Lhotka paces Shawano with top-10 finish

Shawano junior Chase Lhotka put pressure on the lead runners early and tried to stick around through the hilly course at the Bay Conference meet at Winagamie Golf Course in Neenah on Saturday.

Lhotka did enough to secure an eighth-place finish with a time of 18 minutes, 2 seconds as the Hawks took fifth at the seven-team meet.

Senior Brandon Pagel (18:45) finished 13th for Shawano, freshman Karsten Anderson (19:13) 19th and senior Griffin Bohm (19:29) 22nd.

“We were planning to go out there and get with the top guys and try to figure out a way to pass them. We wanted to show today that we are still a tough team,” a tired Lhotka said. “I was planning on going slower at the beginning, but I stayed with the top group so it would be easier when I hit those hills to get over them.”

Seymour, with the top two individual finishers, took the team title, with New London, Xavier and Green Bay East rounding out the top five.

In the girls meet, the Hawks ran to a seventh-place finish, with sophomore Alice Hoffman earning top honors for the team with a 30th place finish in a time of 23:32.

“The weather is really nice for October, so all told, it was a pretty nice day to run,” Hoffman said.

Annie Higgins was the individual winner, leading Xavier to a third-place team finish. Green Bay East took the top spot, and West De Pere, Menasha and New London rounded out the top five.

Shawano head coach Steve Stomberg had nothing but praise for his charges.

“We have a very young squad, but they did an excellent job out there. There is always room for improvement, and we can never be complacent with what we are doing,” Stomberg said. “The kids really gave it their all. We had times that were dropped, and that is just the way it is.

“Everyone is out here competing, everyone is out here doing the best they can, striving for that top spot, and our kids gave it their all.”