Colby girls, Adams headed back to state

Sometimes in sports, what a matchup looks like on paper is not how it plays out. But at Saturday’s cross country meet, the race for the second team berth for the Division 3 girls state meet was just as close as one might have expected. Just as in last year’s sectional, the battle between the Colby Hornets and the Stratford Tigers for the runner-up position went right down to the wire. And, just as they had in 2022, the Colby girls narrowly edged out the Tigers for that final spot, ending the day with 83 points to Stratford’s 87. The performance secured a fourth straight trip to the state meet as a team for the Hornets, continuing an impressive streak that began in the improvised 2020 postseason.

Seniors Casey Reynolds and Reagan Schraufnagel have been there for it all. They were part of that 2020 team as freshmen, finishing as Colby’s fifth and seventh runners. Now, as seniors, they once again have helped put themselves into the state championship, though their role has evolved. Reynolds led the Hornets all season as their top runner and Schraufnagel has found her stride late in the season, setting new PRs while running consistently as Colby’s third runner.

Fellow senior Max Adams notched a repeat state berth himself at Saturday’s meet. After reaching the state meet as an individual last year, Adams had set out in 2023 with a similar goal and while the competition was tough, a new career best helped push him on to the finals.

The Colby girls and co-op Colby-Abby boys teams had seven combined PRs on Saturday as the teams hosted both the D2 and D3 sectional meets. The girls had two of those career best performances in the second place finish and the boys had five while grabbing seventh place, finishing with 153 points.

Assumption took first place in the girls D3 race. Led by race winner Lucy Dolan, who finished with a time of 18:57.9, the Royals finished 49 points.

In the battle for second place, every spot mattered. The difference between Colby and Stratford was marginal, and a few seconds one way or another for any of their runners could have a significant impact on the final result. In the end, the Hornets won out, their more measured pace eventually allowing them to overtake Stratford, who ran the risky strategy of starting out fast as a team.

Reynolds took fifth place overall, finishing with a time of 20:35.2. Her performance would have earned her an individual berth to the state meet, had the team not moved on.

Teammmate Makenna Herrmann, who has consistently finished as the team’s second runner over the course of the season, put forth another sub 21:30 effort. She grabbed 11th place, posting a time of 21:20.8.

Schraufnagel had her best race of her career on Saturday, finishing with a time of 21:32.9, 14 seconds faster than her previous PR set at Weyauwega this season. She took 14th overall.

Colby’s fourth through seventh runners all finished within seconds of each other, with only Mariana Hernandez of Markesan breaking up the pack. Ali Adams took 28th with a time of 23:09.2 and Pearl Feiten placed 30th with a time of 23:11.9. Veronica Mateer cut nearly a minute off her old personal best to finish in 23:13.2, earning herself 31st place, and Annamarie Schmitt finished in 32nd with a time of 23:17.5.

In the boys D2 competition, Lakeland took first place with 47 points and Shawano claimed the second spot with 64

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points. Third through seventh place were all within 21 points of each other and the co-op boys finished just one point behind sixth place Medford.

Adams, coming in as Colby-Abby’s top runner, ran his fastest race of his career, pushing under the 17 minute mark for the first time. His time of 16:56.6 earned him seventh place overall and the fourth individual qualifier position.

Jack Schindler closed out his career with a 24th place finish at the sectional meet. The senior had quickly established himself as the co-op’s second runner this season and once again finished there, posting a time of 18:26.5.

Gavin Reis shaved off nine seconds from his PR, posting a time of 19:24.4 to finish in 42nd and Jacob Raatz took off 35 seconds from his own career best to finish 46th with a time of 19:28.1. Carter Roth also posted a personal best in his final race for the co-op, posting a time of 19:34.5.

Braylon Schoelzel came in 59th, putting in his best race of the season and finishing in 19:57.9. Andrew Empey rounded out the squad, running his fastest race of his career as well with a time of 20:46.1, earning himself 76th place.

With the sectional meet in the books, Adams and the Hornets girls team will take on their final challenge of the season in Wisconsin Rapids at Ridges Golf Course. The state cross country meet will take place on Saturday, with the boys D2 race to begin at 12:35 p.m. and the girls D3 race to start at 1:45 p.m.