By David Paulsen
Sports correspondent
In the teams first real competition of the season, the Whitewater High School cross country teams both placed second at their own Whippet Challenge Friday.
Held at UW-Whitewater, the invitational featured eight teams, with Pewaukee victorious on both the boys and girls sides.
Head coach Chad Carstens said he was pleased with both of his squads placing second.
The Whippet girls had three runners in the top seven and the top five runners in the top 22. Pewaukee had 35 points with its top five runners among the top 12. Pewaukee is ranked No. 5 in the state in Division 2, Carstens said.
Pewaukee’s boys squad had its top five runners in the top 13, and tallied just 33 points. Whitewater was second with 60 and had its top five runners in the top 21.
The Pewaukee boys are ranked 15th in Division 2.
“Both squads came to race today,” Carstens said. “Overall, it was a good start for both programs from top to bottom. I am proud of the way they competed and am lucky to coach such gutsy athletes.”
Whereas in most cross country meets the girls run a 4,000-meter course and the boys a 5,000-meter course, in this invitational, both squads ran 5,000 meters.
The Whippet girls were paced by sophomore Sarah Ziolkowski, and senior Liz Mielke. Ziolkowski finished second with a time of 20 minutes 59.3 seconds, while Mielke was fourth in 21:21.1.
“They both looked very much under control and within themselves,” Carstens said.
Sophomore Andrea Sandoval was seventh in 21:52.6, senior Stephanie Brown 16th in 22:46.3 and sophomore Holly Hough 22nd in 23.28.1.
Carstens called Sandoval’s performance “a real surprise.” He noted she showed true grit because her shoe was untied over the last two miles of the race.
For the Whippet boys, senior Brett Harms won the race in a time of 17:17.7.
“Brett got to dust his legs off and shine at his home course as he cruised to an easy victory,” Carstens said.
In his cross country debut, junior James Ehlen finished seventh in 18:55.3.
Junior Jon Zimdars was 11th in 19:15.6, senior Scott Zahn 20th in 20:28.1 and freshman Jimmy King 21st in 20:28.6.
