Two Demon runners just miss qualifying for state

By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
It was oh-so-close for two Burlington High School cross country runners at Saturday’s sectional meet held at Grant Park in South Milwaukee.
“(Michael) Pauly missed qualifying for state by one place,” head coach Rick Koceja noted.
Kit Kocha missed qualifying by two places, finishing just 3-1/2 seconds from a state berth.
Pauly, a senior, completed the 5,000-meter boys course in 17 minutes .01 seconds. That was good enough for 11th overall. He was sixth fastest, though, among individual runners on non-qualifying teams, and the five fastest individuals on non-qualifying teams advance to state. Pauly was nine seconds out of that fifth spot.
Kocha, a junior, was 10th overall in the 4,000-meter girls race, but with five of the top eight runners being from non-qualifying teams, Kocha saw her season come to an end.
Kocha was clocked in 15:44.6. The fifth-fastest individual from a non-qualifying team ran a 15:41.2.
Sophomore Brittany Ehlen was just another seven seconds back in 15:51.8. She finished 13th overall.
Koceja noted that freshman Meta Ehlen ran well, turning in a time of 16:17.9 (27th place). Junior Aleigha Barry also broke 17 minutes, being clocked in 16:45.3 (39th).
Finishing fifth for the girls squad was junior Marah Zinnen in 52nd (17:20.0).
Other Burlington girls who ran at sectional were sophomore Molly Benavides (62nd, 17:48.3) and senior Hannah Peterson (65th, 17:55.3).
The Demon girls finished fifth overall in the team competition with 141 points to end their season. Westosha Central won the girls team event with 64 points, with Franklin also qualifying for state with 93 points.
The boys squad ended its season with a ninth-place finish (248 points). Franklin and Westosha Central were the two qualifying teams on the boys side with 53 and 57 points, respectively.
Sophomore Nathaniel Sibley was 46th in 18:12.8, sophomore Benjamin Lois 57th in 18:33.9, senior Zach Wawrzyniakowski 63rd in 18:52.9, junior Noah Strohm 71st in 19:16.8, junior Conor Schultz 73rd in 19:22.1, and senior Jorge Escobar 78th in 20:19.5.
“Both teams had solid performances,” Koceja said.
The meet was the final one for Pauly, Wawrzyniakowski, Escobar and Peterson, all who are seniors.
“First-season athletes Ben Lois, Conor Schultz and Marah Zinnen were excellent additions to this year’s team,” Koceja said. “A very enjoyable group to coach.”