Putting together their best day of the season so far, the Whippets crushed their races in Cottage Grove at the Dana Waddell Invitational, hosted by Marshall.
The girls came ready to race, with all five Whippets in the lineup posting either a lifetime personal best or a season best on a challenging course that was redesigned last year to add even more hills.
Virginia Nelson led the way with a lifetime personal best of 21:44, finishing 16th overall and bringing home a medal. Ema Aranda also ran a lifetime best, crossing the line in 23:00 to place 30th. Peyton Comfort delivered one of the biggest improvements of the day, dropping just over two minutes from her previous season best to run 26:18. Madelyn Taylor continued her upward trend, cutting an impressive 78 seconds off her previous season best. Lia Ramirez saved her biggest breakthrough for this race, dropping 2:50 from her previous best and establishing a new lifetime best of 31:59.
As a team, the girls placed 9th out of 10 teams, despite racing without Melody Smith in the lineup.
The boys had a similarly outstanding day, with strong performances from the front of the pack all the way through the lineup.
Tyler Carollo once again led the Whippets as the team’s #1 runner, turning in a strong 18:48 to finish 25th overall. Behind him, the pack of Marcus Roselle and Marcus Roe continues to prove how valuable pack running can be. For the first time, both Marcus runners broke the 20-minute barrier, with Roselle running 19:26 and Roe close behind in 19:36.
Wyatt Esch had another massive breakthrough, cutting nearly two minutes from his previous season best and finishing in 20:51. Jameson Rothwell also posted a lifetime best, running 22:09. Angel Kilar shaved several seconds off his lifetime best, crossing in 23:03.
Carson Miller had a terrific day as well, running a lifetime personal best and finishing 9th overall in the JV race to earn a medal.
Not to be outdone, Hunter Runnoe and Horatio Nelson raced their way around the challenging course together, pushing and encouraging each other to massive lifetime personal bests. Hunter got the best of Horatio on this day, running 23:44 to Horatio’s 23:52.
Ian Agen capped off the day with another banner performance, crushing his season best to date and finishing in 27:51.
When the dust settled, the boys finished 7th out of the scoring teams.
From breakthrough performances to lifetime bests, medals, and some serious pack racing, the Whippets showed just how much progress they are making. This was a huge step forward for the team—and easily our best day of racing so far this season!
Next up, the Whippets head to UW-Parkside on Saturday for the Angel Invitational, hosted by Racine St. Catherine’s. The team will look to carry this momentum into another big race!
Article and Photo Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
