The Oconto Falls High School boys cross-country team took fifth, despite missing its top runner, and junior Bailey Wolf finished in 12th place to lead the girls Saturday at the Shawano Invitational cross-country meet.
Many teams at the meet were competing without runners who opted to take the ACT test Saturday instead of Oct. 25, the same day as cross-country sectionals.
Without senior Mike Friedman, who has led the team the last two seasons, the Panthers ran well, getting a team score of 179.
“I’m ecstatic. I didn’t know what these guys were going to do without him,” Oconto Falls coach Lon Ludemann said. “They did a great job. I wanted to get in the top seven and we got fifth, second in our division.”
The strategy for the boys was to stay together.
“Our goal was to keep them tight,” Ludemann said. “I think our one-through-five only had 46 spots, which is not bad. Maybe 50 seconds apart, which is good. I’m happy.”
Wolf’s 12th-place finish led a team that finished 15th overall but cut times across the board.
“Times are coming down,” Ludemann said. “I’m happy for that, for our girls.”
Gillett freshman Lauren Herzog secured eighth place, finishing in 20:42.
Heavy rainfall Friday in Shawano made for a muddy course that might have affected the times of the 700-plus runners in the invite.
“It was a little wet,” Ludemann said. “I think it slowed everybody down because of that. I’m happy with the times.”
Local Results
Boys
Team scoring: 1. Green Bay Preble 59, 2. Manitowoc Lincoln 105, 3. Green Bay East 113, 4. Winneconne 166, 5. Oconto Falls 179, 6. Shawano 202, 7. Appleton Xavier 221, 8. Hortonville 240, 9. Kaukauna 243, 10. West De Pere 258, 11. Appleton West, 12. Bonduel 288, 13. Brillion 293, 14. Oshkosh North 339, 15. Southern Door 406, 16. Seymour 408, 17. New London 409, 18. Gladstone 469, 19. Sturgeon Bay 633
Oconto Falls: 21. Michael Fifield, 18:04; 28. Evan Konitzer, 18:11; 39. Liam Spillane, 18:26; 43. Justan Konitzer, 18:33; 58. Luke Vrooman, 18:53
Gillett: 147. Sam Davis, 23:09
Girls
Team scoring: 1. Green Bay East 66, 2. Winneconne 132, 3. Appleton West 161, 4. Green Bay Preble 164, 5. Southern Door 166, 6. Hortonville 188, 7. Peshtigo 218, 8. West De Pere 223, 9. Kaukauna 225, 10. Appleton Xavier 236, 11. Marinette 330, 12. Manitowoc Lincoln 356, 13. Oshkosh North 369, 14. Brillion 384, 15. Bonduel 407, 16. Oconto Falls 427, 17. New London 483, 18. Gladstone 483, 19. Marion 499, 20. Shawano 65
Oconto Falls: 12. Bailey Wolf, 20:52; 86. Ashley Keuken, 23:27; 100. Megan Loberger, 23:54; 124. Jaclyn Erickson, 24:49; 129. Virginia Misco, 25:06
Gillett: 8. Lauren Herzog, 20:42; 87. Elizabeth Kahler, 23:28
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