Hatchet harriers compete in Sectional meet

MERRILL – The Tomahawk High School cross country team headed south to the Merrill Area Recreational Center on Friday, Oct. 24, to compete at the WIAA Division II Sectional meet.

It was a chilly, but sunny, fall evening that saw a total of 15 schools face the Hatchets for the right to advance to Wisconsin Rapids this weekend for the WIAA State Championships.

The first Division II race of the day was the boys. Once again, the Hatchets managed to move up their team placement. Coach Connor Ahrens noted that last year, the Hatchet boys got 7th and this year finished in 5th, just ahead of Oconto Falls, thanks to some late race heroics.

The Lakeland boys easily won the Sectional Championship, with Shawano stunning Rhinelander to earn the final team qualifying position.

Hatchet senior Caiden Reichelt missed qualifying for the State meet by one position, running a new personal record of 17:43 to take 10th overall.

Freshman Connor Zorn dropped 10 places in the final mile to end the season with a 19:01 to take 37th.

Sophomore Jordy Carew ran through injury, dropped 12 runners in the final mile and nearly ran a personal record, finishing in 39th with a 19:08.

Reliable as ever, Sophomore Dawson Jones came through in a 19:17 for 42nd overall.

Junior Ryan Montag was also a fast mover in the final mile, dropping 10 places to run a new personal record of 19:33 for 48th place.

Senior Jeremiah Johnson finished his high school cross country career with a 19:35 for 50th place after beating four runners in the final mile.

Rounding out the varsity boys was injured Sophomore Joe Zastrow, who gave it his all and ran a 19:37 for 53rd place.

There were 96 runners in the boys’ race, with finishing team results as follows: Lakeland 45, Shawano 70, Rhinelander 77, Mosinee 152, Tomahawk 176, Oconto Falls 176, Medford 196, Antigo 212, Northland Pines 240, Colby/Abbotsford 269, Marinette 274, Merrill 292, Menominee Nation 299, Wittenberg/Birnamwood 344, Clintonville 407.

The highly competitive girls’ race would see Wittenberg/Birnamwood pull away with a close sectional victory over Shawano, who themselves barely edged out Oconto Falls.

Several other teams would prove to have what it takes in the final mile of the race, as the Lady Hatchets raced valiantly, but ultimately fell short of a team state trip. The Tomahawk girls scored 109 points to take 4th place, beating the Great Northern Conference (GNC) champion Medford Raiders by five points.

The team was led by freshman Charlee Lund, who ran a magnificent race to earn an individual qualification to the WIAA State meet as the 5th overall finisher in a new personal record of 19:37, running the third-fastest all time 5k for a female Hatchet, behind Haley Voermans-Dean (19:34) and Dani Whiting (19:20).

Junior Abbie Rosenmeier also had a fantastic race, attaining a new personal record of 20:46 and finishing 18th overall.

Trailing her friend was senior Lydia Shaney, who ran her final high school 5k with a season-best of 21:13 for 20th overall.

Racing through injury was senior Faith Derleth, who ended her high school cross country career with a 22:11 for 36th overall.

Dropping a total of 12 runners throughout the race was Junior Elise Gibeault, who ran a season-best of 22:15 to take 39th place.

Junior Norah Mann held a consistent position during the back half of the race and ran a season-best of 22:43 for 50th place.

Rounding out the girls team was injured Sophomore Ellie Micke with a time of 22:50 for 51st place.

There were 89 runners in the girls’ race, with finishing team results as follows: Wittenberg/Birnamwood 73, Shawano 77, Oconto Falls 80, Tomahawk 109, Medford 114, Peshtigo 140, Cintonville 185, Rhinelander 185, Marinette 255, Merrill 268, Antigo 289, Mosinee 308, Northland Pines DNS, Lakeland DNS, Menominee Nation DNS.

“Despite missing a state trip with both teams, this should still be seen as a great performance by our Hatchet student-athletes,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “There were lots of season-best times and several personal records. Our boys again moved up in their sectional placement from previous years, and our girls were in the mix.”

“The coaching staff and I were extremely proud of our student-athletes,” said coach Jerett Flynn. “We had plenty of runners racing through discomfort and injury, but we saw great determination and effort. That’s as much as you can ask for when it’s all on the line with one last race for the season.”

“Our boys really pushed themselves in the final mile and battled out the toughest part of the race to attain a 5th place team finish,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “Our girls put themselves in a great position early in the race, but weren’t able to move up enough to be in contention for the top two spots. This is a great learning moment for our athletes, as we hope this will help both our boys and girls come hungry to compete next season and for the coming track season.”

State meet

The GNC will be well-represented in Wisconsin Rapids this weekend. Lund qualified individually for the WIAA State Meet. The Lakeland boys qualified as a team, and other teams that qualified individuals for State include Lakeland, Medford, Rhinelander, Northland Pines and Antigo.

For those looking to go support Lund, the WIAA State Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 1, at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The Division II girls’ race begins at 2:25 p.m. Ahrens noted that spectators should be aware that there will be a $10.00 parking fee per vehicle for parking at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School and the Grand Rapids Lions Club, the two shuttle sites. There will be no charge to board the buses and shuttle to and from The Ridges. All spectators will be shuttled by bus to The Ridges, entering off Griffith Ave. Spectators must purchase their ticket online using the GoFan app. Ticketing is required prior to admittance to the meet. Admission is $9.00 per person (child/student/adult), plus processing fees. There will be no entry without prior ticketing. It is also a no-cash entry.

Athletes of the Week

Charlee Lund – “It’s not often we have runners cracking into the best 5k times in school history, let alone a freshman. That’s precisely what Charlee Lund achieved at the Sectional Meet in Merrill by running the 5k course in 19:37. Charlee started the race in a smart position within the second pack in 6th place overall. After the mile, she made a move to distance herself from this group and got herself into 5th place. For the rest of the race, she would retain this position, which was imperative to attain an individual spot for the WIAA State meet, since the top five individuals in the race were all not associated with the top two state qualifying teams. Charlee has proven herself a capable varsity frontrunner, and based on her season efforts, we believe she will be in this motivating position for a long time. She knows the sport of distance running extremely well and has been training for this nearly all her life. Pair this with her burning desire to be the best, and you’ve got the real deal.”

Caiden Reichelt – “The Tomahawk boys started the season not knowing who would claim the number one spot. It wasn’t until our challenging Division I race in Menomonie that Caiden really shined, pushing himself to the front of the pack without even knowing it, due to how the races are run in relay fashion. It simply can’t be stated enough: Caiden has time and time again pushed himself to new heights past his comfort zone. No other race displayed his fantastic efforts more than at the Sectional meet. Knowing that it would take a mighty effort to have a shot at individually qualifying for state, Caiden willed himself to catch body after body as he went from 17th at the one-mile, to 14th at the two-mile, to finishing 10th place overall. To top it off, he once again attained a personal record of 17:43. Even though he missed going to state by one more body, it should be noted that had Rhinelander gotten 2nd like they were ranked to do, Caiden’s awesome all-out push at the end to pass an Oconto Falls runner would have sent him to the State meet. The coaching staff and team only wish we could have Caiden for one more year, but this senior will be off to bigger and better things.”