This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield’s Joseph McKee and Eliana Kanitz won the individual races to lead both the Tigers’ boys and girls teams to titles at the Marshfield Tiger Cross Country Invitational on Tuesday at Wildwood Park.
The annual meet, scheduled to be run at Frey Field in Spencer, was moved to its old home at Wildwood Park due to heavy rain on Monday night and early Tuesday morning that left the course to wet to compete on.
Joseph McKee finished in 16:42.2, outrunning his brother Joshua McKee, who finished second 19 seconds behind. Johnathon Nowacki of Athens was third in 17:17.7.
Henry Hoerneman took fifth in 17:48. Addison Hill was 10th in 18:23, and Seth Oemig finished 15th in 18:45 to round out Marshfield’s scoring runners.
Marshfield finished with 33 points, well ahead of second-place Wisconsin Rapids (101).
Auburndale finished fifth overall, Stratford ninth and Spencer 15th, and Marshfield Columbus Catholic only had four runners and had an incomplete team. Auburndale won the small school division title.
James Heeg led Stratford, taking seventh in 18:03.7, Carl Lundgren finished ninth in 18:20 to lead Auburndale, Spencer’s top runner was Cameron Nieman, who was 78th in 22:19, and Andrew Scheer finished 44th in 20:11 to lead Columbus Catholic.
Kanitz easily won the girls race, finishing in 20:20, 13 seconds ahead of Wisconsin Rapids’ Willow Sering and Franny Seidel of Medford, who each came in within one-half second. Savannah Schley of Loyal/Greenwood finished fourth in 21:10.8.
Meghan Jaeger was fifth in 21:17, Michaela Dick took sixth in 21:24, Kiari Kim finished seventh in 21:43, and Dehlia Kilty took 14th in 22:08 for Marshfield’s first-place winning team.
“The kids ran well today,” Marshfield coach Dan Akin said. “We were very proud of our kids and how we competed.”
In addition to Sering, Faith Dix had a top-10 finish for Wisconsin Rapids, taking eighth in 21:50.7 as the Raiders finished third.
Alicia Kawa was 10th, and Jennifer Kahn, Bryn Fronk and Ellee Grunwald took 15th through 17th, to help Medford’s strong second-place performance.
The Auburndale girls tied Mosinee for fourth, winning in a tiebreaker based on its sixth runner, Stratford was seventh, Spencer finished 13th and Columbus Catholic was 14th. The Auburndale girls also won the small school division title.
Auburndale’s top five runners finished between 12th and 31st, with McKenna Zieher leading the way, taking 12th in 21:59.9.
Lauren Kraus took 32nd in 23:26 to lead Stratford, Emily Wehrman took 55th to top Spencer in 25:17; and Nian Jakel was Columbus’ first runner, taking 56th in 25:25.
“We were glad to get a race in today,” Akin said. “We want to thank the Marshfield Parks & Rec Department, Power Pac, Mark Frey, and many others. They were very accommodating.
“I’ve never had to move a meet before. It was amazing how many people stepped up to help.”
The Marshfield JV teams also both won team titles.
Jerica Mueller finished second to lead the Marshfield girls, while the Tigers’ boys swept the top four spots. Elijah Witzel took first, Myles Jensen second, Michael Woellert third and Jesse Messmann fourth.
2019 Marshfield Tiger Cross Country Invitational
Sept. 10, at Wildwood Park, Marshfield
Boys
Team scores: 1. Marshfield 33; 2. Wisconsin Rapids 101; 3. Tomah 106; 4. Medford 113; 5. Auburndale 150; 6. Athens 156; 7. Marathon 169; 8. Mosinee 196; 9. Stratford 199; 10. Nekoosa/Port Edwards 297; 11. Black River Falls 303; 12. Loyal/Greenwood 339; 13. Pittsville 400; 14. Westfield 402; 15. Spencer 405; Marshfield Columbus Catholic incomplete.
Top 10 finishers: 1. Joseph McKee (MARSH) 16:42.2; 2. Joshua McKee (MARSH) 17:03.2; 3. Johnathon Nowacki (ATH) 17:17.7; 4. Eric Kordus (MOS) 17:36.3; 5. Henry Hoerneman (MARSH) 17:48.3; 6. Joseph Sullivan (MED) 18:00.9; 7. James Heeg (ST) 18:03.7; 8. Noah Dalege (WR) 18:18.1; 9. Carl Lundgren (AUB) 18:20.0; 10. Addison Hill (MARSH) 18:23.0.
Other Marshfield finishers: 15. Seth Oemig 18:45.8; 19. Evan Ellis 19:02.9; 28. Eben Lonsdale 19:24.7; 37. Isaac Eberl 19:49.2.
Other Auburndale finishers: 25. Charles Jewell 19:16.6; 31. Gavin White Eagle 19:30.0; 39. Ian Lang 19:55.4; 49. Parker Empey 20:24.9; 57. Dylan Baird 21:15.6; 67. Ian Grosskopf 21:47.0; 74. Noah Schultz 21:58.4.
Other Stratford finishers: 32. Caden Bruesewitz 19:30.4; 34. Isaac Thompson 19:33.6; 61. Tyler Holcomb 21:25.7; 72. Cody Miller 21:57.9; 77. Dawson Danen 22:17.4.
Marshfield Columbus Catholic finishers: 44. Andrew Scheer 20:11.7; 89. Mark Fieweger 23:44.9; 90. Orion Smith 23:57.2; 102. Derek Fieber 26:37.5.
Spencer finishers: 78. Cameron Nieman 22:19.4; 86. Ashton Ackman 23:05.1; 87. Caleb Rucker 23:18.7; 88. Malachai Anderson 23:27.4; 98. Andrew Sieracki 25:28.0; 100. Austyn Kohls 25:30.1; 109. Braedon Miller 32:47.8.
Girls
Team scores: 1. Marshfield 33; 2. Medford 61; 3. Wisconsin Rapids 80; 4. Auburndale and Mosinee 110; 6. Marathon 150; 7. Stratford 276; 8. Loyal/Greenwood 291; 9. Tomah 301; 10. Athens 318; 11. Black River Falls 324; 12. Nekoosa/Port Edwards 325; 13. Spencer 343; 14. Marshfield Columbus Catholic 379; 15. Westfield 383; Pittsville incomplete.
Top 10 finishers: 1. Eliana Kanitz (MARSH) 20:20.0; 2. Willow Sering (WR) 20:33.4; 3. Franny Seidel (MED) 20:33.7; 4. Savannah Schley (LG) 21:10.8; 5. Meghan Jaeger (MARSH) 21:17.8; 6. Michaela Dick (MARSH) 21:24.8; 7. Kiari Kim (MARSH) 21:43.8; 8. Faith Dix (WR) 21:50.7; 9. Kate Fitzgerald (MOS) 21:51.4; 10. Alicia Kawa (MED) 21:52.0.
Auburndale finishers: 12. McKenna Zieher 21:59.9; 20. Erricka Zenner 22:40.9; 22. Jordyn Karl 22:54.1; 27. Macie Schmeiser 23:14.9; 31. Autumn Richardson 23:24.8; 36. Victoria Hasenohrl 23:44.6; 37. Vanessa Mitchell 23:52.0; 38. Lily Kloos 24:02.1.
Other Marshfield finishers: 14. Dehlia Kilty 22:08.0; 26. Bailey Bauer 23:12.9; 39. Reese Scheibe 24:02.4.
Stratford finishers: 32. Lauren Kraus 23:26.9; 63. Sarah Zuelke 25:42.4; 64. Bailey Linzmeier 25:46.8; 67. Ella Heidmann 26:05.9; 71. Lydia Golbach 26:32.7; 75. Mercedes Kramer 26:53.8; 78. Maddy Pavloski 27:12.8.
Spencer finishers: 55. Emily Wehrman 25:17.2; 65. Leah Nieman 25:55.6; 76. Emily Klaus 27:09.4; 83. Hannah Zastrow 27:32.5; 87. Aryiah Schuh 27:55.1; 89. Haylee Hopperdietzel 28:01.7; 91. Kaylee Wehrman 28:04.1; 104. Faith Miller 31:10.7.
Marshfield Columbus Catholic finishers: 56. Niah Jakel 25:25.5; 68. Janelle Haupt 26:08.1; 81. Holly Dean 27:20.3; 94. Ashley Dean 28:10.2; 108. Greta Schiferl 35:26.1.