By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
With two runners in the top nine and four in the top 13 spots, the Burlington High School girls cross country team finished second at the Southern Lakes Conference Meet held at Lutherdale Saturday.
Kit Kocha led the Demon girls by finished fifth overall to earn first-team all-conference honors. Kocha was clocked in 16 minutes one second over the 4,000-meter girls’ course.
Brittany Ehlen, Meta Ehlen and Ashlyn Barry all earned second team honors, placing ninth, 12th and 13th.
Brittany Ehlen was just 10 seconds behind Kocha, with Meta Ehlen another seven seconds back, and Ashlyn Barry just one second behind Meta Ehlen.
Aleigha Barry finished 20th overall in 16:50. That gave the top five Demon girls all times under 17 minutes.
Marah Zinnen was 26th in 17:15, Jenna Fitzpatrick 34th in 18:05 and Miranda Reed 45th in 18:58.
As a team, the girls tallied 57 points to take second behind Westosha, which had just 30 points.
For the Demon boys, Nathaniel Sibley earned second-team all-conference honors by finishing 12th overall in 17:56 over the 5,000-meter boys’ course. Head coach Rick Koceja noted that Sibley was strong over the last 700 megters, passing three runners.
“Very pleased to have four females and one male earn all-conference honors,” Koceja said. “It’s a credit to their determination and desire to do the best under any circumstance.”
The Demon boys placed fourth as a team, with 128 points, with Badger winning the boys’ event with just 25 points.
“Noah Strohm had a gutty performance to place 15th (18:04), and the pack of Kiel Kivisto, Conor Schultz and Joe Kusik ran a solid race,” Koceja added.
Kivisto was clocked in 19:07, Schultz in 19:08, and Kusik in 19:32.
The other two Demon boys who competed in the varsity race were Ethan Wills (39th, 19:50) and Emilio Pettis (41st, 19:55).
Schedule
Postseason action begins Saturday, Oct. 26, with sectionals held at UW-Parkside. The girls’ race begins at 11 a.m., with the boys taking off at 1 p.m.
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