The year was 1996. The Spice Girls were popular, people went to Blockbuster to rent a movie, the Ford Fiesta was the most popular vehicle on the road, and 16% of homes owned a cell phone. It also happens to be the last time that Whitewater had both a girls’ and boys’ cross country team qualify for state in the same year. We can now add 2023 to that historical data. The boys’ and girls’ CC teams raced with passion and a purpose at the WIAA Sectional race held at UW-Parkside on Saturday, October 21st.
The boys raced first with cool temps, and calm winds, on a soft and muddy course. They quickly put people on notice that they were not messing around. With 4 runners in the top 10, their Whippet red jerseys were flying at the front of the race. Jack Hefty took an early lead, gapping the field within 600 meters and never looked back. His role was to secure one point for the team and he did just that by crossing the line first in 17:13 to claim his first sectional cross country title. Nate Holden held a top five position throughout the race and gutted his way to a fourth place finish with a time of 17:47. Miles Nickelsburg ran with the confidence of being surrounded by teammates and flourished in 7th place with a time of 17:52. Xavier Zei floated along and secured a top 10 finish by stopping the clock in 18:16. With such a strong tone set by the top four guys, Onyx Thompson was feeling ice in his veins and felt the energy from his teammates crushing it up front and ran a lifetime best as the team’s fifth runner, placing 25th overall to seal the team scoring. Quincy Boudreau was just 22 seconds off his lifetime best on this grueling course and placed 40th with a time of 19:49. Andrew O’Toole battled his way through the course to finish in 62nd with a time of 21:42. The final team scores showed Whitewater had won a sectional title with a team total of 47 points, with the next closest team being conference foe Clinton, with 74. That margin was a mere five points at the RVC meet a week earlier. The last time just the boys’ team had qualified for state was 2007.
The girls were in for a fight in their race as well. Mady Hefty was back on the starting line after missing conference and was not going to be denied the chance to compete at state. Battling through her recent setback, she paced the team by placing fifth overall with a time of 21:54, which would have guaranteed her a spot at state regardless of how the team performed. However, it was the team that shined the most on this day. Like the boys, Mady set the tone up front while Athena Soto and Nola Coburn weren’t far from her. Athena kept inching her way up place by place and was able to take 6th overall, 12 seconds back from Mady in 22:06. Nola Coburn looked fantastic and took 8th overall to wrap up a great 1-2-3 punch. Nola’s time was 22:29. Carley Boudreau gave the race all the grit she had and placed 20th with a time of 23:36. Ema Aranda was all guts as she not only ran a lifetime best time on this challenging course and conditions, but she did so after taking a fall. She continued to race with bloodied knees to a 25th place finish to seal the scoring runners with a time of 24:17. Ema’s sister Bella was the next Whippet across the line in 37th with a time of 25:57. Silvia Harris wrapped up the day for the Whippets with a 41st place showing and an overall time of 26:35. When the team scores were tabulated, Clinton came out on top with a score of 31 and Whitewater was second just ahead of a tough Jefferson team to take the final team qualifying spot. Whitewater scored 57 to Jefferson’s 69. The last time the girls’ team qualified for state was 2015.
The teams will now prepare for the WIAA Division 2 State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids at The Ridges Golf Course which will be held on Saturday, October 28th. The boys will race first at 12:35 and the girls will race at 2:25. For all the WIAA State Meet Information, visit: https://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Fall/Girls-Cross-Country/Tournament
BOYS’ RESULTS: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Cross_Country/2023/racinesectionalb.htm
GIRLS’ RESULTS:
https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Cross_Country/2023/racinesectionalg.htm
Article and Photos Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coachccarstens@wwusd.org
