The Prescot Cardinals’ cross country runner Breckin Schommer traveled to the state competition to race in a 5k with the fastest runners in Wisconsin at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

The weather was great for running as it was cool but not windy, rainy or snowy. Schommer ran well, finishing in the middle of the pack with a time of 17:52, just under 6:00 per mile. Head Coach Tim Philips said that although he’s wrapped up his cross-country season, Schommer has hopes to return to state in the spring for track.

“The course was the same this year, and it’s a great venue. We both hoped for a bit higher finish, but we won’t fret about it. Breck and I have shared some hits and misses in cross country and track, and we know how to deal with them. Learn from it, adjust, then pick our next goal and go for it,” Philips said. “Breckin wants to improve on his 11th place finish in the 800 at state track last season, so that’ll be my goal too.”

The Cardinals cross country team will be losing its top three runners after this season. In addition to Schommer, Jayde Canfield and Ian Leask will also be graduating.

“No doubt, Breckin, Jayde, and Ian will be missed, but we’ve got a bunch of guys excited to take the lead next season,” Philips said. “We’ll be anchored by Nolan Leask, Jack Kreager, Caden Peterson, Aidan Anthony, Cayden Riley, and Will Markert. Add this year’s freshmen class, led by Quinn Justen and Chase Kinney, and the boys are going to be good.”

The girls’ team will return its top runners, and they hope to make a jump next year when they add some incoming talent. 

“The girls will be led by Amber Van Loon, Katie Huppert, Camryn Rickers, and Addy Allsop. Plus, we’ve got an outstanding incoming freshman, Kyla Gotzinger, who will make an immediate impression,” Philips said.

The Cardinals as a whole set a high bar for themselves this year, and although they didn’t quite hit all  their marks, Philips said their program continues to turn out competitive teams year after year.

“We didn’t finish as high in the MBC or section as we had hoped, but we met most of our goals designed to keep our program strong, so it’s all good,” he said.

River Falls

The River Falls Wildcats’ top two 5k runners advanced to the state competition held at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

Quin Andrews and Jonah Majerus were the only two qualifiers for a Wildcats team that missed going to state as a unit by a small margin. Andrews placed 26^th on Saturday and set his personal best record for time on that course finishing with a 16:18, which is an average of 5:15 per mile. Majerus placed 88^th with a time of 17:02 or just under 5:30 per mile.

 Head Coach Kari DeLuca said they did what they wanted to do, and the boys ran hard.

“The state course is pretty tough. The cold added an extra challenge because we are not used to that yet, but the boys ran well,” DeLuca said. “These two will run all winter to prepare for track, and then run all summer to get ready for next season. We definitely want to place higher next year, but it was a great experience, and the boys learned a lot.”

Gaining that experience as a team would obviously have been preferrable, but with both Andrews and Majerus being juniors this year, they will have the opportunity to shepherd the rest of the Wildcats through the process should they make it as a squad next season. In fact, River Falls will be bringing back all but one of the top five runners on a very solid boys’ team. So, in all likelihood, this is a team that has yet to peak.

On the other side, although the girl’s team didn’t advance any runner to state, there is some optimism that next year’s team will do so.

“The girls will gain some good talent next year, and we are very excited about the future,” DeLuca said. “We have a group that will be training this winter and summer in hopes of placing higher in the conference next season.“