Thursday, October 17 was a good day for the Whippet Cross Country teams as they raced their guts out at the 2024 Rock Valley Conference Meet.
In this eleven-team meet, the girls finished in 3rd overall, just a few points from second. A tight pack of Whippets played a large role in the team’s success. Carley Boudreau emerged as the top runner in this meet, as she was one of four Whippets that earned honorable mention all-conference honors. Carley finished in 19th with a time of 23:16. In 20th was Athena Soto in 23:22. Mady Hefty was 21st in 23:32, and Virginia Nelson was 22nd in 23:35. The top 24 runners earned all-conference honors. Nola Coburn placed 25th in 23:49. This wave of red was very thrilling to watch race around the course and pass other runners as a pack of Whippets together. Ema Aranda was the team’s sixth runner today and placed 32nd with a time of 24:37. Sami Van Daele was the team’s 7th runner and placed 37th with a time of 25:03.
In the JV race, Delaney Hammack placed 13th in 26:59. Mya Graves-Koran placed 15th in 27:17. Lucy Troxel placed 19th in 27:45. Payton Brautigam placed 23rd and stopped the clock in 30:26. The JV team did not have a team score.
The boys’ team replicated its runner-up finish from a year ago against a very strong Monroe team. Jack Hefty took the lead from the gun and never looked back as he sailed to his second conference title in as many years and finished in 16:50. Xavier Zei earned first-team all-conference honors placing 5th in 17:51. Miles Nickelsburg earned second-team all-conference honors in 9th with a time of 17:56. Luc Pomazac also earned second-team honors in 13th with a time of 18:41. Andrew O’Toole earned honorable mention honors in 19th with a time of 18:49. Rounding out the varsity squad were Onyx Thompson in 27th with a time of 19:22 and Isaac Straight in 48th in 20:20.
In the JV race, Quinton O’Toole led the team and secured a top 10 finish to place 8th with a time of 20:29. Isaiah Mendez was the team’s second runner and placed 12th in 21:08. Wyatt Esch placed 20th in 22:04. Alex Clarksen placed 44th in 24:36. Wrapping up the team scoring was Angel Kilar who placed 58th with a time of 26:49. The JV team finished in 5th with 129 pts.
Next up for the team will be the WIAA Sectional meet hosted on this same course at UW-Whitewater on Friday, October 25th. The top two teams and the top five individuals not on those teams will earn a trip to the WIAA State Meet. The girls’ race will begin at 4:00, followed by the boys at 4:45.
Full Results: https://wi.milesplit.com/meets/628514-rvc-championship-2024
Article and Photos Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
