Bonduel girls, Witt-Birn boys 2nd at CWC Cross-Country Championships

UPDATED: Oct. 16, 1 p.m.

The Bonduel girls and Wittenberg-Birnamwood boys cross-country teams each secured second-place finishes at the Central Wisconsin Conference Championships on Thursday in Pittsville.

The Bonduel girls finished with the same score as Amherst (43), but Amherst had the better finish from its sixth runner, so it claimed first. The Witt-Birn boys had a score of 67, behind Pacelli (41).

Bonduel’s top-five girls all placed in the top 20, led by Ashlyn Kurey and Kara Troxel. Kurey placed third in 21 minutes, 12.7 seconds, while Troxel was fourth in 21:38.1

“I’m so proud of my team,” said Troxel. “We work hard in practice every day and it’s finally paying off. Every single person on the team has a role and we all know that. By losing the tiebreaker tonight to Amherst at conference just makes the team more motivated to beat them at regionals on Tuesday. I have every bit of confidence in my team that we can do this too.”

“It’s been really exciting for me as a freshmen to come onto a strong team with a lot of senior experience and learn from them,” said Kurey. “Coming into the season we knew we had to work hard. Tonight was a great race for our team, we just came up a little short of the conference title.”

Kalleigh Schroeder also landed in the top 10 for the Bears, finishing ninth in 22:45.3. Kendra Troxel (22:56.2) placed 11th and Breanna Schnell (23:30.1) 18th to cap the team score.

Tommy Bruski and Wyatt Dickman paced the Witt-Birn boys team. Bruski finished fourth in 18:00.2, while Dickman was sixth in 18:07.2.

“I love our team because they are so fun to be around,” said Bruski. “There’s never a dull moment around them. And most importantly they know when to get serious. Every one of us pushed themselves to the end to finish. I was proud of how far they came these past few months.”

Witt-Birn’s next three finishers all placed within six spots of each other.

Simon Schairer (18:51.4) claimed 16th, Craig Wendel (18:57.5) 20th and Nash Wojnowiak (18:57.6) 21st.

The Bonduel boys team posted a fourth-place finish after earning a score of 127. Cooper Uelmen (18:38.3) and Jack Johnson (18:48.2) led the way, finishing 10th and 13th, respectively.

Ayden Dunst (20:17.1), Ben O’Brien (20:44.3) and Alex Jasch (20:55.1) rounded out the team score, placing 31st, 37th and 38th, respectively.

The Marion boys placed 10th as a team, with Jaden Stuhr’s 46th-place finish in 21:27.8 leading the way.

Jesse Trebus (23:51.7), Jackson Krohn (24:26.3), Myles Peterson (25:17.3) and Jack VanKooy (30:28.3) filled out the team, finishing 66th, 71st, 74th and 80th, respectively.

The Marion and Witt-Birn girls teams each had runners compete, but didn’t have enough to qualify for a team score.

Ruby Nowinsky was the top Witt-Birn girls finisher, taking 21st in 23:40.6.

Annika Resch (24:42.2) placed 29th and Lauren Dombeck (26:13.3) 42nd for the Chargers. Amelia Bessert (29:48.6) was the team’s fourth runner, taking 52nd.

Kelsey Zillmer represented Marion, placing 53rd in 30:26.4.

Girls team scores: 1. Amherst 43; 2. Bonduel 43; 3. Weyauwega-Fremont 67; 4. Rosholt 70; 5. Pittsville 142.

Boys team scores: 1. Pacelli 41; 2. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 67; 3. Iola-Scandinavia 89; 4. Bonduel 127; 5. Rosholt 132; 6. Amherst 137; 7. Weyauwega-Fremont 140; 8. Manawa 202; 9. Pittsville 210; 10. Marion 294.

Girls all-conference finishers — first team: Bonduel’s Ashlyn Kurey, Kara Troxel; second team: Bonduel’s Kalleigh Schroeder, Kendra Troxel; honorable mention: Bonduel’s Breanna Schnell; Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Ruby Nowinsky.

Boys all-conference finishers — first team: Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Tommy Bruski, Wyatt Dickman; second team: Bonduel’s Cooper Uelmen, Jack Johnson; honorable mention: Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Simon Schairer, Craig Wendel, Nash Wojnowiak.

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