Colby-Abby CC finishes strong in Rapids
The Colby girls’ cross country team is no stranger to the WIAA state meet. Three of their seven athletes, Willow Oehmichen, MaKenna Herrmann and Pearl Feiten, ran at the course in Wisconsin Rapids last year and Oehmichen had multiple years of state meet experience. In a race that fields more athletes than a typical meet, and the fact that those athletes are of a higher caliber, experience can prove to be a valuable asset. That being said, for four members of the team, this would be their first time competing at the highest level of the WIAA state tournament. It would also be a first time experience for Max Adams, who had qualified as an individual for the Colby-Abbotsford boys’ team.
The girls placed 13th out of 16 teams, led by Herrmann’s 41st place finish and Oehmichen coming in 62nd. Adams took 60th out of 152 runners competing in the D2 boys’ race.
The path to the state meet for both the girls’ team and Adams was not an easy one. For the girls, while they would be returning several runners who had competed on the varsity team last year, they’d also have to find replacements for three of their senior runners that had typically finished in the team’s top five the year prior.
Those replacements would come in the form of senior Payton Roth, junior Casey Reynolds, and freshman Annamarie Schmitt. The two upperclassmen saw significant improvements to their PRs as the season advanced, with Reynolds taking over a minute off her best time coming into the year to finish with a personal best under the 22 minute mark and Roth taking off over 30 seconds of hers. Meanwhile, Schmitt started the season running a 28:10 at Loyal. By the end of the season, she ran a 22:08 at the same course during the conference meet. By the end of the season, the trio had established themselves as the third through fifth runners for Colby’s team. These improvements provided a key part of the equation for the team being able to reach state again. Junior Reagan Schraufnagel was also a big part of this group throughout the year, but late season injuries kept her from competing in sectionals.
Another key element for the team’s success could be found in the steady performance from Oehmichen and the emergence of Herrmann as the team’s top two runners. Oehmichen provided consistency at the front of the pack throughout the season and broke a long standing PR at Athens. Herrmann quickly joined her teammate amongst the meets’ frontrunners, making huge strides throughout the season and taking a minute and a half off her personal best from last year. With two runners that could place in the top 10 in sectionals in Oehmichen and Herrmann, a solid trio established in Reynolds, Roth and Schmitt, and Feiten and Veronica Mateer, who also stepped up in the absence of Schraufnagel, providing insurance, Colby had fashioned themselves into a team that would make it to their third straight state meet.
It wasn’t a simple task, as they needed to battle back from a tough, one-point loss in their conference meet. While that might have been devasting to some, it seemed to have only spurned on the Hornets.
“I think if we would have won that day, I don’t know that we would have made it to state,” head coach Bryon Graun said. “The girls were extremely focused that next week and it took everyone to do their jobs at sectionals to get here because that was the slimmest of margins as well.”
Meanwhile, Adams came a long way to find himself in position to compete in the final meet of the season. He set a PR of 19:18 in his final meet last season, earning him 55th place in the 2021 sectionals. After putting in some extra work over the summer and continuing to improve over the course of season, Adams took over two minutes off his previous PR and consistently finished with times in the low 17-minute mark by the end of the year. These performances gave him a shot to qualify as an individual for the state meet, which he did by taking sixth at sectionals.
The long road for both the girls’ team and Adams reached its final destination this past Saturday. Held at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, the WIAA Cross Country State Championship meet is a huge event, averaging close to 150 athletes in each of the six races. The course can be grueling, with a relatively flat first mile leading into more steep inclines as it progresses past the halfway point into the eastern portion of the race. The amount of athletes and their skill can also make things tricky for those who typically find themselves running near the front of races. A warm October day would add to the potential difficulty.
Up first were the Colby girls, who competed in the Division 3 race. Herrmann settled around the top fifth of runners at the first mile mark, crossing the line in 33rd place. Oehmichen was only nine seconds behind her, but over thirty athletes separated the two teammates at that point in the race, showcasing just how crowded the field is. Reynolds came in roughly half a minute after Oehmichen, holding down 117th place for the Hornets. Roth, Schmitt and Feiten followed in 135th, 136th and 137th respectively and Mateer was not far behind in 140th.
As the race moved into the hilly second half, Herrmann and Oehmichen had opposite mile two and three performances. While the two had similar splits in mile two, Herrmann dropped 16 spots while Oehmichen picked up eight. Over the final stretch, however, Herrmann recovered eight of those positions and Oehmichen dropped back ever so slightly, falling four spots. Herrmann crossed the finish line in 20:56.2, earning 41st place and Oehmichen took 62nd with a time of 21:29.0. Both of these were improvements over their performances at the state meet last year, where Herrmann placed 81st with a time of 22:10 and Oehmichen took 68th with a time of 21:44.
The rest of the team saw consistent upward movement throughout the rest of the race, which allowed them to move up from 15th place after mile two to 13th overall. Reynolds finished third for the Hornets and 108th overall with a time of 22:51.1, overtaking nine runners over the final two legs of the race. Schmitt came in with a time of 23:24.7, moving up 15 spots to take 121st. Roth was the Hornets’ fifth runner and picked up nine spots to finish 126th in 23:46.6. Mateer and Feiten rounded out the girls’ team, with Mateer moving up 10 spots to take 130th with a time of 23:57.7 and Feiten coming in 135th with a time of 24:27.5. This gave Colby a final score of 292 points, putting them four points ahead of an Eau Claire Regis team that had beaten them at the conference meet earlier in the year.
“I’m very happy with 13th,” Graun said. “I thought everyone ran solid. It’s hard to PR at Wisconsin Rapids because it’s a tough course, but they were all within 30 to 40 seconds of their PR, so I’m happy with that.”
The sun had shifted significantly westward by the time Adams had his opportunity to take on the course. Adams started off the race with a solid 5:20.1 first mile and maintained his good pace over the second mile. He picked up 11 positions over the second leg and while a tough final mile would see some strong pushes from his competitors, Adams still finished with a time of 17:37.9, giving him 60th place.
“Max wanted to be in the top 50 and he finished 60th, so he wasn’t too far off from that lofty goal,” Graun said of Adam’s performance.
“The kids do a great job of supporting each other and having fun together and they’ve really become a family,” he added, noting how even the members of the team that weren’t competing have an effect. “And that’s big part of the season too.”
The race concluded another successful season for the Colby/Abby cross country program. The girls’ team took first or second at six out of their 10 meets, including two second place finishes at conference and sectionals. A young boys’ co-op team also displayed their potential throughout the season, taking third at four different meets, including the conference meet in Loyal. “It’s a special team with great leadership,” Graun said. “Max set a great example for the boys with all the work that he put in and Carter [Roth] and Joe [Streveler] really stepped up this year as well. On the girl’s side, Willow did a good job. Reagan Schraufnagel also stepped up; the character she showed with her injury, it was hard those last two weeks, but she showed great poise and leadership.”
While the girls’ team will be losing Oehmichen and Roth from their state varsity team to graduation, there will be many returners for both squads next year, which likely will keep expectations high.
RUNNING IN RAPIDS -Casey Reynolds, left, Annamarie Schmitt, middle, and Payton Roth, right, compete in their final race of the season.
