After a trip to the state cross-country meet in 2013, the Oconto Falls High School boys team is on course for another great season.
The Panthers return four of their top runners, including senior Mike Friedman, and are experienced up and down the roster.
The girls team also brings back its best runner, Bailey Wolf, and graduated just three seniors. A last-place finish last season should motivate the Panthers girls to higher aspirations.
Boys
The boys are hoping to accomplish a rare feat for Oconto Falls sports: win four straight conference titles.
Oconto Falls is coming off an 11th-place finish at state. The Panthers graduated three runners — James Malcheski (89th individually at state, 53rd in team competition), Alex Young (109th, 71st) and Hunter Reed (140th, 101st).
Friedman will be counted on to lead the way.
“Without bragging, I’d say he’s one of the better Division 2 runners in the state of Wisconsin right now,” longtime Oconto Falls coach Lon Ludemann said.
Friedman has finished in the top 10 in the conference meet all three of his seasons and finished runner-up a year ago. He was fourth (17:05) at the sectional meet last season, but wasn’t able to compete at state due to a broken foot. Friedman is healthy this year and eager to accomplish a lot in his senior campaign.
“I think he’s going to let it all out,” Ludemann said.
Senior Liam Spillane came in third at sectionals and 17th overall (17:59). He ran the fastest time for the Panthers at state, coming in 65th overall, 34th in team competition (17:37.38). Michael Fifield is coming off a strong season. The 6-foot-7 runner placed 28th at sectionals, and 110th overall and 72nd in team competition at the state meet (18:14.14).
Sophomore Evan Konitzer was 56th overall (19:14) at sectionals and ran the third fastest time out of all the freshmen competing in the state meet, placing second for his team and 72nd overall (17:43.16).
There are 17 other runners on the roster battling for the final three varsity slots.
“I can honestly say, if you take those four guys out and there’s 17 guys left, I’m going to say there’s probably 14 or 15 guys that can push each other for those last three spots,” Ludemann said.
The competition level in practice is raised due to the open positions.
“It’s an awesome problem to have,” Ludemann said. “I think it’s going to be healthy to have all those kids shooting for those spots.”
Ludemann will gauge where his runners are at early in the season and make a push come postseason time.
“I told our kids, ‘Let’s not worry about anything until we get to October,’” Ludemann said.
Girls
Oconto Falls lost two seniors to graduation, Kali Erickson, third on the team at sectionals, and Hanna Kopczynski, seventh.
Everything starts with Wolf. The junior ran in the state meet the first two years on varsity and has had a great career.
As a freshman, Wolf placed 38th at state (15:47.64) and followed that up with a 55th-place finish as a sophomore (16:08.63).
“I think she’s going to have a better year than she did last year,” Ludemann said. “She wasn’t healthy the whole year, either. I can’t speak for her, but I’d think first-team all-conference is a goal for her, and she can be a state qualifier again.”
The other nine girls on the Oconto Falls roster will jockey for position and push each other to get better.
“Bailey is by far the best runner, but after that I think they’re all pretty close,” Ludemann said. “In practice they’ll all kind of run together.”
Wolf was fifth last year at sectionals (16:34) and Jaclyn Erickson, who was a sophomore, came in 82th (19:21).
As freshmen last season, Hannah Fontaine (20:07), Grace Witt (20:25) and Megan Loberger (20:27) ran well as a pack at sectionals and finished third, fourth and fifth for the Panthers.
Fellow sophomores Diane Moore and Virginia Misco are healthy and will try and get in a full year on the course. Moore was hurt in the third meet of the season in 2013 and couldn’t compete the rest of the way, while Misco was sick at the end of the year and didn’t run in the last couple of meets.
“I don’t think we went to a meet last year where we had everybody,” Ludemann said. “I think this year if we can stay healthy, we’re going to be a much better team.”
Rounding out the team are junior first-year cross country runners Liza Leja and Wanoka Wade. Ashley Keuken is one of six sophomores on the roster.
This year will be a little different for the girls in the state as the WIAA increased meet distances from 4,000 to 5,000 meters. Ludemann thinks it will take half the season for the girls to adapt to the longer race.
Ludemann thinks the longer races will be advantageous for Wolf, who thrives running more distance.
Oconto Falls is coming off a last-place finish in the Bay Conference, but Ludemann has higher goals this season.
“I would like to see us get out of the cellar,” Ludemann said. “Placing in the middle of our conference would be a very big improvement for us. I think if we can get in the five or six range, that’d be very good.”
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