By Kevin Cunningham
Corrrespondent
On Oct. 26, Whitewater hosted its first ever double cross country sectional, and Whitewater High School cross country coach Chad Carstens called the event a great success.
And so was the representation from the Whippets, as sophomore Gio Anello qualified for the WIAA state meet as one of the top five finishers on a nonqualifying team.
“Gio had to do a serious gut check with 1,000 meters to go to see his dreams become reality as he dug deep to not let anyone pass him and hold onto his position,” Carstens said. “His 10th-place finish was the fifth and final position to train and race one more week.”
Anello finished the 5K UW-Whitewater course in 17:47.
Alongside Anello for the Whippets were Cooper Hammond, Peter Zimdars and Manny Rodriguez, finishing in 42nd, 46th and 49th, respectively.
Closing out the boys runners for Whitewater were Will Hofmann, CJ Tomomitsu and Mason West, who placed 59th, 63rd and 76th, respectively. Junior Trenten Zahn did not compete due to an injury.
For the WHS girls team, freshman Sabrina Bomberg was the top finisher with her 24:31, which was good for 59th place and helped Whitewater earn 11th.
“Olive Coburn broke 25 minutes for the first time on the UW-W course, stopping the clock in 24:55, which placed her 64th,” Carstens said. “Gwen Truesdale placed 69th in 25:20 after battling some injuries late in the season. Senior Morgan Stillwagon ran her lifetime-best by 42 seconds to take 72nd in 25:40.”
Sophie Walton was 81st in 27:05 and Jenny Villarreal took 85th in 28:42.”
Anello will compete at 2 p.m. this Saturday at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
See more Whitewater area sports in the Oct. 31 Register.
