Junior Dani Whiting worked a runner-up finish in Saturday’s WIAA Tomahawk Sectional at Edgewater Golf Course to make sure the Hatchet cross country team was represented at state for the 23rd consecutive year.
“Dani is almost at full strength and it showed,” THS coach John Zuelsdorf said. “She made a nice move at 1600 meters and gapped the field, only getting caught on the final hill prior to the finish by the girl that beat her at conference. If her foot was at 100% and she was completely over her cold she would have been able to hold on to the finish. We hope to have both of those things in check and not affecting her performance at Rapids.
“It is exciting for her to earn her second straight trip to state. I’m sure she’ll be looking to improve upon her mid-pack finish last year as a sophomore. She’ll be able to lean on the experience she gained last year.”
The girls team as a whole ended up fourth in the stacked field with Claire Kuehn (25th, 21:34), Emmy Larson (28th, 21:46), Talyn Jones (37th, 22:10), Maggee Renn (45th, 22:20) scoring and backed up by Alex Zedler (58th, 22:44) and Susan Waye (59th, 22:45).
“For someone that doesn’t know this group of girls well, it may have appeared on Saturday that we under-performed,” Zuelsdorf said. “On the contrary, we had three girls that P.R.’d at 5K and the remaining girls were within seconds of their best effort—despite the huge west-northwest winds.
“Through pre-race scouting and earlier races we knew about Freedom, Peshtigo and Lakeland, but no one could have anticipated how well Fox Valley could run. I’ve always said that a good race won’t do it, but a great race will put you in the hunt to advance. We ran a good race, not a great one. My heart went out for our seniors (Emmy, Claire, Talyn, and Alex) as for the past three to four years they’ve worked so hard with the goal of advancing as a team to Rapids. We’ve been close, but could never get over the hump.”
The boys ended up sixth behind Troy Van Strydonk (13th, 17:19), Jacob McGuire (34th, 18:05), Tyler Wittmann (38th, 18:13), Jared Kiander (49th, 18:37) and Austin Kaiser (51st, 18:39), with backing from Lucas Tjugum (53rd, 18:43) and Alex Johnson (56th, 18:48).
“Our boys were really focused on using the strategy of pack running that has carried us so successfully all season,” Zuelsdorf said. “We got out strong, coming through the mile as a six-pack right at 5:35, with Troy about 25 seconds ahead in the main chase pack. When we hit the strong northwest headwind at 2400 meters through 3200 meters we couldn’t maintain that same grouping and the wheels kind of fell off from there. In the end, our scoring pack was separated by 1:20, which was not going to get us to our ultimate goal of a top-four finish.
“Troy was our only boy to P.R. and it showed in his finish as he was only two spots from qualifying as an individual. He ran a great race getting out fast and improving his position over the last two miles, nearly catching that last elusive state berth. He knew that if he finished near Lakeland’s #3-4 scoring runners he would be in the top 15 and have a chance. My hats off to him on what was his best race to date as a Hatchet!”
Team standings–Girls–Freedom 98, Fox Valley Luth. 106, Peshtigo 113, Tomahawk 137, Lakeland 145, Wittenberg 147, Clintonville 158, Oconto Falls 214, Seymour 217, Marinette 225, Mosinee 243, Medford 245, Waupaca 271, N. Pines 337, New London 413, Antigo inc…….Boys–Lakeland 40, O.F. 80, Freedom 86, Medford 169, N. Pines 173, Tomahawk 185, Waupaca 192, Seymour 259, W/B 263, Peshtigo 272, Clintonville 274, Mosinee 290, N.L. 311, F.V.L. 324, Antigo 343, Marinette 435.
Whiting will compete in the D2 race at 2:10 p.m.