Steve Stomberg found himself in a familiar place.
That place? The WIAA State Cross Country Championships in Wisconsin Rapids, where the longtime Shawano cross country coach brought his boys and girls squads to compete in Division 2.
The Hawks weren’t the only area runners competing at the meet, held Nov. 1 at The Ridges Golf Course. Wittenberg-Birnamwood sent its girls team, while Pulaski, Menominee Nation, Bonduel and Gillett sent individuals.
Besides Shawano and Wititenberg-Birnamwood, Menominee Nation’s Bryant Waupoose III also competed in Division 2.
Shawano
The Shawano boys and girls each placed 15th in the Division 2 standings.
Stomberg has brought numerous Shawano teams and individuals to state over his nearly 30 years of overseeing the program, including both teams in 2021, 2022 and 2023; the girls team last year; and a boys co-op team with Gresham in 2006.
“It’s a culture,” he said. “You keep doing what you’ve been doing that’s been successful. You get kids’ families to buy into a program and they commit themselves. That’s what it’s all about. I’m very fortunate in my 28 years that I’ve been coaching in Shawano. Fifteen times I’ve been down here.”
Shawano’s first time at the state meet came in 1954, as the school sent its boys team.
“It was the first time they had cross country in Shawano, and we actually had a team that made it down here,” Stomberg said. “I think it was 1981 that the boys and girls teams made it. Our girls team has been here five years in a row. I have three girls that have been here all four years of high school.”
Being familiar with the course at state is an advantage for runners, according to Stomberg.
“When you step up the starting line, you have the best of the best in the state that you’re competing against,” he said. “You just have to go out there, put your foot on the line and when the gun goes off, you take off. There are a lot more people that are here cheering. Just go out and do it.
“These kids are in physical shape, but it’s the mental toughness once you get here. Even in the conference and sectional races, it’s all about mental preparation. The kids have so many things between the academics that they concentrate on, the athletics they’re involved in and many of them also have jobs. You look at how they’re trying to balance their lives out with all these different things and you still want them to go out and perform to the best of their abilities.”
The Shawano girls and boys teams finished with 318 and 363 points, respectively.
Shawano’’s results in the girls race included Bailey Hendricks (39th, 20:14.6), Tela Hopfensperger, 20:59.6), Mikelah Powers (115th. 21:58.3), Maci Beyer (123rd, 22:11.1), Jai Bisterfeldt (133rd, 22:38), Anabelle Schroeder (134th, 22:38.6) and Emma Nielson (147th, 23:18.7).
“The girls wanted to be back,” Stomberg said. “They wanted five years. They busted their butts, and they did it.”
Josiah Kuehl led the Hawks in the boys race by placing 73rd in 17:36.6 and was followed by Aloysius Frechette (113th, 18:23.4), Teagan Harkey (114th, 18:23.5), Quinten Harkey (121st, 18:40.7), Beckett Hendricks (128th, 19:06.2), Brayden Fish (133rd, 19:13.8) and James Lange (143rd, 19:25.1).
“The boys had an individual that made it last year and this year, the top guy is a junior and I have three sophomores and a freshman,” Stomberg said. “I try to tell these boys that you keep working as hard as you’ve been working and you’re going to make it back down here again. This is something that you want to do. You set your goal to get back here. I told my girls that it’s not a goal to get back here, it’s an expectation. You have what it takes, you have to work in the offseason, you have to apply yourself and good things can happen.”
This year’s girls team included eight seniors, but Stomberg isn’t worried about filling their running shoes.
“That’s going to be tough to replace,” he said. “You know what? We will go out there and keep recruiting. I took my kids to Luigi’s last night for a nice little dinner, and they said some of their classmates were saying it’s easy to get to state in cross country, because you only have one race you have to go to and qualify. They don’t understand that there are 15 good teams at our sectional. If you don’t take off and apply yourself right from the start, you have 15 teams that are competing for the top two spots.
“There are no time outs, there is no halftime. You have to go right from the start. If anyone thinks it’s an easy thing, come on out. We’ll let them join our team and see what it’s like.”
Stomberg will retire as a teacher at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
“As of right now, I’m still going to keep coaching,” he said. “I need to keep doing something, and I’m having fun. If there’s someone that’s interested in keeping the tradition going and do what I have been doing, which I think has been quite successful, I’ll pass it off.”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood
Rory Salvesen led the Chargers girls team to a 14th-place finish by placing 53rd in 20:31. Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s other runners included Harper Krull (87th, 21:05.9), Delilah Schaier (102nd, 21:32.8), Nora Bushman (114th, 21:55.2), Gabrielle Timm (126th, 22:20.6), Lilyana Groh (138th, 22:41.5) and Harper Rogowski (145th, 23:00.9).
Salvesen is the only senior on the team, which finished with 305 points, one spot in the standings ahead of Shawano. The Chargers advanced to state for the second year in a row by edging Shawano by four points at a sectional meet in Merrill.
“We worked together and ran the race as a team,” Salvesen said of the sectional win. “We put one another first and trusted in the training that we’ve done all year long to get us to that point. We knew that it could have been the end (of the season). We were pushing for one more race and spending one more week together as a team.”
Salvesen wrapped up her high school cross country career at state but still has basketball and softball seasons coming up.
“There are definitely a lot of emotions with that,” she said. “I’m going to miss it so much. They all have their special place in my heart. They’re all my favorite. I’m just so grateful that I got to spend time with some of my best friends here.”
Besides running on last year’s team at state, Salvesen also qualified as an individual in Division 3 as a freshman.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood competes in Division 2 with larger schools and communities, including Shawano.
“Our thought behind that is just going out, trying our best and running our race,” Salvesen said. “Whatever happens happens.”
Menominee Nation
Waupoose, a sophomore, improved on last year’s time at state by placing 46th in 17:09.9 and said being familiar with the course helped.
“It really helped a lot,” he said. “I knew where to pick up paces and start picking people off.”
Waupoose said his teammates and family helped make his second season of cross country special.
“My parents really pushed me a lot through the years,” he said. “They had me running at a young age. I really enjoy running and have a really strong passion for running.”
