the leaders for most of the race. “At the 2K, they were right there,” Sherman said. “They just got caught on the backstretch. Those long straightaways are a little deceiving when you get in those races. “But you can’t deny anything they did. They gave their best and that’s all we can ask for. It just wasn’t enough in this race.” Rounding out the lineup for Sauk Prairie were junior Sam Beattie, who was 58th in 18:13, and sophomore Carson Enge, who finished 60th in 18:14. “We’ve got a nice corps coming back,” Sherman said. “The seniors produced a really good culture for them. They know what they’ve got to do now. As long as they have leadership to keep pushing them, we’ll be right back. We just need a fourth division, that’s what we need.” Desroches said he was proud to be part of a senior class that left a memorable legacy. “It definitely means a lot. We’re going to have those numbers in the gym forever,” he said of the conference titles. “That’s nice. It sets the tone for the next few generations. They’ve still got good guys. They can come out and win (the conference title) the next few years. “We’ll be supporting them and cheering them on when we get back from college next year. It will be fun to see what they can do. The future is bright for them.” DeForest senior John Roth, the Badger North Conference champion, won the individual title, covering the 5,000 meters course in 16 minutes, 6 seconds. Madison West senior Julian Gary was runner-up in 16:07. “I put in an effort, that’s all I could do,” said a disappointed Desroches, who posted his best sectional finish. “I got a 2-second PR. I can’t complain at all. I worked as hard as I could, especially over the last quarter trying to catch those kids. I’m just happy with how my season’s gone. I couldn’t ask for too much more. “This means a lot, running top tier with my friends, who were always there for me. When you’re tired, they were there to push you through. It’s been a good ride.” Sherman agreed. “I’m not upset at all,” Sherman said of the Eagles’ finish. “They did everything they possibly could to put themselves in this meet. They had such a great season that I’ve got to be proud.” In the girls’ race, Big Eight Conference champion and fourth-ranked Middleton placed all five of its scoring runners in the top-13 to claim the team title with 32 points. Sixth-ranked Madison West was runner-up with 60 points. Madison Memorial, ranked 15th, was third with 82 points. Sauk Prairie finished 12th with 307 points. Middleton sophomore Lauren Pansegrau, the Big Eight champion, claimed the individual title in a personal-best time of 17:55. Sauk Prairie was led by sophomore Kassia Marquardt, who was 43rd in 21:35, and junior Cassie Radl, who was 59th in 22:21. “I really like what both Kassia and Cassie did,” Sherman said. “They got into the race early and definitely had good ones.” Rounding out the scoring for the Eagles were senior foreign exchange student Livia Jurt, who was 61st in 22:2; and sophomores Marissa Howard, who was 67th in 23:03, and Trinity Doerre, who was 77th in 23:53. Juniors Mabel Schneller, 81st in 24:13, and Emily Herbrand, 82nd in 24:57, rounded out the Sauk Prairie lineup. “We had some runners who were struggling with injuries but went out and did their best,” Sherman said. “We have a young (girls’) team that will keep improving.” Oct. 26 Madison West Sectional BOYS Team scoring: 1, Middleton, 35; 2, Madison West, 73; 3, Verona Area, 86; 4, Madison Memorial, 108; 5, Monona Grove, 124; 6, Madison East, 163; 7, Sauk Prairie, 171; 8, Tomah, 188; 9, DeForest, 248; 10, Baraboo; 261; 11, Waunakee, 272; 12, Reedsburg Area, 386. Team state qualifiers: Middleton, Madison West. Top 10 individuals: 1, John Roth, D, 16:06; 2, Julian Gary, MW, 16:07; 3, Egan Johnson, Mid, 16:17; 4, Aidan Manning, V, 16:22; 5, Luka Dimaggio, V, 16:30; 6, Griffin Ward, Mid, 16:30; 7, Zach Leffel, Mid, 16:34; 8, Ryan Reed, MW, 16:34; 9, Braedon Gilles, Mid, 16:43; 10, Peter Hoferle, Mid, 16:47. Individual state qualifiers: 1, John Roth, D, 16:06; 4, Aidan Manning, V, 16:22; 5, Luka Dimaggio, V, 16:30; 11, AJ Ketarkus, MM, 16:49; 12, Eli Traeder, MG, 16:49. Sauk Prairie finishers: 14, Camden Desroches, 16:51; 20, Hudson Haas, 17:13; 37, Noah Wankerl, 17:35; 47, Jack Boerger, 17:48; 53, Dalton Zirbel, 18:04; 58, Sam Beattie, 18:13; 60, Carson Enge, 18:14. GIRLS Team scoring: 1, Middleton, 32; 2, Madison West, 60; 3, Madison Memorial, 82; 4, Monona Grove, 125; 5, Waunakee, 147; 6, Verona Area. 182; 7, Baraboo, 203; 8, DeForest, 214; 9, Madison East, 246 ; 10, Reedsburg Area, 259; 11, Tomah, 284; 12, Sauk Prairie, 307. Team state qualifiers: Middleton, Madison West. Top 10 individuals: 1, Lauren Pansegrau, Mid, 17:55; 2, Genevieve Nashold, MW, 18:18; 3, Zaira Malloy-Salgado, Mid, 19:10; 4, Cecily Greblo, MW, 19:17; 5, Annika Cutforth, MM, 19:26; 6, Kiara Malloy-Salgado, Mid, 19:35; 7, Hannah Wilcox-Borg, T, 19:36; 8, Peighton Nelson, MG, 19:40; 9, Maddie Ruszkiewicz, Mid, 19:41; 10, Natalie Rhodes, MM, 19:45. Individual state qualifiers: 5, Annika Cutforth, MM, 19:26; 7, Hannah Wilcox-Borg, T, 19:36; 8, Peighton Nelson, MG, 19:40; 10, Natalie Rhodes, MM, 19:45; 11, Emma Bertz, W, 19:46. Sauk Prairie finishers: 43, Kassia Marquardt, 21:35; 59, Cassie Radl, 22:21; 61, Livia Jurt, 22:26; 67, Marissa Howard, 23:03; 77, Trinity Doerre, 23:53; 81, Mabel Schneller, 24:13; 82, Emily Herbrand, 24:57