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As an old song goes "When I was Seventeen - It was a Very Good Year" and that's what the Dodgeville-Mineral Point girls cross country team will be singing Saturday at the Division 2 state championships held at Wisconsin Rapids.
This year marks the 17th consecutive time they have represented their school(s) at the state meet.- - and they will be looking for a third straight D2 team championship.
How did they do it? Well, pretty convincingly when they won the Monroe Sectional with 34 team points to runner-up Madison Edgewood's 76.
And they boasted the individual champion in junior Anna Eisenzimmer, who registered a time of 15:06.
After Edgewood sophomore Amy Davis finished in 15:19 and McFarland senior Jamie Shannon posted a 15:22, Dodge-Point junior Mairin Cahill finished in 15:35 for fourth.
Edgewood junior Courtney Link and Sauk Prairie junior Lianna Mack posted times of 15:39 and 15:58.
Then came Dodge-Point sophomore Hannah Owens in 16:03 and freshman Brittany Rhyner in 16:08 for 7th and 8th.
Their team total was rounded out by sophomore Mary Hanson's 14th placing in 16:49.
The other two Dodge-Point runners were: sophomore Megan Hottmann 18th in 16:59 and junior Kylie Greenheck 21st in 17:09.
Denny McGraw, Dodge-Point coach, talked about the team and their accomplishment: "The girls team will be returning to state for the 17th straight year. Junior Anna Eisenzimmer really stepped it up and won the sectional meet by outpacing her nearest competitor by 29 seconds. She ran such a smart race, and had her strongest finish to date.
"Junior Mairin Cahill placed 4th and is coming on at the right time of the year. She ran her best race and has more to show.
"Hannah Owens ran a great race and is a key component for the success of this team.
"Freshmen Brittany Rhyner just keeps getting better and better and is closing the gap on the top three runners.
"Sophomore Mary Hanson has really improved her race technique this year and has been a key to the success of the team.
"Sophomore Megan Hottmann and Junior Kylie Greenheck both ran solid races to help the team to a state berth.
"Emily Philipps, Emilee Grunow and Caitlyn Bauer will be the alternates for the state team."
The rest of the team scores were: McFarland 93, River Valley 174, New Glarus/Monticello 186, Platteville 189, Mount Horeb 219, Monroe 222, Lodi 236, Evansville 263, Sauk Prairie 269, Brodhead/Juda 279, Prairie du Chien 322, Richland Center/Ithaca 353, Southwestern/Cuba City 379.
Besides Shannon, the three other individual qualifiers are: Sauk Prairie junior Lianna Mack 6th in 15:56, Platteville senior Emma Wilson 9th in 16:18, McFarland senior Morgan Riese 10th in 16:22 and Evansville sophomore Brielle Greenleaf 11th
River Valley finishes were: senior Kelsi Wermuth 23rd 17:14, junior Nikkie Rasmussen 28th 17:28, junior Madeline Miller 38th 17:46, sophomore Taylor Bettinger 39th 17:48, senior Paige Leonard 46th 18:03, freshman Kaitlin Schwartz 79th 19:32, senior Jordan Wahl 82nd 19:35.