By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Angel Invitational took place on Sept. 17, an event the Whitewater High School cross country team has competed in the invite for 39 straight seasons. The invite, which is considered to have a loaded field year in and year out, features numerous Division 1 schools.
For the Whippets’ girls team, out of 30 teams competing, the squad earned a 16th-place finish. Junior Allisan Barrett led the Whippets with her 11th-place finish individually, which earned her a medal. Barrett was the top Division 2 runner in the entire invitational.
Second-best for the team was Nicole Tomomitsu, who was a little off her game according to Whippets head coach Chad Carstens, but still finished in a respectable 48th-place, ninth-best of all Division 2 runners. Behind Tomomitsu was Rebakah Schumacher, who continues to be the rock for the team Carstens said, performing well and running faster than she was a season ago.
On the boys side, the Whippets placed 22nd as a team. Only the top three runners counted toward the team score, so freshman Aidan Coburn and sophomore Nick Kuzoff were the final two scorers.
Coburn ran his best race yet, according to Carstens, despite the talented field for his first varsity race. Jacob Korf led all boys with his 39th-place finish, greatly outperforming his 108th-place finish from a year ago. Korf was third among Division 2 runners.
Connor Laue also improved his time by 50 seconds since last year’s Angel Invitational, earning him the eighth-best time regarding Division 2 athletes. Carstens also talked about his junior varsity squad, mentioning the “workhorse”, Steven Witt. In addition, he talked about Mike Mattingly, Jack Downs, Michael Kuhl and freshman Andy Vo in a positive manner as well.
The head coach said the muddy spots throughout the course certainly made the entire race memorable for his athletes.
The team’s next race, which included the middle school team, was set for Saturday at the Janesville Midwest Invitational held at the Blackhawk Golf Course.
