AREA ATHLETES, TEAMS SHINE AT SMILEY CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
Zaleski Sports
WAUSAU - Hoards of high school cross country teams from around the state of Wisconsin descended on Tribute Golf Course in Wausau for the Smiley Invitational on Saturday, and numerous local teams and runners had stellar performances on the 5-kilometer course.
The Stevens Point boys team continued its dominance in the sport, once again winning the Division 1 Large Division title at the meet.
The Panthers finished with 31 points as their top-five runners finished in the top-14.
Zach Scharbarth was second (16:09.8), Aloysius Franzen took fourth (16:25.2), Eric Boettcher was fifth (16:37.3), James Jacobs finished sixth (17:00.5), and Max Bushmaker was 14th (17:33.3) for Stevens Point.
The Stevens Point girls finished fifth and Wisconsin Rapids was eighth in the Division 1 Large Division standings.
Lilly Higgins was 14th (20:40.2) and Brittany Beadles took 22nd (21:00.8) for the SPASH girls.
Kate Schaefer was 26th (21:07.9), Mason Schuld 29th (21:18.4), and Elise Moon 30th for the Wisconsin Rapids girls.
Colin Wellnitz had a 13th-place finish (17:21.7) for the Wisconsin Rapids boys, which took 12th in the team standings.
The Marshfield boys finished fourth and the girls were seventh in the Division 1 Large Division standings.
Henry Hoerneman led the Marshfield boys, finishing seventh in 17:02.7. Graham Lonsdale was 21st (17:53.0), Thomas Cashmer 23rd (17:59.9), Owen Hoerneman 26th (18:04.0), and James Ketterer 49th (18:53.7) for the Tigers.
Eliana Kanitz had a top-10 finish for the Marshfield girls, taking 10th in 20:28.4. Calleigh Kanitz was 31st (21:27.2), Kairi Kim 40th (21:45.3), Meghan Jaeger 56th (22:11.7), and Michaela Dick 56th (22:15.6) for the Tigers.
Stevens Point Pacelli won the Division 3 boys team title, with Auburndale second, Rosholt fifth and Iola-Scandinavia sixth.
Charlie Vater of Iola-Scandinavia was the top Division 3 finisher, running in 16:57.0, just 1 second ahead of Pacelli’s Adam Eiden.
Auburndale had three top-15 finishers as Charles Jewell was fifth in 17:48.3; Mason White Eagle 12th in 18:18.3; and Ian Grosskopf 14th in 18:34.0.
Neillsville’s Taytor Lowry was fourth (17:13.8), Athens’ Nathan Wolf took 10th (18:10.1), Rosholt’s Dan Simonis was 11th (18:11.7) and Pacelli’s Sam Carpenter was 13th (18:32.9) to earn top-15 finishes as well for local boys runners in Division 3.
West Salem edged Little Chute 44-47 for the Division 2 boys team title. Colby was eighth and Mosinee 10th.
Cooper Szekeress led Mosinee, taking 13th in 17:54.2, while Talon Severson was Colby’s top runner as he finished 27th in 18:54.2.
Amherst’s Max Voss finished 19th in 18:26.6 to also snag a top-20 performance among area runners.
Mosinee was sixth, Colby seventh and Amherst eighth in the Division 2 girls team stadnings.
Jennifer Omerinik of Amherst wasa 15th (21:18.2), Mosinee’s Britt Fitzgerald took 16th (21:18.8), and Colby’s Daisy Feiten was 18th (21:31.7) to lead the area Division 2 squads.
Albany won the Division 3 girls team title with 21 points, including the top two finishers in McKenna Broughton (20:26.8) and Ava Ahnen (20:34). Edgar was third, Spencer fifth and Neillsville sixth.
The Auburndale girls did not field a complete team, but had three runners finish in the top 16. McKenna Zieher was seventh in 22:01.6; Autumn Richards took ninth in 22:31.5; and Hope Schulte took 16th in 23:33.9 for the Eagles.
Spencer also had an incomplete squad, with Emily Wehrman taking 35th (25:39.2) and Theresa Knecht 39th (26:16.9).
Gretchen Brewster was 15th (23:31.4), Kira Slack 29th (25:24.0), and Ella Morse 30th (25:25.0) for Edgar.
Faustina Thomas was 18th for Neillsville (23:55.4) and Tara Thompson was 28th (25:19.9) for Iola-Scandinavia.