It was a great day for the Whippet Harriers as they traveled to Cottage Grove to compete in the Dana Waddell Invitational hosted by Marshall High School on Tuesday, September 12. After not racing for over a week, the team was chomping at the bit to toe the line and get after it. With favorable conditions and solid training going their way, the Whippets didn’t disappoint and all came away with noticeable improvement and competed well.
The boys’ varsity was led again by Jack Hefty as he broke the tape for his first-ever cross country victory. He crossed the line in 16:12. Nate Holden medaled in 6th with his first-ever sub 17:00 clocking to finish in 16:58. Miles Nickelsburg placed 11th in 17:26 to round out medalists from Whitewater. The varsity team placed 3rd out of 11 teams with 98 points. In the boys’ JV race, Isaac Straight led the team with an 8th palace medal finish in 20:21. He was followed closely behind by Wyatt Esch who placed 9th in 20:30. This team also placed 3rd with a total of 72 points.
The girls’ race was equally impressive with significant improvement from all. Mady Hefty was the first of three medalists at this meet by placing 8th in 20:31. Athena Soto moved up to 12th late in the race to stop the clock in 20:47. Nola Coburn rounded out the medalists for the team by placing 18th with a time of 21:45. The varsity squad placed 4th out of 10 complete teams. In the girls’ JV race, Isabella Aranda took home a medal by placing 6th in 24:40. The girls’ JV team placed 3rd overall.
Coach Carstens added, “I cannot overstate how proud I am of the way the kids competed from top to bottom. Times are fun to look at, but it is most rewarding to see them discovering how tough they really are and being fierce competitors against others on the same day. We will look to carry this mantra through the season taking it one day at a time.”
Next up for the team will be the Racine St. Catherine’s Invitational hosted at UW-Parkside on Saturday, September 16th.
Full results: https://my.raceresult.com/260207/results
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Head Cross Country Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
