This story is sponsored by: Williams-Gray Co.
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield freshman Rebecca Voss and senior Bryan Zimmerman have never raced at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships, but both are coming into the meet running their best.
Both set career-best marks at last week’s Division 1 sectional at Nine Mile Forest in Rib Mountain and will embark on the course at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday looking to better their marks again.
Zimmerman will run in the Division 1 boys race at 12:20 p.m. and Voss will participate in the Division 1 girls race at 2:20 p.m.
Zimmerman is the first Marshfield boy to make it to the state meet since 2006 when Sean Harrington qualified for the Tigers. Zimmerman placed eighth at the sectional, breaking the 17-minute mark for the first time in his career, running the 5-kilometer course in 16:50.16.
“He ran great no question about it,” Marshfield coach Dan Akin said. “We’ve been kind of waiting for him to take that next step. His times were about where they were last year, but he made a great late season surge. I was so pleased that he really ran a great race last week and is has real good confidence right now.”
Voss comes into her first state meet off a great finish at the sectional. Unable to catch Wausau East’s Ashley Eckhoff in previous matchups this season, Voss made a late surge and edged Eckhoff by less than one-half of a second to win the sectional with a time of 14:40.87 on the 4K course.
She comes into the state meet with the second-best time in the field.
“She’s going to be right there, if you look at the times, but we don’t want to put a lot of pressure on her,” Akin said. “She has run great all season long. She’s been like a veteran in some tough races, like the Smiley, which is like a mini state meet. If she runs her race, she’s going to be fine.”
Voss made a point of charging out front at the sectional and keeping a close eye on Eckhoff. Akin expects her to do the same Saturday.
“She has some kids to key off from area,” Akin said. “Ashley Eckhoff and Katelyn Stine from Wausau West, some Wausau West girls, too. There are some friendly faces she can race with. With 190 girls, it’s a bigger field, but she’s been known to go out hard and maintain that. She doesn’t sit back and make a move late, she goes out and runs with the lead pack. She gets in a good position early and works from there.”