THE MEET: The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association alternate season State Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, May 8 at Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville, Wis. Admission is not restricted. Tickets are $9 and can only be purchased through schools with competitors in the meet.
RACES INFORMATION: Following the direction of the WIAA Sports Medical Advisory Committee, revised guidelines are designed to continue mitigating the risk of exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both genders will run a 5,000-meter course. Team and individual race assignments are posted on the WIAA website. The following is a listing of the scheduled start times for each race:
Girls Race – 10 a.m.
Boys Race – 11 a.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: The alternate fall season is an option provided to fall sports in response to participation concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 59 boys teams and 57 girls teams originally declared to compete in the alternate fall cross country season this spring. There were four sectionals in each gender. The top two teams and the first five individuals not a member of a qualifying team at each sectional advanced to State.
LAST FALL-GIRLS: In Division 1, Kaukauna won its first girls cross country State championship in program history, compiling a five-runner score of 79 on the 5-kilometer course. Whitefish Bay placed second with a score of 86. Kora Malecek of Onalaska successfully defended her title to win the championship for the second consecutive year. She paced the field with a winning time of 17:52.8. Winneconne raced to the school’s first girls cross country team championship, winning the Division 2 title with a score of 76. Osceola finished second with a score of 119. Kayci Martensen of Southwestern/Benton/Cuba City won the girls Division 2 individual title for the second year in a row. She completed the race in 18:09.29. Lancaster ran to the Division 3 team championship. The Arrows scored 93 points, which is 10 points fewer than runner-up Ozaukee with 103. Brooklyn Luebke of Manitowoc Lutheran ran to the girls individual gold medal in Division 3 with a time of 18:55.53.
LAST FALL-BOYS: Oconomowoc captured the boys team championship in Division 1 with a score of 109. Marquette raced to a second-place finish with a score of 129. Joshua Truchon of West Allis Hale won the boys Division 1 individual championship in a time of 15:18.3. Aquinas moved up a division to capture the Division 2 boys team championship after winning two straight Division 3 titles in 2018 and 2019. The Blugolds conquered the rest of the field with a score of 96. Kiel was second with a score of 108. Leo Richardson of Edgewood, who was runner-up in 2019, won medalist honors with a time of 15:47.05. Sheboygan Lutheran won the Division 3 boys team title by compiling 56 points, and Brookwood finished a distant second with 121 points. Junior Parker Schneider of Durand won the Division 3 boys crown with a time of 16:05.78.
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES: The field has five teams returning that competed in the 2019 meet and 11 individuals returning after finishes in the top 21 of their respective divisions in 2019. Middleton finished fourth in Division 1 in 2019, and the Cardinals return to the alternate season State Meet with three runners returning from that squad. Madison West is back in the State field after placing ninth in Division 1. The Regents also return a trio of runners from that meet. Eau Claire Memorial placed 13th in Division 1, and the Old Abes qualify four runners that ran on that team at State. De Pere returns two runners and contributed to a 15th-place finish in Division 1, and Fond du Lac has two runners returning from their squad that placed 17th in Division 1. Individually, the top returning finisher in 2019 that has qualified for the alternate State Meet is junior Lauren Pansegrau of Middleton, who was runner-up in Division 1. Junior Genevieve Nashold of Madison West placed eighth in Division 1 in 2019, and junior Jillian Heth of Eau Claire Memorial was 16th. Sophomore Zaira Malloy-Salgado of Middleton and senior Madelynn McIntyre of Brodhead/Juda each finished 21st in their respective divisions, Malloy-Salgado in Division 1 and McIntyre in Division. 2.
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES: The field has four teams returning after finishes in the top 20 and four individuals that placed in the top 25 in their respective divisions in 2019. Middleton is essentially the returning champion after winning the Division 1 title in 2019. The Cardinals return three runners from that squad. Stevens Point finished runner-up behind Middleton. The Panthers return four runners from that squad. Green Bay Preble placed ninth in Division 1, and the Hornets return to the qualifying field with three runners back from that squad. New Glarus/Monticello placed 15th in Division 2 in 2019, and the co-op has all but one of its participants in that meet returning to compete in the alternate season State Meet. Individually, the top returning runner from the meet in 2019 is senior Jake Bourget of Stevens Point. He placed 14th in Division 1. Senior Karl Olson of Madison La Follette placed 23rd in Division 1, and senior Riley Siltman of Evansville placed fourth in Division 2. The only other qualifier for the alternate season State meet that finished in the top 25 is senior Bryan Bloomquist of Janesville Craig, who was 25th in Division 1.
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