Cross-country runners show improvement in 2nd meet

One week after an early-season four-team meet, it was time for some stiff competition for the Oconto Falls High School cross-country team. The Panthers tested themselves against some of northeast Wisconsin’s top teams, and the Oconto Falls runners held their own in hot and humid conditions at the annual Freedom Invitational on Friday. The boys finished ninth out of 14 teams in the large school race, with the girls placing 10th out of 14 teams. Gillett competed in the girls race, but couldn’t qualify as a team with only four runners. Oconto Falls boys Running with a young squad, the Panthers gained valuable experience at Freedom. Oconto Falls had three runners place in the top 50 in the large division’s 95 racers. “Time-wise they got a lot better,” Oconto Falls coach Lon Ludemann said. “Overall, I think everybody improved from a week ago. That was the last thing I told them yesterday at practice, ‘I want you to get better than you did last week.’ ” Junior Evan Konitzer was the team’s top finisher at 26th overall and 18th in the large race (17:45). “I’m happy with it,” Konitzer said. “I was going for top 20 or higher and I was trying to break 17:50 at least.” Noah Kokko-Ludemann came in second on the team and 27th in the large division (18:20). Ben Stoinski (19:14) was 50th with Doug Mittelstaedt (19:41) and Brent Wolf (19:42) finishing 61st and 62nd, respectively. “Those three did a lot better today,” Ludemann said. “Today, they would have been our three, four, five.” Despite graduating four of its top runners from a season ago, the Panthers are running well, Konitzer said. “I think we have a good chance for state,” he said. “If we all keep it up in practice and do good and run hard and are out on the weekends and stuff, we’ll do well.” Appleton North (61) won the large division, followed by Manitowoc Lincoln (74) and Xavier (132). Oconto Falls girls Ashley Keuken was coming off a strong race at West De Pere and wanted to push herself at Freedom. The junior ran well and came in 40th (22:32), second on the team to Bailey Wolf’s sixth-place finish in the large division (20:08). “Definitely better than last week,” Keuken said. “The course is a lot better.” Keuken learned a lot in the first meet of the season that helped her in the next race. “The first meet I kind of slipped a little,” Keuken said. “I gained a minute from my first mile to my second mile, so today I just worked on beating that pace.” Wolf — who was seventh overall between the two divisions after placing 19th last season at the event — dropped 52 seconds from her previous meet and was just six seconds out of fourth place. Keuken led the next pack of girls for Oconto Falls. Jaclyn Erickson was 64th (23:44), followed by Liza Leja, 74th (24:36) and Grace Williams, 78th (24:55). “I told the girls before they left, ‘Stick with Ashley.’ And they all did a lot better,” Ludemann said. Keuken thought the team ran a good race, but there is always room for improvement. “I think in practice we all just need work on running together, putting 110 percent in every practice,” Keuken said. Appleton North (30) took home the team title in the large girls race. Luxemburg-Casco (85) was runner-up and Appleton West (94) a close third. Gillett Lauren Herzog wasn’t going to let a side stitch and hamstring tweak slow her down too much. The Gillett sophomore ran strong at Freedom and came in 10th place in the small division (21:38). “I don’t think she finished where she wanted to,” Gillett coach Emily Young said. “But I’m impressed she did well and fought through it and still finished strong.” Young hopes earning a top-10 finish will give Herzog confidence that she can run against some big-time competition. It should also help the other three Gillett runners on the team. “I think that in the long run it’s going to help them say, ‘Oh, I guess I’m not as far back as I thought I was because there are so many people here,’” Young said. Liz Kahler (24:46) placed 40th, followed by teammates Kathy Bierhals, 71st (27:00), and Becca Brehmer, 72nd (27:12). “We’re a young team and it’s still early in the season,” Young said. “I’m really excited that they’re doing well.”