Teams deal with snow, wind at sectionals
By Greg Seubert
Three area high schools will be represented at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships.
The Weyauwega-Fremont girls’ team is headed back to state for a second year in a row, while W-F’s Patrick Long, Waupaca’s Forrest Ziebell and Iola-Scandinavia’s Jada Beacom advanced as individuals.
Runners qualified for the state meet, to be held Saturday, Oct. 27, at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Oct. 20 at various sectionals in three divisions.
Long and the W-F girls competed at a Division 3 sectional at Westfield High School; Ziebell ran at the Division 2 Freedom Sectional at Irish Waters Golf Club; and Beacom competed at the Division 3 Amherst Sectional at Standing Rocks County Park.
Division 2
Freedom Sectional
Not only will Ziebell make his first trip to state, the senior is also competing on the cross country team for the first time.
He made it to state by turning in a time of 17:07, good enough for fifth place out of 100 runners.
The conditions made it feel more like December than October at Irish Waters, according to Ziebell.
“They were awful,” he said. “It was probably about 35 degrees and 20 mile-an-hour winds. It actually started hailing during the race. The snow picked up and it was almost blizzard-like conditions.”
Ziebell is also a forward on the boys’ soccer team that won a regional championship less than 12 hours after his sectional race.
“I was planning on running last year, but I had knee surgery,” he said. “I decided that I would just stick with soccer after I recovered.”
Ziebell, Waupaca’s first cross country runner to make it to state since Mitchell Rotta competed in the boys’ Division 2 race in 2015, decided he would try two sports in the same season.
“I ran long distance in track last year, so I figured I had to energy to run cross country and play soccer at the same time,” he said. “They’re two of my biggest passions, so I wanted to do it before I graduated.”
Ziebell’s finish helped the Waupaca boys place seventh out of 14 teams.
“I put in lot of work during the offseason and I’m glad that it paid off,” he said. “I planned on hopefully having an outside chance (of qualifying) as an individual. I did it and pulled it off.”
Other places and times for the Waupaca boys were Colby Nimmer (23rd, 17:51); Abram Jackson (25th, 17:53); Tyler Rogney (59th, 18:47); Sawyer Ziebell (83rd, 20:10); Tyler Schroeder (84th, 20:12); and Arthur Lisogor (89th, 20:22).
The Waupaca girls did not field a full team. Karina Lisogor led the Comets by placing 51st in 23:28. Other places and times were Brooke Hansen (78th, 25:44); Sophia Dolski (92nd, 28:37); and Charlotte Buchman (93rd, 28:56).
Division 3
Amherst Sectional
The girls’ race turned out to be a two-person competition between Beacom and Edgar’s Marissa Ellenbecker, last year’s Division 3 state champion.
Ellenbecker placed first in 19:28.2, but Beacom was right behind her with a time of 19:30.6, more than 30 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.
“I just spent the whole week preparing and meditating on my race and building up all my strength and confidence,” Beacom said. “For me, every race is so important and a chance to prove how hard I’ve worked.”
Beacom, a senior, is heading back to state for the second time in three years. A knee injury cut her season short last year, but she placed 27th at state two years ago as a sophomore.
“Every setback for me makes me hungry to come back and push with everything I have,” she said.
Ellenbecker, Beacom and the other runners faced snow and wind while out on the 5,000-meter course.
“It wasn’t a shock that we had all this snow, but I was prepared,” Beacom said. “I was ready for everything. Prepare or prepare to fail is my philosophy.”
It didn’t take long for Ellenbecker and Beacom to pull away from the pack of more than 100 runners.
“I’ve kind of been the lone wolf out there for a lot of my races,” Beacom said. “Sometimes, there isn’t much competition. It’s nice to have someone to pace you and play off of for the race.”
Beacom is the latest Iola-Scandinavia runner to make it to state. She competed as a freshman, sophomore and junior with the graduated Erika Kisting and Leighten Fischer. Kisting, now at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, had three top-10 finishes in her four trips to state. Fischer, now at St. Cloud State in Minnesota, also competed at state four times and had a pair of top-20 finishes.
“I’ve kind of been the tagalong kid for most of my running career,” Beacom said. “It’s nice when you have somebody on your team to look up to and train with. I didn’t have that as much this year.”
Beacom’s plan is to compete on a college cross country or track team.
“I definitely want to run in college,” she said. “I care about it so much. I’ve got a few (schools) I’m favoring now, but I’m just keeping it open.”
Before that, however, Beacom has one more high school race.
“I’m just going to give it everything I have,” she said. “I’ve poured my heart and my soul into this the past seven years. This is a sport that I just love. Everything for the past eight months has been preparing me for this upcoming race.
“My diet is so clean and I take care of myself,” she added. “Everything I do is to prepare and make myself the best runner I can be. I’m just going to continue on that path and pour everything I have into this upcoming race.”
The I-S girls’ and boys’ teams placed 10th and 12th, respectively.
Other places and times for the I-S girls were Makenna Brown (37th, 23:17); Briar Williams (62nd, 24:46); Jessica Schaefer (84th, 26:53); Lydia Johnsrud (97th, 28:43); and Tara Thompson (104th, 31:06).
Places and times for the I-S boys were Dylan Donovan (56th, 20:14); Robert Vater (57th, 20:16); Erick Kriewaldt (58th, 20:16); Erik Grenlie (77th, 21:43); Erich Schmoldt (102nd, 23:17); Brock Opperman (104th, 23:25); and Nick Louison (115th, 25:02).
Westfield Sectional
Four top-20 finishes in Westfield helped the W-F girls advance to state for the second year in a row.
Abby Bartel won the girls’ race in 20:03 to help the team finished second behind Bonduel. Other places and times for the Indians were Katie Bleck (12th, 22:53); Allison Halat (15th, 23:00); Natalie Schneider (16th, 23:11); Saylor Alberts (19th, 23:51); Kaitlyn Monty (22nd, 24:02); and Rylee Bartel (28th, 24:25).
Patrick Long qualified as an individual after placing sixth in the boys’ race in 18:10. The W-F boys placed fourth behind Bonduel, Coleman and St. Mary Catholic. Other places and times included Jacob Carroll (23rd, 19:38); Martin Leyva (26th, 19:47); Josh Halat (28th, 19:48); Carson Kester (30th, 19:54); Kevin Ames (41st, 20:45); and Jakob Mills (50th, 21:29).
The Manawa girls’ and boys’ squads finished 10th and 12th, respectively.
Places and times for the girls were Kate Phelan (56th, 27:13); Andrea Wentworth (65th, 27:57); Aspen Linjer (69th, 28:16); Samantha Scheurmann (77th, 29:44); and Andria Weber (79th, 30:06.
Places and times for the boys were Zach Schertz (58th, 22:13); Devin Loughrin (75th, 22:58); Jacob Scheller (80th, 23:43); Ethan Tellock (94th, 25:20); and Gavin Linjer (98th, 28:45).