Neillsville-Granton can’t get anyone through to state cross country meet

After having a state qualifier for the past few years, the Neillsville-Granton cross country team will not have anyone attending the WIAA state cross country meet to be held on Nov. 2 in Wisconsin Rapids. Competing at the Division 2 sectional held in Colby on Oct. 26, the Warriors had a few athletes with the potential to move on, but injuries and other factors kept them out of the top spots.

Coming the closest from the Warriors’ competitors was Taytor Lowry, who finished 11th in the 100-runner field, just two spots short of a state run. Lowry ran a 17:57.4, a little over 20 seconds slower than he needed to be in order to qualify. Skylar Drinka placed after him in 27th place with a 18:35 time. Taking 75th was Efer Castillo, who ran a 20:57. He was followed by Stone Johnson’s 78th-place finish, which he did in 21:04. Also running for the Warriors were Teagen Dillenbeck (89th, 21:52), Kane Johnson (97th, 24:18), and Marco di Toma (100th, 28:49).

Two-time state qualifier Chloee Lowry failed to qualify for a third run at state at the Colby sectional, still battling a leg injury sustained a few weeks ago at a meet in Black River Falls. She did manage to place 52nd in the 96-runner field, finishing in 24:07. Ashlee Piskow turned up at the finish just a few places later in 55th, crossing at the 24:21 mark. Kristin Strey ran a 24:51 to place 61st and Kayla Oldham placed 75th with a time of 25:32. Also running for Neillsville-Granton were Dolorosa Thomas (89th, 27:26), Josie Anderson (90th, 27:32) and Lizzy Jorgenson (96th, 33:03).

The Neillsville-Granton boys placed 11th among 15 teams with 280 points. Moving on to state as a team were La Crosse Logan (43) and Elk Mound (68). The Neillsville-Granton girls placed 12th among a 13-team field with 321 points. Moving on to the Division 2 state meet were Medford Area (35) and Wisconsin Dells (67).