Local runners lead the way at area meets
Shawano and Oconto Falls dominated the Bonduel Invitational on Sept. 12, with runners from the two schools grabbing six of the top 10 positions.
Ethan Onesti had the fastest time of 17:34.8 to lead the Hawks to a first-place finish. He was joined by teammates Will Chelberg in fourth place (19:09.9), Andon Chelberg in sixth (19:25.2) and Josiah Kuehl in seventh (19.25.3). Quinn Olson placed 13th for Shawano.
Ben Adams led second-place Oconto Falls with a second-place finish in 17:36.5, with Giffin Kopke placing fifth in 19:12.0. Other Panthers included Brant Laluzerne in 12th place in 20:25.2, Emerson Rice in 25th in 21:22.8 and Landon Timm in 34th in 21.59.0. Bonduel placed third and was led by Ben O’Brien in third place in 18.22.1. He was joined by teammates Race Anvelink in 11th place in 20:09.0, Griffin Uelmen in 17th in 20:41.3, Oliver Chitwood in 23rd in 21:04.9 and Gage Anderson in 26th in 21:33.9.
Menominee Indian placed fourth and was followed by Oconto, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Crivitz, Weyauwega-Fremont, Oneida Nation and Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy.
Ryan Corn paced Menominee Indian, finishing in eighth place in 19:29.1. Not too far off his pace were Barron Waupoose in 15th in 20:36.9, Julius Kaquatosh in 16th in 20:37.4 and Francis Delabrau in 19th in 20:51.2. Tony Corn finished in 53rd place with a time of 24:10.2.
Joey Seegmiller led Wittenberg-Birnamwood with a 21st-place finish in 20:51.7. He was joined by Jonas Bushman in 24th in 21:14.5, Hayden Miller in 33rd in 21:57.6, Carson Meronk in 37th in 22:25.2 and Milo Salveson in 40th in 22:25.2.
For Lena/St. Thomas, it was Erik Kosch in 38th place in 22:18.9, Dane Comins in 57th in 24:34.4, Mason Spice in 58th in 24:56.7, Dominic Tanguay in 59th in 25:18.1 and Robert Alberts in 66th in 31:27.3.
Shawano athletes also captured the girls meet, followed by Bonduel, Oconto Falls, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Weyauwega-Fremont, Freedom, Lena/St. Thomas and Oconto.
Rory Salveson of Wittenberg-Birnamwood won the meet in 21:03.3, Bonduel’s Mariah Wondra placed second in 21:16.7, and Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Nora Bushman placed third in 21:28.6.
All five Shawano runners ended up in the top 10.
Lilly Guenther was fourth in 21:32.2. In spots six, seven, eight and nine, respectively, were Bailey Hendricks in 22:19.1, Maci Beyer in 22:28.0, Adalyn Barkley in 22:30.4 and Grace Chelberg in 22:33.2.
As for Bonduel, Ashlyn Kurey nabbed the No. 10 spot in 22:39.2. Teammates included Teagan Engel in 12th in 22:46.4, Joselyn Bohm in 17th in 23:25.8 and Cierra Schnell in 21st in 24:21.0.
Oconto Falls placed its five best runners in the top 20, including Brooke Hodkiewicz in fifth in 21:49.9. She was joined by Hailey Delzer in 11th place in 22:46.2, Emma Meissner in 14th in 23:10.4, Hannah Ludemann in 15th in 23:23.7 and Ava Hodkiewicz in 20th in 24:14.7.
In addition to Salveson and Bushman, fellow Chargers and their finishes were Gabrielle Timm in 16th in 23:25.2, Jayden Zeinert in 35th in 27:47.6 and Ava Hegewald in 48th in 32:59.0.
Runners for Lena/St. Thomas were Adrena Rabas in 22nd in 24:31.3, Aspen Anderson in 25th in 25:46.5, Haley VanArk in 42nd in 30:10.2, Kali Fischer in 45th in 30:40.6 and Hannah Thomson in 46th in 31:03.2.
Jakubek-Willems Invite, Sept. 12
Pulaski had four boys break into the top 10 at the Jakubek-Willems Invite on Sept. 12 at Winnegamie Golf Course in Neenah, hosted by St. Mary Catholic. The team also finished in first place among six schools.
Parker Marshall led the Red Raiders with a second-place finish in 17:28, just 12 seconds better than teammate Daniel Augustine, who placed third in 17:40. Also in the top 10 were Dayne Nowak, sixth place, 17:53; and Arden Gillen, ninth place, 18:13.
Also running for Pulaski were Peyton Yew in 15th, Thomas Murphy in 26th, Dayne Groth in 33rd, Enrique Strange in 38th, Isaac Sonneberg in 44th, Ben Augustine in 56th, Grayden Gossen in 59th, Nolan Greene in 61st, Jackson Mikulsky in 63rd, Lucas Ford in 65th, Dan Binder in 66th, Patrick Lara in 77th, Liam Ford in 78th and Ravyn Fryn in 79th.
The Pulaski girls did not compete as a team, but Olivia Stedl led the Red Raiders with a third-place finish in 20:51.
She was joined by Estella Vieaux in 29th, Briana Anundsen in 38th and Katelyn Cuturia in 57th.
Shawano Invitational, Sept. 9
Several dozen boys and girls cross country teams from schools in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 competed in Shawano on Sept. 9, with Onesti grabbing the top spot for boys in the Division 2 category.
Onesti set the pace for Hawks teammates Will Chelberg in third, Andon Chelberg in 10th, Kuehl in 11th and Trevor Schwartz in 25th.
Oconto Falls placed fifth and was led by Adams in fifth place. He was joined by Kopke in 19th, Laluzerne in 27th, Rice in 39th and Sage Mendolla in 43rd.
In sixth place was Menominee Indian. Runners there were Ryan Corn in 15th, Kaquatosh in 28th, Waupoose in 31st, Delabrau in 32nd and Anikohsaeh Corn in 46th.
In Division 3, Gillett finished in second and Bonduel in third.
Gillett was led by Bradyn Wendorff in third place. He was joined by Nash Stage in 11th, Scott Herroux in 13th, Ben Peterson in 14th and Chase Anderson in 16th.
Bonduel was led by O’Brien in fourth and Anvelink in eighth. Also part of the Bears scoring contingent were Anderson in 17th, Chitwood in 18th and Uelmen in 21st.
“Notable performances by Ben O’Brien, getting much closer to our school record set back in 1989 by Joshua Tiebo,” said Bonduel coach Diane Schnell.
Among the seven girls teams running in Division 2, Shawano placed second and Oconto Falls was fifth.
For the Hawks, it was Hendricks in third, Guenther in seventh, Chelberg in 10th, Barkley in 19th and Beyer in 20th.
Brooke Hodkiewicz led Oconto Falls with an eighth-place run, followed by Delzer in 22nd, Meissner in 26th, Ludemann in 28th and Josie Holtz in 31st.
For the Division 3 girls, it was Bonduel easily in first, with Suring in fourth.
All Bonduel girls finished in the top 10, with Wondra, a sophomore, grabbing first place in 20:16.5. A minute behind her was Engel in third in 21:18.4. In seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, were Bohm in 22:07.4, Kurey in 22:43.1 and Schnell in 23:03.8.
“Nearly all girls improved their times and had a solid performance,” Schnell said. “Our lead girl, Mariah Wondra, also set a new PR (personal record), putting her second to record holder Kara Troxel in 2018.”
Bonduel placed ninth overall against all D1, D2 and D3 schools.
As for Suring, Georgia Schendt was 11th and Ginger Schendt was 12th. Allyson Seibert finished in 16th, with Samantha Seibert in 18th and Natalie Seibert in 23rd.