Tomahawk runners compete in Menomonie Relay, Smiley Invite

/ Sports

For the Tomahawk Leader

MENOMONIE – The Tomahawk Hatchet cross country team competed in the Menomonie Cross Country Relay and the Smiley Invite this month.

Menomonie Cross Country Relay

Tomahawk’s Cross Country team traveled southwest to Menomonie to compete against Division I, II, and III schools in the 48th Annual Menomonie Cross Country Relay on Saturday, Sept. 9. This was the first time Tomahawk entered into the annual race.

Alongside elite competition, the Hatchets had a fantastic day with many new season bests and personal records. The invite featured a unique racing format so that, for example, Tomahawk’s 6th, 7th, and 8th runners would only run against the other teams’ 6th, 7th, and 8th runners. Yet, at the end of all the races, the times would all be put together on paper in classic cross country scoring fashion to determine team scores.

“It was exciting to see what our kids were able to run against many Division I schools,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “Lots of seasonal bests and personal bests up and down the roster.”

The Hatchet boys were led by varsity runners Presley Gutbrod (55th-18:49), Sam Zastrow (56th-18:51), Dominic Boos (66th-19:13), Owen Dickrell (78th-19:44), Trey Morrison (92nd-20:25), Jeremiah Johnson (92nd-20:25), Nathan Rosenmeier (100th-20:55) and Bruce Peetz (105th-21:56). They would finish in 12th place as a team.

The junior varsity student-athletes were Drew Voermans (28th-20:39), Elliot O’Connor (117th-23:30), Ryan Montag (123rd-23:38), Will Boneck (135th-24:14) and Gerard Gorell (137th-24:44).

Tomahawk’s girls were paced by varsity runners Elise Gibeault (29th-21:42), Rachael Reilly (35th-22:04), Alli Palmer (36th-22:04), Halle Derleth (45th-22:26), Faith Derleth (62nd-23:15), Izzy Lee (73rd-24:12), Kambyl Mattke (76th-24:13) and Abi Micke (89th-25:20). The girls would prove to be level with the field by placing 7th as a team.

Junior varsity student-athletes were Lydia Shaney (27th-24:54), Norah Mann (29th-24:57), Reese Molitor (36th-25:42), Abbie Rosenmeier (37th-25:43), Kailynn Hanse (54th-27:25) and Summer Gaedtke (68th-29:33).

“Though our placings didn’t earn any medals or trophies, our team is walking away from this meet with many valuable lessons,” said coach Kurt Reinke. “Chiefly, being how to race an entire 5k after going out at a quick, downhill pace.”

Smiley Invite

On Saturday, Sept. 16, the Hatchets made the trek south to Wausau East High School for the annual Smiley Invite. Over 50 teams and nearly 1,200 runners from across the state came to compete in divisional races. Tomahawk competed in D2/D3 races for all events.

The Tomahawk varsity girls placed 7th in the overall D2/D3 race, behind state-ranked teams from Little Chute, West Salem and Kiel.

When scores were tallied for just D2, the girls took 4th, even with a few top runners sitting out.

The varsity boys placed 12th overall and 7th in D2. The varsity boys’ race was won by West Salem, followed by Kiel.

The bright spot at the meet was that Tomahawk’s JV girls took 2nd in the D2 race.

“It was great to see how comfortable some of our runners were, even though they were racing at a faster pace,” said coach Kurt Cordova. “Many of them were able to take on the hills with determination to pick off runners with one mile to go.”

The varsity girls squad was led by freshman Elise Gibeault, with a personal record time of 20:54 as she placed 10th in D2 (12th overall out of 142 runners). Alli Palmer (21:31), Halle Derleth (22:30), Lydia Shaney (23:35), Faith Derleth (24:09) and Kambyl Mattke (26:01) rounded out the Hatchet squad.

In the first varsity race of the day, the Hatchet boys were led by junior Sam Zastrow, who placed 28th in the D2 race (43rd in the combined D2 and D3 race standings) with a personal best time of 18:06. Other varsity D2/D3 finishers for the Hatchets included Presley Gutbrod (18:28), Dominic Boos (18:43), Owen Dickrell (18:55), Trey Morrison (19:26), Jeremiah Johnson (20:44), Drew Voermans (20:51) and Bruce Peetz (21:40).

The JV squad also showed up ready to race, with many of them finishing with either seasonal bests or personal records. Finishing as medalists for the JV races were Nathan Rosenmeier (19:52, 7th), Abi Micke (24:55, 6th), Norah Mann (25:06, 9th), Reese Molitor (25:20, 10th) and Abbie Rosenmeier (25:28, 12th).

Rounding out the JV competitors were Will Boneck (22:43), Ryan Montag (22:51), Eli Albrent (23:50), Elliot O’Connor (23:57), Gerard Gorell (24:34). Kailynn Hanse (28:06) and Jennie Grederickson (28:48).

“It was great to see a lot of personal records or seasonal bests from the team,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “You could tell the kids are pushing themselves out of their comfort zones to see what they can do in these bigger races.”

“Unfortunately, we were down three of our varsity female athletes, but that didn’t stop a few of our athletes from stepping up to fill the void,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “Some standout performances were from Elise Gibeault, Alli Palmer and Lydia Shaney. As for the boys, both varsity and JV continue to tap into new potentials. Almost 80% of the team got a season best or PR.”

The varsity boys placed 12th overall and 7th in D2 at the Smiley Invite. Photos courtesy of Connor Ahrens.

This week’s action

On Thursday, Sept. 21, the Hatchet runners will travel to Big Stone Golf Course southeast of Three Lakes for the Blue Jay Invite. The meet gets underway at 4 p.m.

Athletes of the Week

Faith Derleth, Menomonie – “Coming off of the hardest workout all season, earning the title of Co-Queen of the Hill, sophomore Faith Derleth would step up in a major way. A fellow varsity athlete was pulled out of the meet due to injury, and Faith was inserted into the 6th position for the race. Faith would respond with a 5th-place finish on the team, running a new 5k personal record of 23:15. Her positive mental inputs during meetings and practices cannot be overlooked. The coaching staff is witnessing the development of a fantastic future leader. Combining what she brings mentally to the team with her increasing speed makes her a key asset for the girls’ team success this season and years to come.”
Drew Voermans, Menomonie – “There was no slowing down freshman Drew Voermans at the Menomonie Cross Country Relays. Dropping over two minutes from his personal record, Drew flew through the Mustang course, passing competitor after competitor, going from 59th to 28th place. Drew is one of our most laid back and even-keeled student-athletes. He brings stability to the team, a very uncommon trait for a freshman, but when he’s on the race course, his calmness changes into fiery determination. Running a 20:39 for only his fourth 5k all-time means the future is bright for this young Hatchet. While he continues his athletic journey, the sky truly is the limit for Drew.”
Lydia Shaney, Smiley – “Lydia is one of our returning sophomores who always knows how to lighten the mood at practices and meets. This year, she has really pushed herself to improve her times from last year, and Smiley was her biggest performance yet. She ended up filling a varsity spot with a few runners sitting out this week and ran a time of 23:35, which was a one minute and 19 second personal record from last week. With it only being halfway through the season, this young student-athlete is showing great promise in being a key asset to the team for the rest of the season and into the future.”
Sam Zastrow, Smiley – “Sam is starting to show leadership, as he is a junior this year, and consistently has been a valuable component to the boys varsity squad. He has always been a very coachable athlete and is always up to a challenge in order to reach new goals for himself. At Smiley, he became the first finisher on the team and ran a personal record time of 18:06. He continues to push himself in races and practices as he strives to achieve running a sub-18 minute 5K. If this boys’ team plans to reach new heights this season, it is going to have to begin with Sam pushing ahead and encouraging his teammates to follow.”
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