plan and that’s what I ….

plan and that’s what I did.”

“I figured I’d have to stick with the Lakeland and the Rhinelander boys,” Clark said. “I figured they’d be fighting for that third place. I beat the two of them but the kid from Antigo came in. He did that at the Antigo meet too. He got me. But I’m happy with how I ran. I felt it was a good race. Last year I just barely scraped into the honorable mention so to be able to jump up that much, I’m pretty stoked about it.”

“I’m pretty stoked about that second place (team finish),” Hraby said. “I’m happy. We were expecting second or third. We gave it our best shot for first. We really did. Lucas ran great. Nick and Logan both gained two or three spots at the end.”

Logan Gubser posted one of his best times of the year and took 15th in 19:10. Nick Steliga picked up a couple of places late to finish 18th in 19:24.5, not far off his best time. Both got All-GNC honorable mention awards.

Senior Lucas Borman’s incredible improvement continued as he finished 23rd in 19:36.1 and reached his season-long goal of breaking the 20-minute barrier. He sealed it with a big final kick that allowed him to catch one Rhinelander runner (Brody Kowieski, 19:36.8) and almost one more (Gavin Denis, 19:35.7).

“I wish I would’ve got that last guy at the end. I still wouldn’t have gotten that little piece of paper,” Borman said, referring to finishing two spots away from an honorable mention spot. “I would’ve preferred being 22nd over being 23rd. But (Denis) got me.”

“That’s amazing to get a 40-second PR,” Clark said of Borman.

“It’s great to see Lucas, as a senior, come from where he had started to where he was today, it really tears me up. It’s really something,” Meyer said.

Not to be outdone, Medford’s sixth man, sophomore Brandon Curtis lowered his personal-best time by 11 seconds with a time of 21:20.2 that was good for 38th and Evan Pagel was 42nd in 22:29.4.

“Lucas really stepped up today,” assistant coach Stephen Reynolds said. “Every one of those guys was really good.”

In the JV race, senior Ervin Ulrich finished fourth in a personal-best 21:42.5 and Cullen Jones was 13th in 23:25.4.

Sectional is next

Next up for Medford’s varsity group is the season’s most important meet to date, the WIAA Division 2 sectional to be hosted Saturday by Black River Falls at Skyline Golf Course. The girls race is set for 11 a.m., followed by the boys race at noon. The top two teams and the top five individuals from non-qualifying teams in each race will advance to the Oct. 29 state championships in Wisconsin Rapids.

The girls are gunning for a fourth straight championship in Division 2 sectionals. The Raiders were bumped up to Division 1 in 2020. Hraby is seeking a second straight individual state berth if the boys don’t advance as a team. Clark may have an outside shot too.

“We’ll run our race,” Hraby said. “It’s not looking great for the team, but there’s always a chance. Maybe we can all PR.”

“I’ll have to shave off about 20 seconds and pass about 15 kids if I want to make it,” Clark said. “There’s a chance so, I’m looking forward to it. If we don’t make it, it’s our last race together.”

The girls edged West Salem by three points to win the Black River Falls Invitational on Oct. 4 and the Panthers figure to be their top competition again Saturday. The Raiders won that meet despite not getting a chance to walk the course beforehand due to an unintended late arrival. They believe this race will be better.

While some Raiders will be competing in a sectional for the first time, Meredith Richter said she knows her teammates will be ready.

“I think it’s an experience you just learn from once you have to go through it,” she said. “We still stick together as a team and work through it all. It’s a different experience for the freshmen but it’ll be good for them.”

“The boys are always going in saying we feel the best we’ve felt,” Meyer said. “The ladies are ready to rip it up. They really want to go (to state) again. West Salem is going to show up wanting to win too. The girls aren’t going to get handed the trophy. They want to work for that too.”