November 6, 2014 at 1:39 p.m.
Dodgeville-Mineral Point cross country season ends with 6th at state
Green Bay Notre Dame topped the Division 2 group with 91 points. Then came McFarland, a team who had beaten Dodge-Point at the Platteville Invitational, but who the Dodge-Pointers returned the favor to at sectionals, with 99.
Shorewood, who had the individual runner-up in junior Morgan Florsheim (18:18), was third at 104 with Two Rivers scoring 118 and Wisconsin Lutheran 130.
Dodge-Point, led by senior Mary Hanson's 6th place and podium finish as an individual, had 133.
The rest of the field distanced themselves pretty far back of the top six. Freedom scored 222, Winne-conne 234, Cedar Grove-Belgium 256, Pewaukee 270, Deer-field/Cambridge 272, Ashland 309, Fox Valley Lutheran 314, Northwestern 315, Mauston 352 and Wisconsin Dells 359.
Madison Edgewood and UW-Badgers recruit, Amy Davis topped the field by over half a minute with her 17:46 time.
After Florsheim (the top team finisher), came Amery junior Alicia Monson in 18:50, Two Rivers senior Kristy Terp in 18:52 and Wisconsin Lutheran sophomore Audrey Janik in 19:01.
Hanson nipped Lodi sophomore McKenzie Kruchten at the finish line in 19:06.02 to her 19:06.13. Then came Freedom senior Lauren Peters in 19:06.44, Notre Dame sophomore Maria Ehlinger in 19:06.79 with the 10th finisher and final podium appearance going to McFarland senior Anissa Hacker in 19:06.90 to complete the logjam.
Shorewood sophomore Micaela Gayner was also timed at 19:06.90, but the nod went to Hacker.
Dodge-Point senior Hannah Owens finished 24th overall and 13th for team scoring in 19:45 with fellow senior Mikaela Bakker taking 56th (31st team) in 20:26, sophomore Mackenzie Hall 61st (35th) in 20:30 and junior Brittany Rhyner 80th (50th) in 20:51 to complete their scoring.
Seniors Emily Philipps and Megan Hottmann rounded out their runners finishing 117th (77th) in 21:44 and 123rd (83rd) in 21:55 respectively.
Dodge-point coach Denny McGraw commented about his runners saying, "Senior Captain Mary Hanson put together the race of her career to finish 6th at the state meet. As a senior she really wanted to make it to the podium and bring home some hardware.
"Senior Captain Hannah Owens has had an amazing high school cross country career. She ran at the state meet all four years and has been a huge asset to the team success.
"Senior Mikaela Bakker had the best year of her cross country career. She was focused and determined all season and had a fantastic race at state.
"Sophomore Mackenzie Hall is really starting to show some of her potential. She is a strong runner who had a great race in the state meet and we will look to as a top runner in the future.
"Junior Brittany Rhyner continued to show her determination to do well even after taking a fall at the state meet. She has a passion for running that is second to none and is a great leader for the team.
"Senior Emily Philipps ran well as she finished her high school career with a strong finish at the state meet. She always came prepared to do her best.
"Senior Megan Hottmann worked hard to again make the state team this year. She ran well at the meet and always had a positive attitude."
In talking about the season, McGraw pinted out, "We are sad to lose so many seniors this year. The amount of miles and time they have put into running has made DPCC the program that it is. The girls that ran at state were great leaders this year and made the practices positive and fun for the entire team.
"Congratulations to our girls team for placing 6th at the state meet. We are proud of all of their achievements the entire year."
Jenks competes for Iowa-Grant/Highland in D3
Iowa-Grant Highland senior Jordan Jenks competed in Division 3 as an individual runner and captured 42nd with a time of 17:30.
"Jordan ran a great race and knocked another 10 seconds off his best time this year," said I-G/H coach Corey McCracken. "Past injuries came back to bite him during the race but he was able to push through and put up a great race. He now joins his brothers, Eric and Kurt, in having run twice at state each."
Chequamegon junior Kevin Koski won in 16:06 with Boscobel junior Dakota Kauffman second in 16:18 and Darlington junior Jaden Komprood next in 16:28.
Darlington took the team title with 54 points with Chequamegon nipping Albany both with 90 points, but their sixth runner in 51st to Albany's 77th finish.
Other Redbird finishes were: Thomas Schultz 9th (4th) in 16:46, Sean Barbee 21st (9th) in 17:09, Connor Hackett 34th (15th) in 17:19, Blake Cwynar 51st (24th) in 17:39, Tanner Evenstad 75th (39th) in 18:08 and Dylan Perrin 102nd (64th) in 18:49.
Schultz is the lone senior on the team.
Another SWAL area runner, Riverdale sophomore Brian Mathews finished 25th in 17:11.
Other results
In Division 2 boys, Wisconsin Lutheran blasted the field with 33 points to distant runner-up Shorewood's 123
Madison Edgewood took 8th with 215.
From that Crusaders' team, senior Morgan O'Flahrity has a local and area connection.
His grandparents are Jim and JoAnn O'Flahrity's of Cobb while his father (Jim) is an Iowa-Grant graduate and former Dodgeville Home Talent baseball player. His mother is Mary (Evans), a Dodgeville graduate.
Madison West senior Olin Hacker was the individual winner in Division 1 boys in 14:59 with Verona senior Ryan Nameth runner-up in 15:36.
West won the team title running away with 77 points to Stevens Point's 167. All of their scoring runners finished in the top 26.
Delaney Greene-Gretzinger, a Marion sophomore, took the individual title in D3 in 19:05 with La Crosse Aquinas senior Jennifer Lichter runner-up in 19:11 and Boscobel senior Keely Foley third in 19:32.
Lourdes Academy won with 68 points to Westby's 90. Boscobel was 8th with 229.
Division 1 was won individually by River Falls senior Annie Frisbie in 17:59 with Eau Claire Memorial junior Aubrey Roberts next in 18:13 and Sun Prairie junior Katie Hietpas third in 18:22.
Memorial took the team title with 118 points to Stevens Point's 127 with Sun Prairie just missing the podium at 132.
