From left: Eva Lynch, Summer Peterson, Elsie Kmecak, Kaleigh Lynch, Morgan Ramsey, Bernadette Frisch (Submitted/Standard Press).
Team is first ever from school to qualify for state tournament
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
Catholic Central head coach Rick Koceja knew he had something special with his girls cross country team this fall.
At a WIAA Division 3 cross country sectional Saturday at UW-Whitewater, the team showed its full capabilities and made some school history in the process.
The Catholic Central girls took second overall and became the first Toppers squad to qualify for the WIAA state tournament.
The performance was the culmination of a strong season in which the Topper girls have finished among the top three of many events.
On the boys side, Sam Henderson placed sixth with a time of 18:03, qualifying for state for the first time in cross country. He qualified in the 3,200-meter run for track.
Koceja was pleased with the overall performance and sang the girls’ praises.
“It was an awesome performance by the Lady Toppers on a very challenging course,” Koceja said.
“Morgan was a solid lead runner. Elsie, Bernadette and Kaleigh ran tough as a pack, and Eva had an amazing race, running a personal best by over a minute. Summer ran a gutty race.”
Morgan Ramsey placed sixth with a 21:39.
Elsie Kmecak took 18th (22:39), Bernadette Frisch was 21st (22:51) and Kaleigh Lynch placed 22nd (22:56).
Eva Lynch took 30th with a 24:10, and Summer Peterson was 52nd with a 25:57.
The girls placed second with 86 points, behind first-place Ozaukee’s 44.
Dodgeland landed in third with 90 points.
The boys took 11th out of 16 teams with 290 points.
Koceja said Henderson belongs at state, adding the seniors stepped up.
“Sam was able to secure the final individual qualifying spot and is most deserving of competing at state,” Koceja said. “The guys ran within their abilities, led by our dedicated seniors Sam, Conall (Lynch) and Paul (Nevin).”
Matthias Murphy took 56th with a 20:10, Lynch placed 75th with a time of 21:08, and Evander Craig was 88th with a 22:20.
The WIAA state meet will be held Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
The Division 3 girls start at 1:20 p.m., and the boys run at 3:10.
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