By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
Elkhorn Area High School’s Tay Mair ran one second off her best time of the season Saturday in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 State Cross Country Championships at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
Mair finished 106th in a field of 185 runners. The junior completed the five kilometer course in 20 minutes, 17 seconds.
Mair’s time is more impressive when the setting of the state meet is explored. Organizers delayed the start for an hour because of frost on the golf course. Elkhorn coach Randi Wulf said the temperature Saturday morning in Wisconsin Rapids dipped to 16 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The ponds on the course were skimmed over with ice,” Wulf said. “Beside the cool temps, conditions were ideal for a cross country meet, with no wind and sunny skies.”
Wulf said the course is a difficult one that fills with traffic. In addition to dozens of individual qualifiers, numerous runners race in a pack for a higher team score, and attempt to keep other runners from getting through.
“Tay really dealt with the pressure of running in her first state meet very well,” Wulf said. “She stayed calm and collected the whole day leading up to the race.”
Mair qualified for state when she finished sixth Oct. 25 in the WIAA Division1 Sectional Meet at Verona.
The top two teams and top five individuals not members of one of the top two teams qualify for State out of the sectional meet in Division1 competition.
Mair completed the five kilometer course in 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Mair became the first Elkhorn individual qualifier since Dan Sullivan in 2009.
At Rapids, Annie Frisbie of River Falls won the Division 1 girls individual state title in 17:59. Madison West’s Olin Hacker won the boys’ individual title (14:59).
Eau Claire Memorial won the Division 1 girls team title and Madison West won the Division 1 boys team title.
Green Bay Notre Dame won the girls Division 2 team title and Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Lutheran won the Division 2 boys team title.
Edgewood’s Amy Davis won the Division 2 girls’ individual title (17:46) and Ben Eidenschink of Nekoosa/Port Edward won the boys’ individual title (15:42).
Oshkosh’s Lourdes Academy won the Division 3 girls team title and Darlington won the Division 3 boys team title. Marion’s Delaney Greene-Gretzinger won the girls individual title (19:05) and Chequamegon’s Kevin Koski won the boys’ individual title (16:06).
