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
