On Saturday, 10/26, the Whippet CC program hosted its first ever double CC sectional which include their own Division 2 level tournament race as well as Division 3 races after. It was a spectacular day to showcase cross country at a high level in our own backyard. The event was a great success!
The girls raced first and ran very strong in perfect racing conditions. In fact, many runners ran significantly faster on the same race course than they did a little over a week ago at the Rock Valley Conference Meet. Freshman Sabrina Bomberg once again led the team as the first girl across the line from Whitewater. Her time of 24:31 was good enough for 59th place and mere seconds off her season best on arguably the toughest course the team races on all year. Olive Coburn broke 25 minutes for the first time on the UWW course stopping the clock in 24:55 which placed her 64th. Gwen Truesdale placed 69th in 25:20 after battling some injuries late in the season. Senior Morgan Stillwagon ran her lifetime best by 42 seconds to take 72nd in 25:40. Sophie Walton was 81st in 27:05 and Jenny Villarreal took 85th in 28:42. The girls program placed 11th in the race. This official marks the end to the girls CC season for 2019.
The boys raced next which were led by Sophomore Gio Anello. Gio punched his ticket to state for the first time as he was one of the top 5 individuals to cross the line that were not on the two qualifying teams. Gio had to do a serious gut check with 1000 meters to go to see his dreams become reality as he dug deep to not let anyone pass him and hold onto his position in the field. His 10th place finish was the fifth and final position to train and race one more week. His finish time for the 5K course was 17:47. Cooper Hammond was the next Whippet across the line in taking 42nd in 19:35. Running close together as a pack again were fellow Whippets Peter Zimdars and Manny Rodriguez. They placed 46th and 49th with times of 19:43 and 19:48. Will Hofmann placed 59th in 20:08, CJ Tomomitsu was 63rd in 20:17 and Mason West ran his last race in a Whippet jersey running 21:24 which was good enough was 76th. Junior Trenten Zahn did not compete due to injury. The boys team finished in 8th place overall.
Gio will be racing at the WIAA State XC Meet on Saturday, Nov. 2nd in Wisconsin Rapids, located on the Ridges Golf Course. His race time is 2:00.
State Meet Information: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Sports/Cross_Country/2019/State%20Meet%20Info.pdf?ver=2019-10-24-155250-707
