Press Release
Tomahawk hosted 11 schools for their 40th annual Cross-Country Invitational at Edgewater Country Club on Saturday. The varsity boys placed third overall while the girls placed fifth. Lakeland, state-ranked in D2, won both the boys and girls races, while Chequamegon, state-ranked in D3 placed 2nd overall.
Freshman Haley Voermans-Dean and junior Mason Webster led the way for the Hatchets with medalist performances as they placed 5th and 11th overall in their respective races. Both ran career best times of 20:26 and 17:31 for 5000 meters. Seniors Maggee Renn and Cayton Scholz also PR’d and medaled for the Hatchets finishing 11th -21:30 and 15th -17:40. Other PR career best efforts on the varsity level were turned in from Evan Ploeckelman (17:43-17th), Meagan Berg (22:21-27th), Rylie Swan (22:24-28th), Parker Johnson (36th -18:44) and Morgan Waye (23:53-37th).
Alex Johnson (18th), Justin Jarvensivu (27th), Lucas Tjugum (30th), Gillian Buckwalter (40th) and Kate Krueger (44th) rounded out the Hatchet varsity level contributors.
The Hatchet JV boys started the day out by winning the JV team title over rival Lakeland, by the narrowest of margins 29-30. They were led by individual champion junior Keegan Karlen as he crushed his previous PR by over a minute, racing the 5000 meters in a time of 18:33. Other medalists for the Hatchet harriers were: Matt Johnson (5th), Luke Olson (6th), Orion Spaulding (8th), Brett Gerber (9th), and Erik Zedler (10th). Other finishers for the JV squad—Josh Wick (16th), Keaton Jed (17th), Anthony Ierulli (19th), Sam VonSchrader (20th), Shawn Dirkx (23rd), Jacob Miller (25th), Jared Leverance (34th), Jarett Flynn (35th), Carl Theiler (37th), Reed Zedler (38th), and Kole Svacina (57th).
Tomahawk’s Junior Varsity girls placed second behind Lakeland, but one point ahead of conference rivals Mosinee. Olivia Weber (5th) and Lauren Bauman (7th) paced the Hatchets with medalist efforts. Natalia Robinson (11th), Tehya Street (17th), Arianna Schreiner (20th), Corinn Genelin (24th), Jenny Zheng (28th), and Taylor VanStrydonk (30th) completed the finishers for the girls JV squad.
34 Hatchets either had personal or seasonal bests in nearly ideal racing conditions to celebrate parent- senior afternoon at the Edgewater Country Club.
Tomahawk travels to Nine Mile Recreation Center in Wausau for the Great Northern Conference Championship meet next weekend. The meet gets underway at 11:00 am on Saturday (Oct 15).
Quotes
“…we did a recent threshold workout at Edgewater that was a good predictor for the kind of times that the athletes were able to run today. The athletes really put it together today and were hitting on all cylinders. I can’t remember the last time we had over two dozen PR’s in a single race!”
“…it’s nice to see our boys pack able to stay together again and push each other to new levels. For the average spectator to see the dominant strengths of Lakeland and Chequamegon, nearly over-shadowed how well our boys really ran. This was definitely our best team race to date. It was also great to see how well our JV boys competed setting the tone early with their team win. In that event Keegan made a bold move just after the mile, going from 12th to into the lead pack and finished strong to take his first win as a Hatchet.”
“…it’s been a frustrating week for the girls as they have been battling colds and are now facing some over-use injuries with three of our girls not competing. However, several of our healthy girls really ran well today with some awesome times and results.”
“…Lakeland, as predicted in the early season, appears to be the clear-cut favorite for both the boys and girls GNC titles. Our invite only confirmed that. We need to have a good showing and improve upon our results from last year. Individuals in our conference are strong this year and in both races to make the All-Conference team will be quite an accomplishment.”
AOW
Keegan Karlen… “…he made a nice move just after the mile and put himself in a position to win. He raced like a veteran over the last 3000 meters. For a first year athlete, he is racing like a veteran. His competitive nature really helps and his effort earned him a varsity spot for the upcoming conference race at 9-mile recreation center. That’s another fast course that will be to his liking!”
Rylie Swan… “…she went out aggressively and rode the ‘fast’ and ‘ideal’ conditions to a P.R. To see her have this kind of success is a credit to how hard she is working and to her determination as an athlete. Rylie has also been a great role model for the younger athletes. Along with the other the seniors she is making Cross-Country ‘FUN’ for her team mates.”
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