WIAA Division 2 state cross country preview

What: The 109th running of the WIAA boys state cross country meet and the 48th running of the girls state cross country meet.

Where: The Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids.

When: Saturday, Oct. 30. The boys Division 2 race is at noon and the girls Division 2 race is at 1:45 p.m.

Who: The Medford Raiders qualified for girls team competition and will start in lane four, while Raiders Joe Sullivan and Tanner Hraby qualified individually and will start in lane 20.

Tickets: Admission is $9 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. To buy tickets, visit https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets.

Division 2 girls

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include Medford, Rice Lake, Freedom, Green Bay Notre Dame, Appleton Xavier, Shorewood, Dodgeville-Mineral Point and Watertown Luther Prep. Sectional runners-up include West Salem, Amery, Shawano, Little Chute, Winneconne, New Berlin Eisenhower, New Glarus-Monticello and Deerfield-Cambridge.

Winneconne is the defending Division 2 state champion and returns five runners from that team, while Freedom was ninth in last year’s Division 2 state race, which was held in Colby with a limited number of teams and runners. New Glarus-Monticello was eighth in the WIAA’s alternate fall state meet, held May 8 in Janesville.

In 2019, Shorewood won the D2 state title, Freedom was third, Medford was fourth, Xavier was fifth and Winneconne was sixth.

At the end of the 2021 regular season, Shorewood, Freedom and Dodgeville-Mineral Point were the top three ranked teams in the state by the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association, followed by Notre Dame, Little Chute, Medford and Amery.

Potential individual contenders (sectional times in parentheses): While there aren’t many returning teams, there are several returning runners who should be in the hunt for the individual championship.

The eight returning runners who placed in the top 10 a year ago are led by senior Kayci Martensen of Southwestern- Benton-Cuba City, who is the two-time reigning champion in the division and won the Prairie du Chien sectional Saturday in 17:59.3. She also ran to her third-place finish as a freshman in 2018. She could get challenged by senior

UW-Green Bay had two wins.

Anna Gallagher of Two Rivers (19:19.1), who was third last year following a runner-up finish in 2019 and a fifth-place result in 2018. Junior Rachel Ulrich of Osceola (19:16), who has placed fifth the past two seasons, is also seeking to place high in the standings. Sophomore Sophie Yetter of Winneconne (19:01.85) placed sixth as a freshman last season. Sophomore Hanna Martensen of Southwestern-Benton- Cuba City (19:43) has qualified for the second time after placing seventh in 2020. Junior Mya Hartjes of University School of Milwaukee (19:00.8) improved on her 11th-place finish in 2019 by placing eighth last year. Senior Sophie Moravec of Greendale Martin Luther (19:09.1) returns after a ninth-place run last season. Junior Fran Peterson of Barron is back after taking 10th last fall and winning the Rice Lake sectional in 18:52.16.

Other experienced runners with sights on making it to the award stand are senior Elizabeth Schmidt of Merrill, who was 12th in Division 1 last season and won the Colby sectional in 19:33.7; senior Isabella Lozier of Shorewood (18:55.4), who was fourth in 2019; junior Kaitlyn Carlson of St. Croix Central (20:05.79), who was fifth in 2019; and senior Jessica Wilson of Little Chute (19:48.2), who was sixth in 2019.

Other contenders that could possibly challenge for a medal based on their sectional championships are Oconto Falls sectional champion Nora Gremban of Northland Pines (18:41.9), sophomore Jemma Habben of Watertown Luther Prep (19:59.8), junior Lydia Seifarth of Turner (19:59.8) and freshman Faith Wehrman of New Berlin Eisenhower, who won the Shorewood sectional in 18:04.3. Shorewood senior Annika Elliott was second in her sectional at 18:41.7 and Medford’s Meredith Richter was second in the Colby sectional at 19:58.6.

Division 2 boys

Team qualifiers: Sectional champions include West Salem, Osceola, Shawano, Winneconne, Green Bay Notre Dame, Shorewood, Dodgeville-Mineral Point and Lakeside Lutheran. Sectional runners-up include Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, Northwestern, Rhinelander, Appleton Xavier, Two Rivers, Port Washington, New Glarus-Monticello and Clinton.

Osceola returns five runners from a 2020 team that finished sixth in last year’s state meet at Colby. New Glarus-Monticello was seventh in the alternate fall state meet and has four runners back. West Salem was eighth at state last fall and won last Saturday’s Colby sectional. Northwestern was 11th last fall and Winneconne was 12th.

Shorewood, Notre Dame, Dodgeville-Mineral Point and West Salem were the state’s top four ranked teams at the end of the regular season.

Potential individual contenders (sectional times in parentheses): Eight individuals return after placing in the top 12 in state races last season, including junior Nathan Cumberbatch of Shorewood, who ran to a fourth-place finish in Division 1 and won the Shorewood sectional Friday in 15:46.4. Seniors Drew (15:57.5) and Thomas Stephens (15:52.5) of University School of Milwaukee finished third and fourth in Division 2 last fall, respectively and were right behind Cumberbatch at the sectional. They expect to contend for the title this year.

Junior Eli Boppart of Mauston, senior Isaiah Lubner of Kewaskum and junior Riley Huss of Little Chute (16:30.2) are back in pursuit of a title after they finished seventh, eighth and ninth last fall, respectively. Boppart won the Colby sectional Saturday in 16:10.6 and Lubner (16:21.79) won the Portage sectional.

Other qualifiers that placed near the top in 2020 include senior Zach Huffman of Deerfield-Cambridge (16:54), who was 10th, and senior Alex Metko of Brillion (16:58.1), who placed 12th.

Other qualifiers that won their sectionals last week that may be in the running for the state title are senior Conner Hawley of Notre Dame (16:26.2), senior Tyler Loucks of Prescott (16:12.14), sophomore Ethan Onesti of Shawano (16:48.1), junior Joseph Stoddard of Mount Horeb (16:35.6) and sophomore Cameron Weiland of Lakeside Lutheran (16:39.5).

Medford senior Joe Sullivan was 33rd in last year’s Division 1 race with a time that would’ve placed fifth in Division 2, won the Division 1 championship at the Smiley Invitational on Sept. 18 and was the runner-up at Colby Saturday behind Boppart in 16:47.6.