By Dana Ehrmann
Sports Correspondent
It was a career day for most of the boys and girls of the Catholic Central cross country team on Saturday.
At the Chocolate City Invitational on Oct. 1, every runner secured either a personal best or a season’s best time.
The team as a whole still scored at the bottom of the pack, something that really won’t be remedied overnight, but rather over the offseason.
“We didn’t do great in the team competition, but that’s kind of the status quo, racing all upper division schools,” said Head Coach Sean Birren.
The weather helped each individual push his or her limit this time around, though. Coach Birren considers the temperatures they are experiencing now more ideal than the heat of the beginning of the season.
“Cooler weather is actually great for most athletes unless they don’t warm up well. Usually you’ll be able to press harder and not overheat.”
And press hard they did. The top male runner was again junior John Pum, turning in a 17:58 time that was 38 seconds better than any of his times this season.
Senior Josh Muellenbach was the second Topper finisher at 19:33. That time broke his previous personal best by 29 seconds.
On the girls side, senior Kelly Aldrich ran 45 seconds better than she had all season. Her time was 22:31.
Ellie Nevin, a sophomore, crossed the line at 24:42. That time smashed her previous personal record by one minute, 14 seconds.
Missing in action was junior Brooke Bleser, who battled an ankle injury all week. Coach Birren is hopeful she will be ready to go after taking the week to rest.
The Toppers have one regular season meet left (on Friday at Waterford) before the conference meet on October 15 at UW-Parkside.
Lady Toppers keep fighting despite losses
The girls Catholic Central volleyball team was a picture of consistency last week, but on the wrong side of the win/loss column.
In their match against Martin Luther on Sept. 29, the Lady Toppers dropped all three sets, 25-19.
Back on Sept. 27, they lost to St. Joe’s by a score of 25-20 in all three sets, too.
Against Martin Luther, a few players made their marks.
Junior Emily Swanson assisted her teammates 13 times, while senior Lindsey Lehman added 16 digs and junior Anna Hackbarth provided six kills.
Against St. Joe’s, more of the squad got in on the action.
In addition to sophomore Grace Spiegelhoff’s 10 kills, junior Mikelle Miles had nine and Anna Hackbarth contributed eight.
Emily Swanson tallied 24 total assists for her team.
Defensively, Lindsey Lehman totaled 21 digs with sophomore Elizabeth Klein adding 13. Anna Hackbarth ended with 12.
Still, the Lady Toppers were tagged with both losses, and look to bounce back against St. Cat’s and The Prairie School this week.
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