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One more point than your next competitor is all it takes to post a win.
That's what the Dodgeville-Mineral Point Girls Cross Country team found out Saturday afternoon when the scores were posted for the WIAA Division 2 championship held at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
The post read: Dodgeville-Mineral Point 88, Shorewood 89.
How did that play out?
In the team scoring, freshman twins Ellie and Annie Robinson placed second and fourth with times of 18:52.9 and 19:22.1. Junior Julia Thompson finished 12th in 20:07.8.
Their scoring led the team, but the next two - senior Haylee Kearns and sophomore Grace Wersal - maybe were the keys to the win. Both finished in front of Shorewood's fifth runner. Kearns was 33rd in 21:07.7 while Wersal took 37th in 21:15.3.
Shorewood's fifth runner was 40th.
The final two runners for Dodge-Point were sophomore Addison Christopher 48th in 21:24.9 and freshman Regan Schuette 107th in 24:50.6.
"What an exciting week-end for Dodge-Point Cross Country,"said Dodge-Point Coach Denny McGraw. "Returning both teams to the state meet after 5 years was sensational, but to come home with a 1st place trophy for the girls and 5th place for the boys was fantastic! Will Aurit was the only runner with any state experience, and no one on either team had ever run at the Ridges Course in Wisconsin Rapids. To finish as well as they did was a great accomplishment for both teams."
The rest of the team scores in the 16-team field were: Freedom 160, Little Chute 161, Notre Dame 172, Rice Lake 194, Xavier 202, Medford 203, New Berlin Eisenhower 222, Amery 242, New Glarus/Monticello 264, West Salem 268, Shawano Community 275, Winneconne 279, Watertown Luther Prep 294, Deerfield/Cambridge 363.
Individually, a familiar name in Kayci Martensen, the Southwest-ern/Cuba City/Benton senior phenom, won the race in 18:10 over New Berlin Eisenhower freshman Faith Wehrman's 18:24.7.
DP's Ellie Robinson was fourth overall while Annie finished seventh. Thompson was 22nd, Kearns 62nd, Wersal 68th, Christopher 81st and Schuette 147th.
McGraw recapped the girls race saying, "It was wonderful to come home with a 1st place trophy for the girls' team! This team has been doing so well all year and to finish with a state title was definitely frosting on the cake! Shorewood had been ranked first all year long and everyone knew it was going to be a close race. To beat them by one point was phenomenal. 'They did okay!' is the coaching staff's favorite compliment.
"Freshman Ellie Robinson scored 2 team points, 4th place overall. Ellie has been an amazing runner all year and to make it as an individual to the podium at state is a great accomplishment. She got out strong and ran with the lead pack throughout the race.
"Freshman Annie Robinson scored 4 team points, 7th place overall. (Annie had also been at the National FFA Convention this week.) Annie ran her smartest and most determined race of the year. She passed 3 girls down the stretch, one of them a Shorewood girl. She also made it to the podium as an individual. These twin sisters are the real deal.
"Junior Julia Thompson scored 12 team points, 22nd place overall. From the 2 mile mark Julia passed 15 runners, one of them being a Shorewood runner. Her gutsy performance made a difference in the outcome for the girls.
"Senior Haylee Kearns scored 33 team points, 62nd overall. Her leadership all year has been invaluable, and she had the best race of her career to help the team win a state title. She has been a steady runner all four years and will be missed.
"Sophomore Grace Wersal scored 37 team points, 68th overall. She was able to dig deep to maintain her position throughout the race, not letting anyone pass her to keep us in the hardware hunt. By beating the 5th Shorewood runner by 3 spots she helped secure the win.
"Freshman Addison Christopher scored 48 team points, 81st overall. Getting onto the varsity team at conference and going on to run so well at sectional and state is quite an accomplishment and experience for a young runner.
"Sophomore Regan Schuette scored 107 team points, 147th overall. Regan was ill most of the week and it was great she was able to compete at the state meet. She has been a valuable team runner all year long.
"Freshman Abbey Ludwig was the alternate who supported the team with her positive attitude."
The Dodge-Point boys ran the opening race of the day and maybe had some jitters being in that spot.
They finished fifth in the race that was won by Shorewood with 54 points, having all five scorers in the top 20.
Then came Notre Dame 73, Osceola 134, Port Washington 157 and Dodge-Point 169.
Rounding out the 16 were: Two Rivers 207, West Salem 216, Shawano Community 220, Rhinelan-der 234, Lakeside Lutheran 234, New Glarus/Monticello 249, Winneconne 266, Xavier 308, Gale-Etteric-Trempealeau 313, Northwestern 328, Clinton 340.
Dodge-Point senior Will Aurit led his team finishing seventh (16th overall) in 16:54.4. Fellow senior Dylan Wasley was next at 20th (44th) in 17:28.9 with freshman Cody Yoder 31st (57th) in 17:42.7, freshman Layne Aurit 50th (82nd) in 18:08.1 and junior Joey Robinson 61st (95th) in 18:23.5.
Their other two finishes were: junior Charlie Keith 77th (115th) in 18:49.0 and senior Cal Dampf 98th (138th) in 19:25.7.
Shorewood junior Nathan Cumberbatch won the race in 16:06.4 over Mauston junior Eli Boppart's 16:16.7.
McGraw praised the boys team saying, "The boys team placed 5th out of 16 teams. Senior Will Aurit was DPCC top runner, as he has been all year, scoring 7 for the team score and placing 16th overall. What a wonderful example he set for his teammates on what working hard and staying dedicated can help you accomplish. Will had a great career for DPCC, with this year being outstanding. He will be greatly missed as a leader and positive influence.
"Senior Dylan Wasley scored 20 points for the team, 44th overall. What a great day for DPCC when Dylan decided to come out for cross country this year. He was an asset that really helped the team do so well and make it to state.
"Freshman Cody Yoder scored 31 team points, 57th overall. As a freshman Cody made a big impact and was a determined and confident runner.
"Freshman Layne Aurit scored 50 team points, 82nd overall. Layne came into the season with a lot of miles under his belt and that helped him do so well for the team. Having two brothers on the same varsity team is very special.
"Junior Joey Robinson scored 61 team points, 95th overall. Joey had a busy week - spending time at the National FFA Convention on the Mineral Point Livestock Judging Team, then coming back to Wisconsin in time to participate in a state cc meet. He is a competitive individual and you can always count on him to do well.
"Junior Charlie Keith scored 77 team points, 115th overall. It was great to see Charlie back running after being injured most of the season. He was a key runner for the state meet and did very well."Senior Cal Dampf scored 98 team points, 138th overall. As a Senior Cal was a good leader and helped the team stay focused and came on strong at the end of the year to be a big help in how well the team did.
"Senior Chandler Williams was the alternate who helped with an excellent talk before the race to help motivate the team.