Cross country: Tomahawk takes part in Smiley Invite, Blue Jay Invitational

For the Tomahawk Leader

WAUSAU – The Tomahawk High School cross country team recently competed in the Smiley Invite and the Blue Jay Invitational.

Smiley Invite

The Hatchet harriers went south to Wausau East High School for the annual Smiley Invite on Saturday, Sept. 21.

More than 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 10th in the overall D2/D3 race. When scores were tallied for just D2, the girls took 9th, even with one varsity running missing.

The varsity boys placed 14th overall and 10th in D2. Like the girls, the boys, too, were missing a varsity scorer for this big race.

Tomahawk’s JV girls took 8th, and the JV boys took 5th in the D2 race.

“This was a big race and a tough challenge for our kids,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “Though many struggled, this was a great learning experience. This should become fuel for the coming races.”

The varsity girls’ squad was led by senior Alli Palmer in a time of 21:05, placing 21st in D2. Ellie Micke (47th-22:37), Reese Molitor (67th-23:30), Norah Mann (81st-23:46), Abbie Rosenmeier (87th-23:58) and Faith Derleth (96th-24:38) rounded out the Hatchet squad.

In the first varsity race of the day, the Hatchet boys were led by senior Sam Zastrow, who placed 24th in the D2 race in a time of 17:47. Other varsity D2 finishers for the Hatchets included Beau Stromberg (80th-19:24), Dominic Boos (84th-19:28), Jeremiah Johnson (87th-19:31), Nathan Rosenmeier (119th-20:48), Luke Morrison (144th-21:29) and Joe Zastrow (152nd-21:49).

The sole medalist for the JV races was Elizabeth Arnott, taking 90th in a time of 26:01. Rounding out the other female JV competitors were Reagan Gorell (138th-27:25), Jennie Frederickson (176th-28:33), Abi Micke (214th-31:20), and Kailynn Hanse (DNF).

The male JV racers were Mason Riebe (22nd-21:18), Bruce Peetz (23rd-21:22), Dawson Jones (26th-21:32), Will Boneck (31st-21:52), Ryan Montag (36th-22:10), Karson Hanse (39th-22:15), Elliot O’Connor (46th-23:00), Gerard Gorell (48th-23:04), Cayden Shepler (59th-24:06) and Jordyn Carew (DQ).

“We certainly had some setbacks,” said coach Kurt Cordova. “Despite this, we had a few junior varsity boys run some good races. Jordyn Carew would have ran a 20:50 if he wouldn’t have missed one flag. This is a great time for someone who doesn’t have any base mileage yet, so that was exciting to see. Others, like Bruce, Will, Gerard and Cayden, also had solid performances. Alli completing two-thirds of her race without a right shoe was something to behold.”

“Unfortunately we were down two of our varsity athletes, and combining this with our sluggish race results ended up with some lower-than-expected finishing places for our team,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “Maybe being down some runners caused our teams to lose some focus, or maybe it was the bigger race atmosphere; at any rate, we have to learn how to adapt to these kinds of changes if we expect to have success when things don’t go our way.”

The Hatchet runners took part in the annual Smiley Invite on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Blue Jay Invitational

This past Thursday, the Tomahawk cross country team ran at Big Stone Golf Course for the annual Three Lakes Blue Jay Invitational.

Leaving the invitational with a girls’ team victory and third place boys’ team finish.

“This is a race our kids typically look forward to, as Three Lakes has an excellent, PR-friendly course at the Big Stone Golf Course,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “It was nice to come away with a victory for the girls against some of our fellow Great Northern Conference teams. The boys fell short, but now we know what exactly is required to achieve success when it counts.”

The high school boys started the evening with a 3rd place finish with 73 points. The boys were led by senior Sam Zastrow who got 6th place in a time of 17:58.

The rest of the boys finishers were Dominic Boos (14th-18:58), Jeremiah Johnson (18th-19:19), Beau Stromberg (21st-19:46), Drew Voermans (24th-19:55), Nathan Rosenmeier (26th-20:10), Joe Zastrow (27th-20:12), Jordyn Carew (34th-20:28), Dawson Jones (40th-20:54), Luke Morrison (41st-21:04), Mason Riebe (42nd-21:07), Karson Hanse (46th-21:31), Will Boneck (47th-21:35), Ryan Montag (49th-21:38), Elliot O’Connor (51st-22:03), Bruce Peetz (52nd-22:13), Cayden Shepler (66th-23:46) and Gerard Gorell (69th-24:18).

Boys’ team scores: Lakeland-40, Rhinelander-45, Tomahawk-73, Northland Pines-101, Laona-Wabeno-131, Antigo-148, Three Lakes-DNS, Florence-DNS, Goodman-Pembine-DNS.

The Hatchet girls came out ready to run hard, placing three girls in the top ten, ensuring the team victory. Senior Alli Palmer won her first varsity race with a time of 20:49. The other two top-ten finishers were Junior Lydia Shaney (5th-22:15) and Sophomore Norah Mann (8th-22:42).

Encapsulating the girls attack were Ellie Micke (11th-23:00), Reese Molitor (15th-23:47), Faith Derleth (16th-23:54), Abbie Rosenmeier (17th-23:59), Joa Reilly (26th-25:26), Elizabeth Arnott (27th-25:30), Jennie Frederickson (38th-27:03), Reagan Gorell (42nd-27:38), Aliyah Nelson (46th-28:42) and Abi Micke (48th-29:15).

Girls’ team scores: Tomahawk-36, Rhinelander-53, Lakeland-68, Three Lakes-89, Northland Pines-121, Antigo-DNS, Laona-Wabeno-DNS, Florence-DNS, Goodman-Pembine-DNS.

“The girls had an excellent race with some solid performances from girls like Abbie and Jennie,” said coach Kurt Reinke. “Not only did the varsity have a great performance, but the junior varsity runners as well. Though our boys still have some work to do to get to where we want, they too had some fine races like Cayden and Jordyn.”

“Course conditions were ideal and our team came away with eight season best times,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “Our athletes are starting to trust their conditioning more with faster pacing, though there is still plenty yet to improve upon before we get to the postseason.”

The Lady Hatchets took first place in the Three Lakes Blue Jay Invitational.

Athletes of the Week

Alli Palmer – “Losing your right shoe just after the first mile of a 3.1 mile race would cause most folks to end their race or at least give up running a good time and put on their shoe to continue, but not senior Alli Palmer. Running the rest of the massive Smiley Invite with just one shoe, she would end up running a 21:05 for 21st out of 163 Division 2 runners. Consistently dropping time at each meet since last season while being an inspiring team leader have been trademarks of Alli’s all season long. A key piece of the Lady Hatchet program since her freshman year, Alli continues to amaze. The coaching staff is extremely grateful for all she has done, both seen and unseen. Her efforts, along with her fellow classmate, Reese, on the girls’ side have been everything a team needs to have the best chances at success.”

Will Boneck – “Nearly dropping a minute from last year’s Smiley race, Will Boneck showed up with great willpower, pun intended. All kidding aside, Will has been working at his craft for a long time now, which started back in June. His race results prove his hard work is paying off. Originally a 25-minute 5k runner, he worked his way down throughout 2023 to a 21:17 by season’s end. This year, he started out around a 22-minute 5k, and as of Smiley isn’t far from a new personal record, running a 21:52. Will has taken lots of constructive criticism and held a positive attitude. The coaching staff is impressed by his learner’s mentality and knows the future only holds faster times as he continues to adapt. As Zig Ziglar has said, “If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” On a 5k course, Will will become a very hard man to stop.”

Joa Reilly – “Despite being injured since week one of this season, freshman Joa Reilly has been working hard to return to the cross country course. Joa finally did so at the Three Lakes Invite to run her first high school 5k in a respectable 25:26 to finish eighth on the team. A true testament to her character, Joa has remained positive throughout this difficult time being injured and has never faltered on any of her training. She will surely be an important part of the Lady Hatchets for years to come, and with any luck, might be helping out in a big way down the stretch.”

Jordyn Carew – “A newcomer to the program making a big splash this season is Jordyn Carew. He has done extremely well in all the workouts he has been a part of, despite having no base mileage and beginning his high school cross country career during one of the highest mileage weeks. His most recent performance at Three Lakes landed him the 8th place spot on the team by running a time of 20:28. It’s clear to see Jordyn has talent, but also seems to have determination, when combined with consistent training makes a powerful runner. The coaching staff believes there’s a good possibility Tomahawk might have gained a future varsity scorer.” Photos courtesy of Connor Ahrens.