Cross-Country: Bonduel boys, girls teams headed back to state

Updated: 12:45 p.m., 10/27

WESTFIELD — The Bonduel High School boys and girls cross-country teams are headed back to state after second-place finishes at the Division 3 Westfield Sectional on Saturday.

The Bonduel boys team posted a score of 72, while the girls tallied an 80. Gillett finished first in both races, with the girls team posting a 36 and the boys a 37.

Kara Troxel led the Bonduel girls team with a fifth-place finish in 21 minutes, 4.82 seconds. Carter Kurey came in eighth with a mark of 18:22.59 to pace the boys.

Cooper Uelmen (18:57.16), Jack Johnson (19:09.26) and Karter Schroeder (19:20.59) also turned in strong finishes for the boys, placing 14th, 17th and 20th, respectively. Ayden Dunst (19:24.27) capped the team score by placing 24th.

"We pushed ourselves through the entire race," said Uelmen. "We didn’t let anyone pass us and we sped up to pass any kid ahead of us, especially a (Weyauwega-Fremont) or (St. Mary Catholic) runner, because we knew they were going to give everything they had since we were in the spot to beat."

"It means a lot to all of us just to have the opportunity to go back to state," said Johnson. "We've all worked so hard for this moment and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to run with these guys. All season it's been constant switching within our lineup and we're just a super competitive group of guys who go out each practice and just wanna compete."

Kalleigh Schroeder earned a top-20 finish in the girls race, taking 15th in 22:30.66.

"Qualifying for state means a lot to me," said Schroeder. "This is my first year in cross-country so being to qualify with the team is very exciting. We all worked very hard to get here and sharing that as a team is amazing. It’s something I will never forget."

Madison Kurey (23:03.88) placed 21st, Kendra Troxel (23:22.92) 23rd and Breanna Schnell (23:23.21) 24th to cap off the girls team score.

"It is such an honor making it to state again," said Schnell. "I am beyond proud of each of my teammates, even if we didn’t take first place. We all went out and gave it our all and that is what matters most."

Bonduel will send its teams to Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Nov. 2 for the Cross-Country Championships.

The Division 3 girls race is set for a 1:20 p.m., start, while the D3 boys hit the course at 3:10 p.m.

Leo Schultz was the lone Wolf River Lutheran runner to compete at the sectional. He came in 95th with a time of 22:49.44.

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Full results from the sectional can be found at www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Fall/Girls-Cross-Country/Tournament.