Colby girls X/C takes first at Spencer

It was a perfect Thursday afternoon for cross country at Frey Field. With the sun out, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the mid-60s, athletes from nine girls teams and eight boys teams made their way around the cornfields and through the woods of the course just east of Spencer. The Colby girls team picked up their second team win of the season and the Colby/Abbotsford boys team claimed third, posting a host of seasonal and personal bests along the way.

Nearly every member of both the girls and boys teams ran their fastest race of the season on Thursday and a total of 19 personal bests were set. The combination of continued improvement and excellent weather provided the conditions necessary to see such results.

Ending with 25 points, the Colby girls edged out second place Chequamegon to take first overall. The Marshfield Tigers participated in the event and would have unseated the Hornets for the victory, but they were not eligible for placement. Chequamegon’s Autumn Michalski took first overall with a time of 18:47.3. With the Marshfield athletes excluded from scoring, Colby’s top five runners scored third through seventh.

Willow Oehmichen took 40 seconds off both her time last year on the same course and her seasonal best to finish fourth overall. Her time of 21:00.5 earned her fourth place. MaKenna Herrmann built on her personal best at Colby two weekends ago. She took sixth at Spencer, finishing in 21:15.5.

A trio of Hornets took 14th, 15th and 16th. The first to cross the finish line, Payton Roth, had her best event of the season, clocking in 1:18 faster than her time at Colby. Her time of 22:40.9 was also 22 seconds faster than her previous PR. Annamarie Schmitt, who finished 15th, also had a PR, coming in with a final time of 22:46.9. Right behind her was Reagan Schraufnagel, finishing in 22:48.9.

Casey Reynolds beat her PR by six seconds to take 18th overall with a time of 22:54.2. Pearl Feiten rounded out the top seven. Her final time, 23:32.0, earned her 24th.

Meanwhile, the Colby/Abby boys matched their best team finish by taking third for the second time this season. The Chequamegon Screaming Eagles claimed first with 51 points, but only nine points separated the second, third and fourth place teams. Rib Lake barely came out on top among them, finishing with 69 points, Colby/Abby followed with 73 points, and Stanley-Boyd’s 78 Colby-Abby

points gave them fourth.

The co-op’s lead runner, Max Adams, broke the 18-minute mark for the first time of his career Thursday. Sticking around the front once he managed to break out of the crowded starting pack, Adams came into the final mile in fourth. Over that final stretch, the junior managed to pass Marshfield’s Owen Hoerneman and Owen-Withee’s Colton Paczkowski to come out of the woods in second place. Adams kept that lead over the final stretch and finished with personal best finishes both in placement and time. His time of 17:49.6 was second only to Columbus Catholic’s Isaac Scheer’s 17:16.4.

Matthew Sprotte, Jack Schindler, Jack Sheahan and Joseph Streveler also had personal bests set at Spencer. Sprotte, who finished second for the co-op and 15th overall, came in with a final time of 19:00.4. Schindler took 25th, Sheahan 37th, and Streveler 41st, with new PRs of 19:46.6, 20:59.5, and 21:23.4 respectively.

Braylon Schoelzel had a seasonal best time of 19.41.8 to place 24th and Carter Roth took 28th, crossing the finishing line in 20:16.6.

Both teams are set to make a trip to Athens this coming Thursday, September 29th. The meet is to start at 4:00 p.m.