Cross-Country: Shawano’s Arce, White place first at invitational

Shawano girls, Witt-Birn boys take first
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

WITTENBERG — Shawano Community High School’s Odessa Arce and Alec White each placed first as individuals to lead their cross-country teams to strong finishes at the Wittenberg-Birnamwood Chargers Invitational on Tuesday.

Arce, a sophomore, won the girls race with a time of 21 minutes, 26.65 seconds. The Shawano girls placed first with a score of 49.

White, a freshman, claimed the top time (18:06.02) in the boys race to help Shawano take second with a score of 71. Witt-Birn (59) took first.

“It’s (the top finish) going to do a lot for me and bring me farther. Because in the beginning of the season, I set my goals — me and my team both do — and I just didn’t feel like I was getting to that point to where I should be even though there’s only been two meets. It’s kind of been a brain block. So, to do this only on the third meet feels really good, and it’s good confidence going forward into many more meets that we have.”

White said he wasn’t quite sure how the first-place finish would help his confidence moving forward, instead mentioning where he hoped to end the season. “I really want to make it to state.”

The runner that followed Arce to the finish line was teammate Grace Beyer in a time of 21:38.85. Lydia Beyer (22:22.73) and Claire Guenther (23:06.51) placed seventh and eighth, respectively for the Hawks. Caitlin Daniel (26:42.51) capped the team score with a 44th-place finish.

Behind White, the Shawano boys had three other runners finish in the top 20. Johnny Dillenburg (19:11.14) came in eighth, Ethan Chelberg (19:35.5) 12th and Aidan Preston (20:05.3) 18th.

Joe Mente (20:53.57) capped the team score by placing 35th.

Competing on its home course, Witt-Birn’s boys team had four runners earn top 20 finishes, led by Cole Schairer’s second-place finish in 18:12.5.

Simon Schairer (19:29.05) took 11th, Tommy Bruski (19:49.33) 14th and Wyatt Dickman (20:00.6) 15th. Ian Resch (20:07.11) came in 21st to complete the team score.

“This shows that our hard work is paying off, so if we just keep at it, keep grinding, we’ll definitely compete well at the end of the season,” said Cole Schairer.

The Bonduel girls finished in second place, with Kara Troxel leading the way with a sixth-place finish in 22:03.91.

Kalleigh Schroeder (23:30.88) took 11th, Madison Kurey (23:50.65) 16th, Breanna Schnell (24:34.02) 20th and Kendra Troxel (25:44.05) 34th to cap the team score.

The Bonduel boys came in third, with two top-10 finishers. Carter Kurey (18:35.99) led the way, taking fifth.

Cooper Uelmen (19:18.96) placed ninth, while Jack Johnson (20:01.39) finished 16th. William Beaumier (20:19.87) and Karter Schroeder (20:24.46) capped the team score after taking 25th and 26th, respectively.

“I think mostly we just need to encourage each other,” said Kurey on what the team needs to keep working on. “We definitely have the talent, we just need to work together.”

Menominee Indian’s girls team did not have enough runners to qualify for a score, but saw freshman Emma Komanekin take third in 21:48.45. Mimi Beaulieu-Morgan took 39th in 26:16.47.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s girls team was in the same boat, with only four runners in action. Jenna Stone (23:34.14) led the way by finishing 12th.

“I think I did pretty well at pacing, especially with how many hills we have in this course,” said Stone. “One thing that did kind of slow me down was the heat, and of course my feet, because I’ve been having some problems with them. But other than that, I think I did pretty good for the conditions we had.”

Ruby Nowinsky (23:54.83) placed 17th, Annika Resch (25:13.15) 29th and Lauren Dombeck (28:45.95) 55th for the Chargers.

Back on the boys side, Clintonville took fifth as a team, with Cameron Mauel’s seventh-place finish in 19:08.86 leading the way.

Cody Carrico (20:13.1) and Josh Wilson (20:18.24) took 23rd and 24th, respectively, for the Truckers. Brody Prill (22:12.02) and Kyle Tennie (22:31.77) placed 54th and 62nd, respectively, to cap the team score.

Clintonville didn’t have enough runners on the girls side for a team score. Kayla Klemp (23:45.97) took 14th, while Alli Smejkal (26:02.21) and Katie Lamberies (31:40.95) also ran.

Menominee Indian had just enough runners to qualify for a boys team score and finished in ninth.

Ashton Corn (20:02.93) took 17th to lead the way, while Isaiah Moss (20:35.28) came in 31st. Jason Komanekin (21:45.78), Lloyd Reevis (22:43.47) and Joshua Besaw (23:43.91) finished in 48th, 70th and 83rd, respectively.

The Marion girls took eighth, all finishing within 20 places of each other. Nora Wiesman (31:34.2), Kelsey Zillmer (32:21.45), Claire Dow (34:34.39), Haylie Larson (34:36.31) and Claire Brei (39:31) formed the team’s top-five finishers.

The Marion boys did not qualify for a team score. Isaiah Gueths (22:20.85) placed 56th to lead the way, while Ethan Pockat (22:31.94), Gavin James (25:06.14) and Jack VanKooy (30:05.64) also ran for the Mustangs.

Gresham/Bowler had several runners competing, but did not qualify for a team score.

Levi Schick was the top finisher for the boys co-op, taking 39th in 21:17.81. Austin Slater (25:30.82), Isaiah Bestul (27:36.4) and Andrew Galland (27:58.25) were the other three boys runners.

Ireland Jensen (29:57.66) and Maya Thiex (37:49.4) represented the girls co-op.

Girls team scores: 1. Shawano 49; 2. Bonduel 71; 3. Rosholt 95; 4. Amherst 97; 5. Rhinelander 101; 6. Wabeno/Laona 104; 7. Crandon 164; 8. Marion 231.

Boys team scores: 1. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 59; 2. Shawano 71; 3. Bonduel 76; 4. Rhinelander 131; 5. Clintonville 151; 6. Rosholt 153; 7. Iola-Scandinavia 155; 8. Amherst 198; 9. Menominee Indian 208; 10. Wabeno/Laona 236; 11. Manawa 318; 12. Crandon 335.

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Full results from the invitational can be found on pttiming.com