The reviews for St. Croix Central’s new 5,000 meter, otherwise known as a 5K, course that they’ve developed while accommodating a large construction project at the school were not good.

As a spectator, the new course holds some curb appeal as the runners end up looping back on the crowd twice. However, Breckin Schommer and Jayde Canfield, two of Prescott’s top runners, have a different opinion.

“There’s big hill there. We go at it differently this way, and it’s not as fun,” Schommer said.

Canfield also mentioned some erosion in the valley in the back part of the course that added to the difficulty.

“There were sand patches at the bottom of small hills, and it makes it hard to keep your speed,” Canfield said.  

Despite these quibbles, Schommer and Canfield were the top two runners on the day for the Prescott boys, finishing second and fourth overall out of 107 runners. Schommer also led the way at their homefield invitational in Prescott finishing first and helping Prescott to a second-place finish. The Cardinals would have won that meet if it weren’t for Canfield missing the finish line turn and accidentally disrupting another runner, causing him to be disqualified.

Schommer and Canfield attribute their success to their summer training program they set for themselves. It involves a lot of laps at the track, but they also like to put time in running around town and doing some trail running at state parks. Schommer contends that the more miles you put on in the summer the more speed you’ll have in the fall, while Canfield has a different philosophy.

“Summer miles brings fall smiles,” Canfield said.

Prescott hopes are high going into the season. The top two teams at sectionals go to state, and they have finished third two years in a row. The runners are especially motivated as Prescott has never been to state for cross country as a team.

“I think we have a chance,” Schommer said. “By the end of the season we will be faster sure, so hopefully we can build up to that as the season goes on.”

The teams to beat this year really haven’t changed, says Tim Philips, coach of the men’s cross-country team, although he notes that there could be some surprises.

“Two years ago, we finished behind Osceola and Northwestern. Then last year was the same deal, but the gap between us and Northwestern was a little bit more last year,” Philips said. “Now, this year, it looks though like Altoona is going to be pretty strong, and Bloomer could be good too. It's so early that things are still kind of playing out. I think most everybody, though, would look at us and say, ‘you gotta be careful of Prescott this year. They're going to be competitive in the Middle Border, and they'll be competitive in sectionals.’ It's just who we're going to compete against that remains to be seen.”

Overall, Prescott had four runners at St. Croix Central place in the top 12, and they took second place on the day behind New Richmond. Neither Osceola nor Northwestern were in attendance.

The smiles continue as Cardinal runners head to Somerset on Thursday for their next meet. The event begins at 4:30 p.m.

Ellsworth Girls Cross Country

It was a new course at St. Croix Central High School in Hammond for cross country runners on Thursday as the school is doing extensive construction on the grounds.

Kayla Kressin, senior and four-year varsity runner for Ellsworth, says the changes were less than ideal.

“I think the hills being right at the end was a little bit of a struggle,” Kressin said. “It’s something you have to kind of overcome when you're tired. You’ve got to really work on those hills, and that's definitely something I’m hoping to improve on in the future.”

Kressin was the top performer for the Ellsworth girls’ team at the first two meets this season, including finishing 11^th out of 87 runners in Hammond. Kressin, a three-sport athlete, says she takes her conditioning very seriously.

“I probably run about two days a week, and then I'm in two other sports,” she said. “I play some basketball over the summer, and I get in the weight room for coaches. Cross training is good because it helps use different muscle groups, which I think is good. It prevents stress fractures and other things.”

Panthers’ head coach Marcie Jahnke concurs, saying they encourage all their runners to diversify their training efforts.

“Even if we're asking you for more mileage, I really encourage them to have it not all be running,” Jahnke said. “Go for swims, go for bike rides, rollerblade - I don't care. Just the constant pounding of the pavement is not great. And I mean, they know that in Ellsworth there’s nothing but pavement.”

Aspirations are high for the Panthers this season, but Jahnke says that, like last year, they’re still trying to round out the back half of the team early this season. They have some stalwarts at the top like Kressin, but there’s work to be done yet.

“Last year, we struggled with the back part of our five,” Jahnke said. “We always have a couple of runners up at the top, but we’re just starting to complete that team, like that rounded out five. We consistently have some girls in contention, but we’ve struggled to kind of finish as a team.”

The cross country season continues as Panther runners will head to Somerset on Thursday. The event begins at 4:30 p.m.