Shawano boys cross-country team 2nd, girls 3rd at Bay Championship

The Shawano Community High School cross-country teams competed in a unique Bay Conference Championship on Saturday in Seymour.

With only three conference teams in action, the Shawano boys placed second and the girls third.

Due to coronavirus concerns, Bay Conference meets this fall typically only featured two teams running against each other. On rare occasions, there would be three teams squaring off.

The conference meet was supposed to be the first meet where the entire conference participated at the same time, but with a number of schools going virtual over the past few weeks, only Shawano, Seymour and Xavier competed on Saturday.

It was a disappointing culminating event for the conference, but Shawano coach Steve Stomberg said he was just happy that the Hawks could participate.

“What really fired me up (to run despite it not being a full Bay Conference event) was running against some teams we already did and trying to compete better with them,” said Shawano runner Ethan Onesti. “So I had that in the back of my mind.”

Onesti was the top finisher for the Shawano boys team, placing second with a time of 18 minutes, 2.1 seconds.

Aidan Preston (18:25.8), Alec White (18:43.1) and Andon Chelberg (18:48.7) also finished in the top 10, taking seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively. Will Chelberg (19:13) capped the team score by placing 11th.

Grace Chelberg and Lily Guenther each turned in top-10 finishes for the Shawano girls team. Chelberg was third in 21:44.6 and Guenther took seventh in 22:25.5.

Timea Kovacs (25:45.4), Onna Hermann (26:37.1) and Jenna Arens (26:41.8) rounded out the team score, taking 15th, 16th and 18th, respectively.

“I’m very proud on how the girls on my team placed and they all ran hard,” said Chelberg. “We all love pushing each other in each race!”

With the conference season now in the rear view mirror, Shawano will ready itself for postseason action. The Hawks are scheduled to next run in a Division 1 Neenah Subsectional on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Boys team scores: 1. Seymour 19; 2. Shawano 39; 3. Xavier 70.

Girls team scores: 1. Xavier 26; 2. Seymour 48; 3. Shawano 59.

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