Shawano girls 2nd, boys 3rd at conference cross-country championship

The Shawano Community High School cross-country teams performed well at the Bay Conference Championship on Oct. 15 in Shawano.

The Shawano girls placed second with 51 points, only behind Xavier (34). The Shawano boys team tallied 75 points to take third, finishing behind Xavier (43) and West De Pere (49).

Bailey Hendricks and Lily Guenther paced the girls team, placing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Hendricks completed the course in 19 minutes, 53.9 seconds.

“Many things contributed to how I ran today. My team is a key factor in this, especially Lily Guenther. Lily pushes me to my limits and helps me to be a stronger runner. She is always encouraging and supportive,” said Hendricks.

“Another essential thing that helped me going into this race was having physical and mental goals set. I believe that having those set goals helped me to do so well.”

Guenther posted a time of 20:03.4.

“Honestly, today wasn’t my strongest race, so I was really lucky to have a teammate like Bailey to run with,” said Guenther. “It’s really reassuring that even if I do not have my best race, our team will be OK because we can rely on each other for support and motivation.”“

Grace Chelberg and Maci Beyer also placed in the top 15 for the Hawks. Chelberg was ninth in 20:22.6, with Beyer in 15th in 21:00.

Adalyn Barkley (21:34) took 22nd, while Anabelle Schroeder (21:43.5) was 23rd. Lauren Harkey (22:18.3) claimed 26th, with Trinity Popelka (23:15.3) coming in 32nd.

“Finishing second at our conference meet proved that our team’s hard work is paying off,” said Hendricks. “I also believe that finishing second will help the girls team get into the right mindset to run well and achieve greatness at sectionals.”

The Shawano boys’ top finisher also came in fourth. Ethan Onesti turned in a time of 16:31.2.

“Before the race, I made a personal goal that I was going to achieve in the race,” said Onesti. “Most of the race I had a lot of adrenaline running through me, so I used it to help me achieve my personal goal.”

Will Chelberg claimed sixth in 16:51.9.

“The cold weather was definitely something we had to contend with in terms of warming up,” said Chelberg. “I went out strong and tried to stay with the leaders and was happy with my finish.”

Andon Chelberg finished 10th in 17:33.6. Connor Chelberg placed 23rd in 18:25.8.

Quinn Olson (19:03.3) came in 34th for the Hawks. Jaymin Boivin (19:33.2) claimed 37th, and Aidan Preston (20:12.1) was 42nd.

Full results from the conference championship can be found at www.athletic.net.

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