Prescott girls win, boys finish runner-up

By Reagan Hoverman

Five Pierce County cross country teams competed at the annual Prescott Cardinals Invite, which featured a strong showing by the hosting Prescott Cardinals, as the girls earned a first-place finish as a team while the boys finished runner-up.

Prescott’s success came primarily because of its dominance near the top of the leaderboard. Experienced runners including senior Tyler Loucks for the boys and senior Ella Johnson for the girls won their respective races. Loucks’ gold medal performance took 17:55 in the boys’ race. Johnson secured her victory in 22:48.

Other notable results for the boys’ cross country team include Breckin Schommer’s second-place finish behind Loucks, and Matthew Lynes, who finished in seventh place for the Cardinals. Evalyn Sie- ben finished third in the girls' race while Rhiannon Fabian and Ava Budworth secured sixth and seventh-place fin ishes respectively.

Prescott’s girls team quite literally ran away with the victory, as they tallied an eventlow 19 points, compared to Ellsworth’s second-placed 44 and River Falls, which finished third with 73 points. The boys’ team missed out on a share of first place by one point. Altoona took home the gold with 40 points, Prescott was second with 41 points, Ellsworth in third with 73, Spring Valley took fourth with 107 and River Falls fin ished sixth with 148.

Ellsworth Panthers

The Ellsworth Panthers boys’ and girls’ cross country teams had several strong indi- vidual finishes at the Prescott Cardinal Invite. Junior threesport athlete Kayla Kressin took home Ellsworth’s high- est female individual finish, as her time of 24:21.4 edged out an Altoona runner for fourth place in the girls’ race.

Chloe Vanwatermeulen finished just outside the top-10 with an 11th-place finish. The Panthers boys’ roster had a couple of top-five finish es as Max Bergner and Alex Pazdernik earned fourth and fifth-place finishes respec tively. Brody Mitchell se- cured a 13th place finish in the boys’ race with a time of 19:33.9.

As a whole, Ellsworth’s boys finished in third, trailing only Prescott and Altoona. The Lady Panthers earned a second-place finish be hind the eventual champion Prescott Cardinals.

River Falls Wildcats

The River Falls Wildcats girls’ and boys’ teams earned third and sixth-place finishes respectively. The girls tallied 73 points while the boys had 148 points. Elly Smith was the high finisher for the girls. She earned a 13th place finish with a time of 26:10.6.

Henry Cronk was the top finisher for the boys. Cronk secured a 24th place result with a time of 21:29.3. Riley Sabot earned a 28th place fin ish with a time of 21:57.7 and Cooper Sheely finished 33rd with a time of 22:20.9.

Spring Valley Cardinals

Although the Spring Valley girls didn’t have enough competitors to qualify for the overall team results, there were some impressive individual results. The Cardinals were led by standout Lydia Hannack who earned a second-place overall finish behind only Prescott's Ella Johnson. Hannack’s posted time of 23:46.9 was more than a full minute better than the third-place finisher at the meet. Audrey Mathison earned a ninth-place finish with a time of 25:00.2.

The highest finisher for the boys was Logen Vorlicek, who secured a ninth-place result with a time of 19:05.1. Brody Gregg tallied a 14th place finish with a time of 19:47.7. The boys’ team score of 107 earned a fourth-place finish at the meet.

Elmwood/Plum City Wolves

Neither the Elmwood/ Plum City boys’ nor girls’ team had enough competitors to qualify for the overall team results. However, the Wolves did have multiple individuals competing in the Prescott Cardinal Invite.

Notable results for the Wolves include Cole Christ- man's 49th place finish with a time of 23:57.1, Mason Hocking's 64th place finish timed at 27:58.2, and Kadin Guyer finishing in 67th with a time of 31:14.9.

As for the Elmwood/Plum City girls, the best finish was Taylor Asher, who cracked the top 10 with an eighthplace result. Her time of 24:52.6 edged out the ninth- place finisher by just over eight seconds. Isabelle Sk- ogen finished in 36th with a time of 33:09.4.

Upcoming schedules

Upcoming schedules for local cross country teams include River Falls competing in the Hudson Cross Country Boys Invitational on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 3:45 p.m. The next meet for the Lady Wild- cats is on Friday, Sept. 23, at the University of Minnesota at 3 p.m.

The Ellsworth Panthers boys and girls cross country teams will be in action on Thursday, Sept. 22, at Durand for a varsity invitational. Both Prescott and Elmwood/Plum City will also be competing at that invitational. It’s slated to begin at 5:15 p.m.

Up next for the Spring Valley Cardinals is a Tuesday, Sept. 20, varsity invitational at the Whispering Pines Golf Course in Cadott. That meet is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.

Prescott senior Ella Johnson moments before crossing the finish line at the Cardinal Invitational. Johnson’s first-place time of 22:48.8 topped second-place by more than 45 seconds.Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Ellsworth junior Kayla Kressin leads multiple runners as she competes in the Prescott Cardinal Invite. Kressin earned a fourth-place overall finish with a time of 24:21.4. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Ellsworth’s Max Bergner (left) and Alex Pazdernik (right) finish fourth and fifth respectively at the Prescott Cardinal Invite on Thursday, Sept. 15. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Spring Valley’s Lydia Hannack finished second overall at the Prescott Cardinal Invite, trailing only Prescott’s Ella Johnson. Hannack’s posted time of 23:46.9 was more than 20 seconds clear of third place. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Spring Valley’s Logen Vorlicek crosses the finish line in Prescott on Thursday, Sept. 15. Vorlicek was the boys’ top finisher for Spring Valley on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

River Falls runner Elly Smith makes her way around the course at the Prescott Cardinal Invite on Thursday, Sept. 15. Smith was the top finisher for the Lady Wildcats at the event. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

River Falls cross country runner Henry Cronk chases down the opposition during the invite at Prescott on Thursday afternoon. Cronk was River Falls’ top male fisher. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Elmwood/Plum City runner Taylor Asher moments before crossing the finish line at the Prescott Cardinal Invite on Thursday. Asher was the top finisher for the Wolves and secured an eighth-place overall result with her posted time of 24:52.6.Photo by Reagan Hoverman

The three Elmwood/Plum City boys competitors including Cole Christman, Mason Hocking and Kadin Guyer get ready for the race to begin in Prescott on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Reagan Hoverman