TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR

On Sept. 12, 2023, the Merrill Varsity Cross Country Team traveled to compete in the Gartzke Flowage Invitational.
“This is a tough course that challenges our athletes due to the amount of hills,” Head Varsity Cross Country Coach Alyssa Swan said. “But our athletes crushed it!”
“Typically, we see an increase of about 2-3 minutes in our athletes’ race time due to the tough conditions of this course,” she said. “Even though it was tough, we won this dual against Antigo! Three of our boys placed in the top five and three of our girls placed in the top five.”
Merrill Boys who made it into the top five finishers included: Erick Grunenwald in third place (21:30); Jacob Mueller in fourth place (22:14), and Anton Countryman in fifth place. (22:55). For the Merrill guys, Parker Klebenow (22:56) came in immediately after him, followed by Brady Eggerbrecht (24:16), Treg Knsope (26:13), and Jonathon Myszka (27:16).
In the Girls competition, Merrill’s Norah Schimidt came in second place (25:01); Charlotte Van Der Nest came in third place (25:19); and Danielle Schielke came in fifth place (28:54). Next in line for the Merrill Girls were Robin Schmidt (30:58) and Brooklynn Kragenbrink (30:59).