Onesti guides Shawano boys cross-country team to 8th at state

Area individual cross-country runners and three teams participated in the 2021 State Boys & Girls Cross-Country Championships on Oct. 30 at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, with the Shawano boys team snagging eighth place.

Bonduel’s girls team and individual boys runners from Bonduel and Pulaski, plus the Shawano girls team, also competed at the championships.

Shawano

The Shawano boys earned the eighth-place finish with a score of 220. Ethan Onesti was the team’s top runner, placing 22nd with a time of 17 minutes, 7 seconds.

“The first mile, I felt really good, but then the last two miles the hills really got to me. So, I kind of slowed down a little bit, which I didn’t like but then I started picking it up at the end and sprinted at the end, which I needed to do,” said Onesti.

Andon Chelberg and Aidan Preston were the next two Hawks across the finish line, placing 60th and 61st, respectively. Chelberg posted a time of 17:43.1, while Preston had a time of 17:43.4.

“It’s so much better,” said Preston of being able to compete with the rest of the team at state. “Throughout the whole season, coach (Steve Stomberg) was always telling us, we always want that extra week of practice. It’s fun to go as an individual obviously, but it’s 10 times better to be here with your team to make a run here.”

“It was super fun. Practices were a little easier, we got to joke around a little more. The camaraderie of the team is fun,” said Chelberg of the final week of the season.

Will Chelberg was the fourth Hawk across the finish line, placing 93rd with a time of 18:22.3. Connor Chelberg capped the team score with a 122nd-place finish in 18:54.

Dane Adams (19:30.6) placed 140th, while Brady Stomberg (20:50.9) was 150th to round out the seven-runner team.

Of the seven runners, only Adams and Stomberg were seniors, so the team will look to build on this year’s success next fall.

The Shawano girls team ended up placing 13th at state with a score of 275.

Senior Grace Beyer capped her strong season with a 24th-place finish to lead the girls. She completed the course in 20:15.

“To start off, I sprinted off like I normally do. I wasn’t expecting to be that far ahead, I figured all the other girls would sprint out too,” said Beyer of her final race. “But I just stuck with it, tried to stick with the girls. As girls passed me, just tried to go with them and stay more toward the front — push up the hills and just run my race.”

Lily Guenther placed 44th in 20:45.7, while Grace Chelberg took 56th in 21:00.9.

Adalyn Barkley claimed 141st in 23:45.2, with Caitlyn Moede in 146th with a time of 24:43.2 to cap the team score. Trinity Tucker (24:57.4) was 148th and Onna Hermann (25:33.2) was 150th to round out the team.

Of the seven runners, only Beyer was a senior. With that in mind and with state experience now on their side, the Hawks will be eyeing another trip to state.

“I think just knowing we can do it and that we’ve done it before helps a lot,” said Chelberg. “We have a lot of little runners looking up to us that will be coming in next year, so we’ll have a lot of runners that are motivated as well.”

“Next year, obviously we lose Grace, our senior leader and then we don’t have any junior girls, so I guess this is really helpful for the girls who went (to state) this year, so we can be leaders next year,” said Guenther.

Bonduel

In the Division 3 field, the Bonduel girls team placed 12th with a score of 254.

Ashlyn Kurey paced the team with a 50th-place finish in 21:22.1.

“I think I came out pretty strong. I knew it was hilly so I had to pace myself,” said Kurey. Overall, I tried sticking with girls that I knew were my pace, but the hills really killed me.”

Kendra Troxel was the next Bear across the line, placing 71st in 21:52.3.

“It’s so much different. I couldn’t picture it without a team. It’d be so lonely. I’m just so glad I had the team with me because it makes it a so much better experience,” said Troxel of competing at state as a team.

Teagan Engel was the team’s next finisher, placing 75th in 21:56.6. She, along with Taylor Rank, were two freshmen on a seven-runner team that had just one senior.

Sophomore Joselyn Bohm placed 97th in 22:50.1, while senior Kaitlin Brooks took 135th in 24:36.2 to cap the team score. Rank (25:02.2) claimed 139th, while sophomore Anna Beaumier (27:47.4) was 148th to round out the team.

Cooper Uelmen ran in the D3 boys race as an individual. He claimed 50th with a time of 18:01.2.

“I felt like I was pretty close to where I wanted to be. I wanted to be top 50 and I wanted to run below a 18-minute, I ran an 18:01, so I can’t be too sad about that,” said Uelmen.

The senior was thankful for the opportunity to end his career at state one final time.

“It means a lot. I mean, I’ve been working for this for the past seven years and it just feels good to finish it off here,” said Uelmen.

Pulaski

Pulaski senior T.J. Shaw ended high school career on the state’s biggest stage. He placed 77th in the Division 1 boys field with a time of 17:23.8.

“I’m pretty proud of my time, not a PR (personal record) but it was really cramped in that first mile and it was hard to get around people,” said Shaw. “For this meet, I think it was a pretty good time.”

Shaw was in 133rd after one mile of running before moving up 30 spots to 103rd at the two-mile mark. He ran past 26 more runners in the final mile-plus to place where he did.

“It was really special. I’m racing against the best people in the state and it was just a pleasure to be here,” said Shaw of competing at state for the first time as a senior.

Full results from the meet can be found at pttiming.com.

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