By Chris Bennett
Sports correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys cross country teams opened its season with a bang Aug. 24 at the Palmyra Eagle Invitational.
The meet took place at Carlin-Weld County Park in Eagle. The Elkhorn boys won the 14-team meet and the girls finished 11th.
The Elks race Saturday in the Rebel Invite at the University of Wisconsin at Parkside, which is located in Somers.
Elkhorn coach Randi Wulf said 22 girls and 11 boys that competed last season at the state cross country meet ran at Palmyra, which helped make the small meet more competitive.
“The boys had a great meet, winning by 23 points with five medal winners,” Wulf said. “Our team looked great. They are starting the season out strong, and with a lot of confidence.”
Caleb Hembree-Jacques finished the 5,000-meter race third in 17:49. Ben Teuscher finished sixth (18:17), Derek Davey seventh (18:25), Peyton Sanders 16th (18:54) and Sam Contreras 19th (18:58).
“I knew our top three would finish well, but what really won the meet for us was Peyton Sanders and Sam Contreras stepping up and running great races while breaking 19 minutes and earning medals,” Wulf said. “This was a great way to start the season. It will help motivate this team to see how good they can be by the end of the season.”
Girls searching for improvement
Gwen Richardson finished 19th in the girls race (21:29). Piper Sleider finished 47th (23:47), Kayla Malsch 50th (24:08), Elizabeth Gottschalk 61st (24:39) and Kassie Thompson 63rd (25:03).
“Gwen has put in a lot of work over the summer and it really shows,” Wulf said. “She looks like she is set up for an exciting sophomore year.
“Kayla Malsch had a solid first race of her cross country career, and will be nice addition to the team.”
East Troy’s Nathan Fox won the boys race (17:08) and Delavan-Darien’s Erin Sorg won the girls race (19:44).
The Elkhorn boys scored 51 points in winning the boys meet. The Elkhorn girls scored 229 points. Jefferson won the girls meet (86).
Last season, the boys finished third in the Southern Lakes Conference and the girls came in eighth.
Hembree-Jacques, Davey, Teuscher, Sanders and Contreras form a strong scoring five. The scores of the top five runners count for team points in high school cross country. Junior Leo Ehlen and freshman Chance Howarth are new faces on the boys squad.
Richardson, Sleider, Gottschalk and Thompson represent most of the returning experience for the girls. Malsch, a senior, and three freshmen – Kadie Degner, Bailey Plant and Shannon Wulf – are new to the girls squad.
Wulf said the girls look to improve on last year’s eighth place finish in the SLC, while the boys hope to chase down defending champion Waterford and challenge for the conference title.
