Mariah Wondra is a big reason why the Bonduel girls cross country team has competed at state the last three seasons.
The senior has also made a name for herself as one of the top distance runners in the Central Wisconsin Conference, as she cruised to her second straight individual championship Oct. 16 at the CWC meet in Rosholt.
Although the Bears finished second behind Wittenberg-Birnamwood in the girls team standings, Bonduel edged Amherst to win the boys championship.
Wondra had no problem winning her race, as she finished 43 seconds ahead of runner-up Evelyn Bablitch, of Rosholt.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to finish tops in the conference,” she said. “To do it twice in a row is really, really cool. I wanted to be strategic and push my hardest to save me for the end of the season. Now that we’re here, I can let loose now.”
Wondra said she’s not surprised how well she did at her final conference meet.
“I kind of visualized it, I guess,” she said. “I ran races like that before where it’s just me, so I went into it knowing that it’s going to be me against myself. Like I told the team, we could do really well in a competitive conference and get individual awards, because my teammates have had great individual seasons. I told them to go out there for your team and go out there for yourself, too, and earn what you deserve.”
Bonduel’s other finishers in the girls race included Lillian Burrack (seventh, 20:09.2), Payten Bierhals (23rd, 21:58.5), Kember Frome (27th, 22:23.9), Cierra Schnell (28th, 22:46) and Katie O’Brien (56th, 26:43.2).
Wittenberg-Birnamwood won the girls title with 35 points, followed by Bonduel (65), Amherst (78), Rosholt (86), Iola-Scandinavia (104), Weyauwega-Fremont (140) and Tri-County (194).
The Chargers won the team title after placing five runners in the top 20, including two in the top 10.
The Chargers’ Rory Salvesen and Nora Bushman placed fourth and sixth with times of 19:39.7 and 20:05.6, respectively.
Other runners for Wittenberg-Birnamwood included Harper Krull (11th, 20:24.9), Delilah Schairer (14th, 21:16), Gabrielle Timm (16th, 21:26.4), Lilyana Groh (21st, 21:46.2) and Sydney Schairer (36th, 24:03.5).
Other area runners in the girls race included:
Marion/Tigerton: Brooklynn Ahlers (20th, 21:42.7).
Menominee Nation: Urijah Reevis (43rd, 24:27.5) and Kaylee Nacotee (54th, 26:12.9).
Bonduel boys win
Bonduel won the boys team championship with 50 points, followed by Amherst (54), Iola-Scandinavia (73), Pacelli (92), Weyauwega-Fremont (105), Wittenberg-Birnamwood (159) and Northland Lutheran (184).
Bonduel had a pair of top 10 finishes from Griffin Uelmen (fifth, 17:19.3) and Gage Anderson (ninth, 17:24.4).
Other runners for the Bears included Oliver Chitwood (14th, 17:56.7), Garrett Anderson (16th, 18:05.1), Joah Dworniczak (18th, 18:11.1), Jack Weier (38th, 19:47.5), Carter Johnson (42nd, 19:55.8) and Dylan Keller (43rd, 20:13.3).
Other area runners in the boys race included:
Wittenberg-Birnamwood: Marty Nowinsky (33rd, 19:15.8), Dalton Fletcher (36th, 19:38.4), Milo Salvesen (41st, 19:52.9), Jonas Bushman (46th, 20:27.7), Colten Mueller (56th, 21:41.2), Teagon Stewart (57th, 21:42.6) and Monty Salvesen (58th, 21:43.3).
Menominee Nation: Bryant Waupoose III (third, 16:42.6) and Cashius Reevis (32nd, 19:14.6).
Marion/Tigerton: Payton Prickette (34th, 19:24.8), Tristan Herro (39th, 19:49.2) and Brayden Zietlow (55th, 21:33.5).
Gresham/Bowler: Breckin Gleason (59th, 21:47.3), Derec Guthrie (64th, 23:16.5), Blaze Ejnik (65th, 23:29.8) and Adam Liethen (73rd, 27:49.9).
Sectionals up next
Now that the regular season is over, Wondra and the Bears are setting their sights on their WIAA Division 3 sectional, as the team will return to Rosholt High School on Oct. 25. The top two teams and top five individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the state meet, set for Nov. 1 in Wisconsin Rapids.
“I’ve been to state the last three years, and to qualify as a team would be really special,” Wondra said. “We lost a lot of members going into this year, and we kind of thought we didn’t even have a shot, but our team has worked really hard this season. We’ve just improved so much to put ourselves in a position to qualify again. It would be extra-special to qualify this year with the group we have.”
