By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
Numerous personal bests ruled the day for the Elkhorn Area High School boys and girls cross country teams Sept. 26 at the 78th annual Midwest Invite at Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville.
“It is always exciting running at this meet because of the level of competition and the sheer number of competitors,” Elks coach Randi Wulf said. “There were a total of 41 teams at this meet.
“Even with all of the distractions of Homecoming week, our team as a whole had a great day.”
Wulf said 15 of Elkhorn’s 22 runners finished with personal best times.
“The highlight of the day was Allyssa Reeves finishing third in the Freshman/Sophomore race,” Wulf said. “Allyssa ran a very strong race and is set up for an exciting end to the cross country season.
Reeves finished the five-kilometer race in 20 minutes, 40 seconds and led the Elks to an 11th place finish (253 points) in the Freshman/Sophomore race.
Ryley Rand finished 37th (22:49) and Kassie Thompson 64th (24:03). Alex Moreno came in 71st (24:28) and Elizabeth Gottschalk 78th (24:55) for Elkhorn in the Freshman/Sophomore race.
Tay Mair finished 45th (20:41) for the Elks’ best finish in the varsity race. Maddie Barlow finished 124th (22:24), Natalie Sesing 191st (24:33) and Monique Briand 203rd (25:32).
In the junior varsity race, Diane Lopez finished 203rd (26:01), Luz Contreras 211th (26:10), Alex Gonzalez 230th (26:30) and Haley Annes 347th (28:54).
For the boys, Arandu Huerta finished 191st (18:58) in the five kilometer varsity race. Sam Divarco placed 213th (19:23), Connor LaFavor 232nd (19:55) and Jacob Truesdale 259th (21:06).
Logan Radlein finished 388th (22:39) in the junior varsity race. Justin Pflanzer came in 406th (22:54) and Ryan Marks 521st (24:40).
Spencer Ingersoll finished 66th (19:18) in the Freshman/Sophomore race. Colin Passler finished 109th (20:26).
A total of 2,413 runners competed in eight separate races between the boys and girls. Madison LaFollette won the team title in the boys’ varsity race. LaFollette’s Finn Gessner won individual medalist honors (15:22).
Hartland Arrowhead won the girls’ varsity team title. Wisconsin Lutheran’s Audrey Janik won individual medalist honors (18:31).
Elkhorn competes today in the Lake Mills Invitational at Korth Park in Lake Mills.
