Wrapping up their regular season racing schedule on Saturday, September 30th, the Whippet Cross Country Teams competed in Platteville in a 33-team invitational. With challenging terrain and warm conditions, both programs had really strong race performances to boost their confidence as the team moves into the championship phase of the season.
The Varsity Boys raced first with Jack Hefty running a really solid race to place 5th overall in 16:28. He put himself in a good position early and battled well with those around him. Nate Holden came in 15th with a time of 17:16. This is a really nice performance, and Nate has been solid in the number two position on the team. Xavier Zei rebounded well after last week’s Midwest Invitational and placed 26th in 17:55. These top three individuals all medaled in the meet. Miles Nickelsburg placed 39th with a time of 18:14. Onyx Thompson placed 122nd in 20:01, and Quincy Boudreau placed 133rd in 20:16. Overall, the boys placed 4th in the large school division.
The Varsity Girls’ race saw Mady Hefty have a breakthrough race and place 16th in 20:59. She extended herself in a way she hadn’t all season and beat some girls she had only seen from behind for some time. Athena Soto came in as the team’s second runner and placed 43rd in 22:06 but earned a medal by placing 25th in the large school division. Carley Boudreau and Nola Coburn once again found each other early in the race and ran together and drag raced to the finish. Today they finished with Carley in 59th and Nola in 62nd with times of 22:46 and 22:49. Ema Aranda was the team’s fifth runner today and placed 110th in 25:04. Isabella Aranda placed 132nd in 26:44. Overall, the girls’ team finished in 5th place in the large school division.
Isaac Straight led the boys’ JV team with a 42nd place showing and stopped the clock in 21:15. Not far behind was Wyatt Esch in 54th and Isaiah Mendez in 56th. Their times were 21:31 and 21:50, respectively. The boys’ JV team placed 11th overall amongst both the small and large school divisions.
Lauren Buehler led the JV team with a 36th place finish to stop the clock in 26:49. Sami Van Daele and Lucy Troxel placed 45th and 47th overall with times of 27:17 and 27:26. Overall the team placed 8th amongst both the small and large school divisions combined.
Coach Carstens added, “I am really proud of the way the kids battled this difficult course with hot conditions. It was not easy, but they rose to the challenge. We now set our sights on putting our most complete races together in the month of October at the conference meet and beyond.”
BOYS RESULTS: http://www.accuracetiming.com/results/2023/plattcc_23b.pdf
GIRLS RESULTS: http://www.accuracetiming.com/results/2023/plattcc_23g.pdf
The team will now turn their attention to the Rock Valley Conference Meet on Thursday, October 12th. This event will be at UW-Whitewater with the varsity boys starting at 4:10, girls’ varsity at 4:50, and boys’ and girls’ combined JV at 5:25.
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photos Courtesy of Erica Holden
