NRHEG CC boys miss first place by one point at Janesville
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING — NRHEG senior first-year cross country runner Kellen Ferber, shown finishing a junior varsity race, made his way onto the medals stand for the first time last week. Ferber has unofficially been designated the Panthers’ “politician” for his knack of waving and smiling at spectators. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys’ cross country team came close to doing something it has not accomplished for a long time.
The Panthers finished one point shy of winning a team championship.
Coach Mike Weber’s squads had a two-meet week.
The Panther boys placed fourth among eight teams at the Blooming Prairie Invite and second among four teams at the Grizzly Pie Invite in Janesville.
NRHEG has an overall mark of 23-45 this fall.
The NRHEG girls placed fifth among eight teams at Blooming Prairie. Final results were not received from Janesville.The Panther girls are 5-24 this fall.
Blooming Prairie – Boys
BLOOMING PRAIRIE – NRHEG actually tied arch-rival Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton for third place at Blooming Prairie Sept. 24, but lost on the sixth-man tiebreaker.
“This was a good meet for the boys,” said Weber. “They can be proud of what they accomplished.”
Pine Island won the meet with 61 points, followed by host Blooming Prairie with 76 and WEM/JWP with 78.
T.J. Schiltz cruised to the individual championship by running his best 5,000-meter time of the season. Schiltz ran the course in 15:37.
“T.J. has run well all year, but he was something else today,” said Weber.
Adam Anderson and Raece Johnson continued their year-long battle for the Panthers’ number two runner. Anderson finished 11th in 18:02, with Johnson placing 13th in 18:28.
“It was nice to see Adam and Raece break into the top 15,” said Weber.
Josh Fleming and Zach Mely both broke the 20-minute barrier to round out the Panther scoring. Fleming ran a 19:03 to finish 23rd, while Mely placed 36th in 19:54.
“Josh is turning out to be a great young runner who could really make some waves in the coming years,” said Weber. “Our top five varsity boys all ran personal bests.”
C.J. Schiltz and Aaron Seath also ran the varsity race. Schiltz placed 47th in 21:08, while Seath ran a 22:14 for the 59th position.
Blooming Prairie – Girls
BLOOMING PRAIRIE – Weber was pleased with the Panther girls who placed fifth with 155 points.
WEM/JWP edged Stewartville 50 to 51 to capture the team title.
Pine Island and Lyle/Pacelli also finished ahead of the Panthers. However, NRHEG defeated conference foes Blooming Prairie and Medford.
“This was as well as the girls have run all season,” said Weber.
Katharine Lewer held off Sandra Quezada by three steps to finish first among Panther runners. Lewer ran an 18:23 over 4,000-meters to place 23rd, while Quezada was one second and one place behind her teammate.
Missy Malakowsky finished 27th in the race, covering the course in 19:00.
Kristy Possin held down the fourth spot for NRHEG, placing 46th in 21:09.
Tina Quezada and Marissa Mortenson completed the Panther runners. Quezada was 52nd in 21:50, followed by Mortenson in 53rd at 22:07.
“Missy, Kristy and Tina all dropped at least one minute from their personal bests of the season,” said Weber.
Janesville – Boys
JANESVILLE – NRHEG missed winning a team championship for the first time in many years when it fell one point short of WEM/JWP in the Grizzly Pie Invite at Janesville last Thursday.
WEM/JWP won its own four-team meet with 46 points, one less than the Panthers.
T.J. Schiltz continued to cruise along, winning the race in 16:22.
Anderson and Johnson placed sixth and seventh respectively. Anderson’s 19:00 was seven seconds faster than Johnson.
Fleming ran a 20:20 to finish fourth among Panther runners, followed by Mely in 21:13, C.J. Schiltz in 22:32 and Seath in 23:33.
“We had a disappointing last couple of races where a single place has affected the team scoring and not gone in our favor,” said Weber. “The boys had a great effort tonight with three runners getting on the podium.”
Complete results have not been received.
Janesville – Girls
WEM/JWP won its own meet with a 26-point effort. The rest of the results have not been received as of press time.
Tierney Winter of WEM/JWP earned medalist honors with a 15:59
Sandra Quezada finally bested teammate Katharine Lewer in a race. Quezada, who has been narrowing the gap nearly every meet, ran an 18:53 to earn top honors for the Panthers.
“Sandra is a great captain,” said Weber. “She has run well and practiced hard all year.”
Lewer was NRHEG’s second runner, covering the 4,000-meters in 19:28.
Malakowsky finished just seven seconds behind Lewer, running a 19:35.
Possin and Mortenson rounded out the Panther scoring, finishing in 22:14 and 23:10 respectively.
NRHEG will compete at the Waseca Invitational today.
The Panthers will run at the USC Invite in Freeborn Tuesday.
Blooming Prairie Invite
(Boys): 1)-Pine Island 61, 2)-Blooming Prairie 76, 3)-WEM/JWP 78, 4)-NRHEG 78, 5)-Hayfield 91, 6)-Stewartville 173, 7)-Lyle/Pacelli 185, 8)-Medford 195.
(Girls): 1)-WEM/JHWP 50, 2)-Stewartville 51, 3)-Pine Island 73, 4)-Lyle/Pacelli 83, 5)-NRHEG 155, 6)-Blooming Prairie 162, 7)-Medford 163, 8)-Hayfield 171.
Janesville Grizzly Pie Invite
(Boys): 1)-WEM/JWP 46, 2)-NRHEG 47, 3)-Blue Earth 53, 4)-Maple River 73.
(Girls): 1)-WEM/JWP 26. Remaining results not received.
NEXT: Today – (M/W) NRHEG at Waseca Invite, 4:30 p.m.