Full Write Up
VIDEO
D1 Boys Race
NEWS & NOTES
End of Season Celebration - 5:45 on Wed Nov 6th @ Memorial in the Wisconsin Study Hall
Off seasons are when good teams become great teams...what can you do individually to make our team better?
NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday August 30th
VPM Team Intrasquad
Will you be ready?
On Saturday the WIAA sent us on a 1/2 trip (no it shouldn't be that long but we took the scenic route?) to Verona for our Sectional competition. We have competed on the course before which is a great course but also a challenging race, especially for a meet where a birth to the state meet is on the line. Our guys were ready for the day and the weather for the most part cooperated. Race leader Manny P (#1 ranker runner in the nation) set a hot early pace and things immediately got stretched out. As the race went on it looked like Will L-S had put himself solidly into a state qualifying position and Nick & Berndt had setup our race plan to be ready for a feverish chase the last mile of the course. The long hill on this course leads you to the 2 mile mark and it took its toll on a lot of runners today, including a couple Spartans. Will L-S came through looking good and cruised to a 3rd place finish qualifying for his second straight WIAA State meet. Nick Z came out of the woods charging but looked like maybe he had left himself too much work to do in the last mile. Undaunted, he ran down guys just like we planned and headed into the last hill of the course with just one more group to pass. Catching them in the woods he came off the hill with momentum heading to the finish line easily distancing himself from the other individual qualifiers by over 8 secs...what a great last mile. There was a bit of panic as we realized Middleton had put 6 runners in front of West's 4th runner but West had done enough to take second and Nick's plan worked out perfectly to punch his first ticket to the WIAA State meet. Berndt battled hard through the last mile to help our team save each point while fellow underclassmen Max B and Anthony L helped guide our team to a 6th place finish. 4 of our 5 scoring runners will be back to help this team in the future and gained valuable racing experience today at a Sectional meet. Seniors PJ M and Finn A completed great 4 year careers at Memorial representing our varsity. Our alternates for the meet were Ian G, Jack C, & Jamie I who all had great seasons for the Spartans. THANK YOU to all the runners, families, & alumni who came out and cheered on the guys...it helped us have such a great race. Will & Nick head off to Wisconsin Rapids next week (would love to see some Green & White cheering them on their too) to keep a great streak of Spartan racers competing at the pinnacle race of the season. This will be the first time since 2016 that we have had multiple runners in the race and we are excited to see what they can do at State.
RESULTS
Verona Sectional Results
All Sectional Results
NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday November 2nd
WIAA State Meet @ Ridges GC in Wisconsin Rapids (Course)
Van - 10:30am
12:00pm 1st Race
1:20pm - D1 Girls Race
3:10pm - D1 Boys Race (2024 Results) (Box 24 for Will & Nick)
3:45pm - Awards - top 2 teams & top 10 individuals
SPECTATOR INFORMATION
Come watch some great cross country & cheer on Will & Nick at the WIAA State Meet
Tickets = $9 (+ processing fee)...must be purchased in advanced & on a mobile device
Parking & Shuttles = $5 (pay with cash) per car --> Arrive early to park & ride shuttle to the course (come watch all the races too)
Course Map - HERE
Live Results - HERE (available the day of the meet)
NEWS & NOTES
Sectional runners...Monday practice = turn in uniforms, last chance mile, & run with Will & Nick
All runners...get your $$ to captains for 2024 team shirts and coaches gifts
End of year awards ceremony will be Wed Nov 6th @ 5:45pm...more info to come soon via email
Will L-S finishes Runner-Up at the
Don Loker Cross Country Championships
The top runners from Madison, WI migrated to Lake Farm Park for the annual running of the Don Loker City CC Championships. Our meet has grown in size as we add more private schools to the mix. Which also makes an interesting clash of mascots as this year we saw a competition between the Crusaders, Guardians, Spartans, Purgolders, Regents, Lancers, Eagles, & Challengers...that would be quite the scene in a drawing. Every year the Madison area produces some of the top runners in all three divisions and this year looks to be the same. This tough competition leads to some fast times and our Spartans were more than happy to run fast including 10 season best times from our group. The varsity was led by a great race from Will L-S as he finished runner-up and was the top underclassmen in the race. Berndt was just a second off his lifetime best running a great race as our number 2 runner. Nick Z had his second best time of the season and is showing he is ready to finish his senior year on a solid note. Freshman Max B continues to step up to help out our varsity being the 4th Spartan across the line and Jack C had a great finish to be our 5th scorer on the day. PJ helped get these guys through the first part of the race and stayed close with his finish as Anthony also was within seconds of these Spartans.
The JV race saw Finn A run a season best time committing to a solid plan from the start and holding on all the way to the finish. Ian G closed really well just off his season best and being our 2nd JV finisher. Andy E crossed the line next in a lifetime best and Mitchell was hot on his trail in a season best time. David rounded out our scoring five in JV who continues to improve each week and is looking for a strong finish to their season at Conference next week on this same course. Other season and lifetime best run by JV runners included Nathan Z dropping another 20 seconds, Grey & Kaiden dropping about 40 seconds each, Asher W dropping about 1 minute lifetime best and Oliver O dropping a minute season best for a new lifetime PR, Elliot D having a 2 minute PR, Ben L battling back from injury to have a 3 minute improvement and a lifetime PR. Big things for these guys next week at conference and in future seasons.
RESULTS
All of the Races
Varsity Boys
JV Boys
NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday October 19th
Big 8 Conference Championship @ Lake Farm Park (Course)
Bus = 8:00am
9:30am = First Race
10:05am = Boys Varsity (2023 Results) (Box 3-4)
11:15am = Boys JV (2023 Results) (Box 3-4)
12:00pm = Awards - Top 16 Varsity, Top 15 JV1 & JV2
** We will NOT stop to eat... back to school around 1:00pm
NEWS & NOTES
--> 10/12 (Sat) - Team Practice at Elver Park - 8:00am - 9:30am
--> Seniors will be collecting money the week of conference for coaches gifts ($10) & team shirts ($15)
--> Weather rollercoaster coming next week...be prepared...get the warm gear, rain gear, and extra clothing out and at practice(s) to avoid getting sick/injured due to the weather
--> JV Runners will have a required practice on Monday Oct 21st...uniforms & other checked out items must be returned at this time. JV runners will run on Monday
--> Only varsity runners preparing for Sectionals will have required practice Oct 22nd & beyond
