Boys team finishes 2nd
By Troy Sparks
Correspondent
On the strength of a 63-point performance, the Whippets finished second in the 11-team Jefferson invitational. The team was topped only by invite host Jefferson, which had 48.
On Sept. 26, senior Jacob Korf paced Whitewater with a sixth-place finish in 18 minutes, 21.1 seconds. Senior John Brunner finished exactly nine seconds behind Korf in 18:30.1 and eighth overall. Freshman Trenton Zahn was ninth in 18:32.3. Sophomore Aidan Coburn came in 17th place with a time of 19:25.8 and junior Jon Zheng’s time of 19:43.2 was 23rd overall.
“The boys put together their best team race of the season with the varsity finishing in second place and taking home the runner-up trophy,” Whitewater coach Chad Carstens said.
The JV team placed third with a score of 87 behind Jefferson, which had 49 points, and Beloit Turner, which had 36 points.
The Whippets were led by senior Steven Witt, who was seventh overall with a time of 20:42.5. Junior Daniel Trost was 14th overall in 21:20.5. Junior Alex Popke’s time of 21:34.8 was good for 16th place. Freshmen Ian Killoran was 19th with a time of 21:49.9. Carson Ellenwood was 31st with a time of 23:19.40. William Hofmann was 39th with a time of 23:56.7. Andy Vo was 40th with a time of 24:08.6.
It was Ellenwood’s debut. Nick Kirchner, who was 161st with a time of 34:58.1 also had his first invite.
“They ran really inspirational races and discovered how awesome life really is as a cross-country runner after crossing the finish line for the first time,” Carstens said.
Senior Allisan Barrett led the Whitewater girls team with her second-place finish at 20:27.5. Sophomore Hailey Prager was 19th overall in 23:30.4. Sophomore Jenna Lee finished 54th in 26:36.5. Freshman Bailee Korf’s time of 27:25.1 was good for 58th overall and senior Alayna Mikulski was 62nd in 29:56.7. The team scored 195 points.
Nightfall Classic
At the Nightfall Classic on Sept. 29, the Whitewater boys finished fifth as a team in the Division 2 varsity category with 151 points. Jacob Korf was 10th overall in 17:04.13, just missing breaking the 17-minute mark. Zahn was 15th overall in 17:30.09. Brunner cracked the 18-minute mark at 17:44.15, good for 24th place. Coburn was 37th 18:24.69. Zheng and Kuzoff were 65th and 67th, respectively, in 19:16.61 and 19:23.35 and Jack Mayer finished in 68th place in 19:27.01.
Barrett was third overall in 19:48.86, leading the girls varsity for Whitewater. Tomomitsu was a distant 12th in 20:48.61. Prager made it across the finish line in 37th place in 22:16.33. Freshman Crystal Chan finished in 44th place with a time of 22:33.93. Lee was 58th in 23:59.21. Bailee Korf crossed the line in 62nd place at 25:53.80 and Mikulski was 65th in 27:02.40. The Whippets were sixth as a team with 154 points.
