Lady Hatchet harriers wrap up season at State meet

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Tomahawk High School varsity girls’ cross country team headed south to Wisconsin Rapids to compete at the WIAA Division II State Cross Country Meet.

This marked the 50th year of WIAA girls cross country. Since 1975, the Tomahawk girls have competed as a team at the state meet 25 times, the sixth most state qualifications of any Wisconsin school.

This particular state meet was a cold, but sunny day that saw a total of the 16 best Division II teams in the state compete against the Hatchets for the WIAA State Championship. The Division II race included two of the fastest runners in the entire state, including Divisions I & III, as Emmerson Drobac of Deerfield/Cambridge ran the course in 17:38 and Ciara Hartman of Bloomer covered the course in 17:43.

The Division II race kicked off at 12:40 p.m. The primary objective of the girls’ team was to get out early in the race and push themselves while also experiencing the course for the first time. The girls did just that, and in the first mile of the highly competitive race, they were in 13th place. After the mile, however, the girls dropped placement and remained in 15th for the rest of the race.

The Lady Hatchets scored 315 points, finishing ahead of Prescott. Leading the team with an exceptional time on the challenging course was senior Alli Palmer, taking 66th in a time of 20:42 in her final high school cross country race of her career.

Unfortunately for the girls, there was a sizable gap between Alli and the rest of the team, which led to the lower placement, but nonetheless, the girls banded together and finished with a good pack running effort. The pack included sophomore Elise Gibeault with a seasonal best time of 21:39 for 103rd, sophomore Abbie Rosenmeier with a time of 21:42 for 108th, freshman Ellie Micke in a time of 21:45 for 111th and junior Lydia Shaney in a time of 21:53 for 115th.

Rounding out the girls' great effort were sophomore Norah Mann in a time of 23:04 for 137th and junior Faith Derleth with a time of 23:57 in 146th.

There were 151 runners in the girls’ race, with finishing team results as follows: University School of Milwaukee-60, Bloomer-80, Mount Horeb-108, Lancaster-138, New Berlin Eisenhower-158, Little Chute-163, Kiel-212, Saint Croix Central-223, Shorewood-237, Watertown Luther Prep-237, West Salem-275, Berline-290, Shawano Community-294, New Berlin West-300, Tomahawk-317, Prescott-349.

Other Great Northern Conference performances included the Rhinelander boys taking 14th in the boys’ Division II race. Antigo’s Lillian L’Esperance took 53rd in a time of 20:26. Medford’s Lindsay Kahn took 69th in a time of 20:43. Lakeland sent two individuals, with Stella Meza taking 77th (20:54) and Ashton Bremer taking 34th (16:57).

“The girls ran the game plan and got to experience the state course,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “Though we anticipate our girls’ team to continue to improve for next year, this state appearance should not be taken for granted. Even though this was the Tomahawk girls’ 25th state appearance in school history, the stiff competition at the state meet clearly showcased just how much running talent there is in the state of Wisconsin.”

“This is the first time Tomahawk has qualified a state team since 2019, so it was great to be back at the state meet with a talented group of girls who raced their hearts out,” said coach Steph Ahrens. “We greatly look forward to what the future has in store for this group.”

“With the end of the state meet, this wraps up the 2024 Tomahawk cross country season,” said coach Connor Ahrens. “The team and coaching staff would like to thank the entirety of the school staff, parents and community for their support. The team’s success is a result of so many supportive and helping hands throughout their journey, and we couldn’t have had the success we did without all of your help. Thank you!”