Colby and Abby cross country squads hustle at S-B

There were plenty of familiar foes for all three local cross country squads at the Stanley- Boyd meet held last Thursday. Many of the teams had competed against the two girls squads and the Colby/Abbotsford boys at the meet in Colby the Saturday before, but additions of programs like Cadott and Chippewa Valley added additional competition. Both the Colby girls and the Colby/Abby boys earned fifth place in their respective races, the former ending the day with 97 team points and the latter finishing with 143 points. The Abbotsford girls, though they had their full team in action for the first time this season, were still short one member from being eligible to score as a team.

Cadott grabbed first place in the boys team competition, topping Regis by finishing with 52 points to the Ramblers’ 64. Meanwhile, the Regis girls came out on top on Thursday, ending the day with 53 points. The secondplace Stanley-Boyd squad finished with 65 points.

Annamarie Schmitt had the top individual finish among the three local teams. The Colby senior almost exactly matched her time during the Colby meet, coming across the finish line in 21:08. The performance earned her second place, putting her only behind McDonell's Mckenzie Simonson, who won the race with a time of 21:05.

Many of the Colby runners nearly matched their season-best times set on their home course the week prior. Ali Adams was just five seconds off her Colby pace, posting a time of 23:39 to take 15th place for Colby. Jasmine Ertl and Nicole Verhoef were similarly just seconds off their times in Colby, the former placing 26th with a time of 26:14 and the latter earning 36th with a time of 27:16.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Vetterkind and Madilene Rodriguez Rios ran in their first varsity race of the season for the Hornets. Vetterkind set her time to beat going forward at 30:05 while Rodriguez Rios posted hers at 34:23. They placed 45th and 53rd respectively.

The Abbotsford girls also had a solid day on the course, pulling together their full squad for the first time in 2025.

Monse Ochoa had the Falcons’fastest time in Stanley-Boyd, posting a time of 25:28 in her opening race of the season and taking 21st overall.

Teammate Jocelyn Jimenez was not far behind, setting a new personal best with a time of 25:48 and earning herself 23rd place. Asia Atkinson was the Falcons’ third runner and took 32nd with a time of 26:47 and Esmeralda Altamirano picked up a PR with a time of 30:03 to take 44th.

Matthew Sprotte had the top performance for the co-op boys, posting a time of 19:40 to earn himself 17th place.

The trio of Preston Belanger, Jack Sheahan and Jacob Raatz went back-to-back-to-back for Colby/Abby, placing 32nd, 33rd and 34th respectively. Belanger had his best race of the season, taking off six seconds from his time in Colby to record a time of 20:36 and finish as the co-op’s second runner. Sheahan was right behind with a time of 20:37 and Raatz came in just seconds later, crossing the finish line at 20:39.

Gavin Reis was the co-op’s fifth runner, taking 45th place with a time of 21:37. Beckett Buchanan set another personal best by taking off over a minute from his previous PR to post a time of 21:51 and earning 49th place. Marco Garcia wrapped up the varsity squad’s top-seven with a time of 23:54 to take 54th for the co-op.

What’s Next?

Looking ahead, all three teams will be traveling to Wausau East for the 69th annual Smiley Invitational held on Saturday, September 20. One of the largest meets of the year, the Falcons and Hornets will have plenty of competition to push themselves against. The boys varsity race will start at 8:30 a.m. with the girls varsity race to follow at 9:10 a.m.