Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Chris Caporale SCHS junior Chase Lhokta races against Green Bay East’s Erick Carranza with roughly half a mile remaining in the Shawano Invitational on Saturday at Shawano Community High School.
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel’s Ashlyn Schnell tries to stay ahead of Winneconne’s McKenna Goetz, center, and Kaukauna’s Natalie Kuehl, right. Schnell would pace the Bonduel girls team with her 43rd-place finish.
Running on their home course in a competitive meet for the only time this season, the Hawks wanted to show off just how fast they are.
Overall, Shawano head coach Steve Stomberg was happy with the results, especially on the wet course, especially with his girls team that is comprised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. The girls took 16th place overall, and the boys finished 10th.
Freshman Sarah Mente led the Hawks with a 59th-place finish at 22:43, and Alice Hoffman finished 69th. Sophia Holstrum, Caitlin Daniel and Madeline Hanson all finished within almost a minute of each other in the final three racing spots.
“I know a lot of girls were talking they had a PR on this course already today,” Stomberg said. “When you look at running on a course like this today and having a PR, that’s incredible and showing you are applying yourself and working.
“I told the kids, ‘You’ve got to get yourself ready for this. This is our only time to run on this course in front of our home fans. You know the course better than anybody. You’ve got to go out and do it.’”
The start of the 26-team invitational would prove difficult, as Shawano’s top boys runner Chase Lhotka got boxed in on the opening stretch, preventing him from jumping out with the leading group.
Lhotka still came in with the top time for the boys at 17:41, followed by seniors Griffin Bohm and Brandon Pagel. Freshman Karsten Anderson ran the 3.1-mile course around Shawano Community High School in 19:09, and Ben Carroll recorded the final time of 19:27.
“They are seeing their times are improving, they are feeling good about themselves and what they are accomplishing,” Stomberg said. “That’s what it’s all about, personal accomplishments.”
The Bonduel girls team topped Shawano by 41 points, as Ashlyn Schnell (22:14) took 43rd place, followed by Arianna Factor (22:37) in 54th and Laney Richmond (23:40) in 93rd.
“We’re just trying to ramp up, and so far, we are on that track,” Bonduel head coach Diane Schnell said.
Schnell would like to see her teams run closer together, especially on the boys side, where Jared Wondra (18:21) finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of the fifth runner, Alex Schill.
“I want to see all eight varsity runners to run as a team and shorten the distance between our first runner and our seventh and eighth runner,” Schnell said.
The Bonduel boys team has just one senior runner, Austin Kurey, who ran the course in 18:50, putting him in 60th place overall. Sophomore Colin Ewing was just four seconds ahead of Kurey for second place for the Bears. Jacob Moede was fourth for the Bears, with a time of 19:18.
Shawano Invitational
Sept. 10
Shawano Community High School
Boys team scores (overall): Green Bay Preble, 47; Oconto Falls, 151; Hortonville, 154; Manitowoc Lincoln, 172; New London, 185; Green Bay East, 194; Kaukauna, 223; Appleton West, 224; Xavier, 249; Shawano, 270; Peshtigo, 298; Bonduel, 329; Brillion, 341; Oshkosh North, 355; Winneconne, 378; West De Pere, 399; Seymour, 413; Antigo, 436; Marinette, 454; Sturgeon Bay, 620.
Bonduel: 35, Jared Wondra, 18:21; 57, Colin Ewing, 28:46; 60, Austin Kurey, 18:50; 78, Jacob Moede, 19:18; 99, Alex Schill, 19:48; 116, Carter Kurey, 20:21; 118, Daniel Gumieny, 20:23; 126, William Beaumier, 21:03.
Shawano: 21, Chase Lhotka, 17:41; 43, Griffin Bohm, 18:33; 52, Brandon Pagel, 18:39; 72, Karsten Anderson, 19:09; 82, Ben Carroll, 19:27; 98, Camron Wickman, 19:47; 113, Brett Lorge, 20:17.
Girls team scores (overall): Green Bay East, 102; Hortonville, 137; Manitowoc Lincoln, 147; Green Bay Preble, 163; West De Pere, 165; Xavier, 173; Oshkosh North, 210; Marinette, 228; Brillion, 251; Peshtigo, 261; Oconto Falls, 300; Winneconne, 322; Kaukauna, 356; New London, 401; Bonduel, 417; Shawano, 458; Sturgeon Bay, 461; Antigo, 527; Marion, 536.
Bonduel: 43, Ashlyn Schnell, 22:14; 54, Arianna Factor, 22:37; 93, Laney Richmond, 23:40; 109, Abby Owen, 24:04; 118, Allyssa Moser, 24:47; 126, Grace Tubutis, 25:46; 127, Julia Richmond, 25:50; 135, Elena Shest, 27:11.
Shawano: 59, Sarah Mente, 22:43; 69, Alice Hoffman, 22:58; 100, Sophia Holstrum, 23:53; 111, Caitlin Daniel, 24:12; 119, Madeline Hanson, 24:56.
Marion: 3, Delaney Greene-Gretzinger, 19:42; 122, Melody, Riemer, 25:06; 132, Tailyn Beyersdorf, 26:41; 138, Harmony Riemer, 28:11; 141, Kayla Jung, 28:58; 142, Megan Vollrath, 29:06; 143, Lauren Pamperin, 29:30; 144, Nancy Taha, 30:25.