Second straight top-5 finish at state for Harms
By David Paulsen
Sports Correspondent
It was a great day for the two Whitewater High School cross country runners. Brett Harms placed fifth and Sarah Ziolkowski 22nd at the WIAA Division 2 State Cross Country Championships held Saturday at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
Harms, a senior, placed fifth one year ago at state and matched that performance again this year. That placed him on the podium for the awards ceremony, a prestigious position.
“Under a little drizzle, Brett stayed with the heavy lead pack through two miles and the race was finally under way,” head coach Chad Carstens said. “The eventual champion (Ethan Moehn) from Monroe took the lead and the race began to string out from there.”
Carstens noted that coming up the final long steep straight-away, Harms was able to close within two meters of third and fourth place, but those runners found another gear and pulled away just before the finish line.
His time of 16:14.27 over the 5,000-meter boys’ course gave Harms a second straight second-team all-state honor among all Division 1, 2 and 3 runners.
Harms finished his career at WHS with numerous invitational championships, three Rock Valley Conference titles, three WIAA sectional titles, and four WIAA state meet appearances. His first two years at state, Harms finished 36th and 11th.
“Additionally, with his stellar performance in the classroom, he also will earn his second straight academic all-state award later this winter,” Carstens noted.
Ziolkowski, a sophomore, was making her first trip to state after narrowly missing out one year ago.
“With ice running through her veins, she was the most poised and relaxed athlete in the race that may have seen the most passing of anyone in the field,” Carstens said.
Ziolkowski was in 44th place at the mile mark. By the second mile, she had moved up to 24th overall and was still looking comfortable, Carstens noted.
She finished 22nd overall with a time of 15:43.55 over the 4,000-meter girls’ course. Morgan Florsheim of Shorewood won the Division 2 girls title. There were 151 girls in the Division 2 race.
Carstens added that Ziolkowski was the top area finisher. She even finished ahead of all RVC and sectional competitors who had defeated her just within the past few weeks.
“She said it felt like it went by really, really fast and her finish place would very much indicate why,” Carstens said.
Ziolkowski led the Whippet girls in every race this season and was state-ranked for much of the season. She helped lead the Whippet girls to their 12th conference title in program history.
Like Harms, Carstens said Ziolkowski is a superb student and will earn her first academic all-state award later this winter.
