The MHS and THS cross country teams met up at the 37th Annual Hatchet Invite at Edgewater Golf Course on Saturday and worked similar results in a quality field.
The Tomahawk girls placed fourth overall and the boys ranked seventh in the 13-team field, while Merrill boys finished sixth while the girls were seventh.
“It was a near perfect day to race and our athletes really responded,” THS coach John Zuelsdorf said. “As a team we had 28 of the 37 competing athletes run seasonal bests or P.R.’s. That kind of effort was incredible!”
MHS coach Craig Hoffman added, “The skies parted and the majority of our runners ran their personal best for the year. With a stiff breeze blowing, our boys were able to post an adequate team finish for both varsity and junior varsity races, but we need to really concentrate this next week for our conference competition.”
Tomahawk’s Bryan Tomek was the boys individual champion in 16:29, and Dani Whiting ranked 8th in the girls race in 16:16. She was backed up by Alex Zedler (16th, 16:42), Emmy Larson (21st, 17:07), Claire Kuehn (23rd, 17:18) and Talyn Jones (28th, 17:31). Maggee Renn (34th, 17:46) and Alex Bellile (46th, 18:41) also ran varsity, while Rylie Swan (5th, 17:52) and Kayla Gass (7th, 18:06) had solid JV performances.
“I’m never one for excuses, but the athletes were getting pulled many directions with Homecoming this week,” Zuelsdorf said. “I think that if you combine that with a tough workout on Thursday all of them ran physically tired. To collectively do as well as they did is a credit to their race day competitiveness as athletes.
“Bryan went out aggressively and put the race out of reach early, then settled and cruised home to the win. It was nice to see Dani back near 100%. That is especially important as we approach conference and sectionals.
“What’s amazing is to see some of our younger athletes continue to improve their team positioning. Alex Johnson, Rylie Swan, and Kate Krueger made especially big jumps at Edgewater. I am especially pleased with our scoring time-split on varsity, it continues to drop. Also, our #6 and #7 runners are figuring into the team scoring by inflating other varsity scores as they finish in front of their #4 and #5 runners.”
The Merrill boys used a grouping of Ethan Schneider (21st, 17:42), Reese Beyersdorf (23rd, 17:46), Jacob Jensen (26th, 17:50), Andrew Koch (34th, 18:10) and Brady Schmelling (37th, 18:12), while Brett Swan (38th, 18:15) and Treven Oberg (54th, 19:05) competed.
“On the Varsity level, our boys continue to keep each other in sight which helps them to drop their racing finishes as well,” Hoffman said. “Our top five continue to share the top five finish places which make it interesting on who will finish on top. We’re hungry for a decent finish this coming Saturday when we compete on our own course.
“I was really impressed with some of our junior varsity runners especially, senior Dylan Genrich, junior Dountae Degner and sophomores Kyle Juhlke and Tristen Prebig. These boys have been dropping their race times each and every race they run and they’re coming to believe that they are able to compete with the other runners.”
The Merrill girls counted on a packing of Bailey Mogenson (33rd, 18:05), Christa Schleif (3th, 18:06), Shelby Harris (42nd, 18:25), Morgan Pettit (43rd, 18:28) and Lauren Case (48th, 10:09), and Ashley Berton (50th, 19:25) and Mickenna Comstock (49th, 19:41) also ran.
“Our girls on both varsity and junior varsity share place finishing, but we need to lower our times considerably this coming week to compete with our valley competitors,” Hoffman said. “Freshman Bailey Mogenson continues to impress spectators as she swiftly finishes the race with plenty of energy to spare. If we can get Bailey to start out at a faster pace, and hold on throughout the race, I’ve got a feeling she can place well in our conference meet and at sectionals. I’m convinced that if she runs well, our other top runners will follow suit. Keeping our pack philosophy for our girls is critical for us in placing well for remaining races.”
For the Tomahawk boys, Troy VanStrydonk (28th, 17:50), Johnson (36th, 18:11), Jacob McGuire (39th, 18:14), and Austin Kaiser (42nd, 18:20) capped off the scoring, and Kyle Klopatek (45th, 18:30) and Tyler Wittmann (49th, 18:45) competed.
Team standings-Girls-Wausau East 46, Wausau West 56, Lakeland 72, Tomahawk 91, Chequamegon, 92, Mosinee 146, Merrill 200, Rhinelander 203, Antigo inc., Ashland inc., Ladysmith inc., Flambeau inc., Wabeno inc……..Boys-Chequamegon 49, Wausau W. 75, Antigo 116, Lakeland 120, Rhinelander 139, Merrill 141, Tomahawk 146, Wausau E. 157, Ashland 219, Mosinee 278, Wabeno 340, Ladysmith 352.
Dropping needles
Tomek also captured the title of Tuesday’s Northland Pines Invite, while both genders secured their races.
VanStrydonk (18:12), McGuire (18:15) and Kaiser (18:16) led a 4-6 surge, and Johnson (18:28) and Klopatek (18:38) closed out a 14-point win with 9th-10th placings. Wittmann was 13th in 18:54.
Zedler (3rd, 16:54), Kuehn (5th, 17:35), Whiting (6th, 17:37), Larson (7th, 17:41) and Jones (8th, 17:43) bunched up for the win. Renn (18:16), Bellile (18:43) and Gass (18:53) completed the 5-11 sweep.
“This was a good ‘tune-up’ and workout in preparation for our meet and the upcoming tournament series,” Zuelsdorf said. “Our staff was pleased with the 14 P.R.’s, 13 medalists’ efforts and the overall effort of the team at Eagle River. It really shouldn’t have surprised us as a staff, as the athletes had a complete two-day rest cycle this past weekend and their legs responded accordingly.
“The training and racing stretch that we went through can wear on the athletes both physically and mentally. Some teams can even self-destruct at this time of the year, with all of the external distractions as they lose focus. To see most of our athletes generally physically healthy and performing well is a plus. We still need to work on our mental game as the really important meets are approaching.”
Team standings-Girls-Tomahawk 29, Rhinelander 69, N. Pines 75, 3 Lakes 94, Florence inc…….Boys-Tomahawk 25, Rhinelander 39, 3 Lks. 116, Florence 117, N. Pines inc.
Both squads will compete in their conference meets on Saturday. Merrill will host the Valley Meet, while Tomahawk will go to Antigo.