It’s been more than 20 years since Lena High School’s girls cross country team made back-to-back trips to state, placing seventh in 2001 and fourth the following year in Division 3.
The Wildcats were back at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships for the first time since 2002 and made the most of the opportunity by placing ninth out of 16 Division 3 teams Oct. 31 at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
Lena – now competing as a co-op team with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy of Marinette – competed at this year’s state meet with the Bonduel boys and Wittenberg-Birnamwood girls teams.
Bonduel went on to place 16th in Division 3, while the Chargers placed 15th in Division 2.
Division 3
Lena/STAA wrapped up its season on a strong note after winning Marinette & Oconto Conference and Rosholt Sectional championships.
The Wildcats sent only five runners — seniors Aspynn Anderson and Adrena Rabas and sophomores Alisa Finger, Sydney Pirlot and Brooklyn Viestenz — to the meet, while 13 of the other 16 girls Division 3 teams sent seven.
Anderson led the team by placing 61st in 21:03.6. She was followed by Finger (64th, 24:10.1), Pirlot (89th, 21:57.6), Rabas (90th, 21:58.3) and Viestenz (97th, 22:24.9).
“They’re all such a nice group of girls,” coach Chelsea Heise said. “I have two seniors who are excellent leaders. We had a few new girls come out this year, so it was a perfect mix of good leadership and helping some of the younger runners. They’re very encouraging, work well together and do all the stuff together.”
Besides competing at state as a team, Heise said one of the team’s highlights of the season was winning its sectional meet.
“I didn’t realize we were ranked first in the sectional until about three weeks before,” she said. “Our goal was to win conference again and we did. We saw the sectional and said, ‘Well, let’s go for it and see what happens.’”
Placing in the top 10 with 230 points is a big deal for the team, according to Heise.
“It’s so fun to see these girls,” she said. “They worked so hard, and they’re such a great group. They’re easy to coach and make coming to practice fun every day for us as coaches.”
Heise wasn’t sure how her team would react to running with almost 150 competitors in front of thousands of spectators.
“None of us knew what to expect; this is my first time at state, and it’s been a great experience,” she said. “I leaned on a couple of really good coaching friends. Tina Porath in Oconto has been a great help to me and Bill DeJung in Gillett has been here, too. Not that we winged it, but we had a plan, followed the plan and it went great.”
That plan included the same routine, Heise said.
“We kept the routine the same in practice but lightened the load a little and just talked about having fun,” she said. “The girls had themed dress-up practices all week, so we really did a lot to get excited for it.”
Meanwhile, seniors Gage Anderson, Garrett Anderson, Oliver Chitwood and Joah Dworniczak ran their final cross country races for Bonduel as the Bears placed 16th with 356 points.
“We have the same group of guys that have been running together for eight years,” Gage Anderson said. “This is our senior year, so we had to do good. It feels great. That was the goal.”
Besides the four seniors, juniors Carter Beilfuss and Josiah Ford and sophomore Griffin Richter also ran for the Bears.
“Good coaches and dedicated athletes,” Gage Anderson said when asked why Bonduel’s program has been successful in recent years. “We’ve always had a large team. We take it pretty seriously.”
The Bears advanced to state after winning a sectional meet in Rosholt.
“We were runner-up as freshmen and sophomores,” Anderson said. “To be able to win it was great.”
The Bonduel boys didn’t win a Central Wisconsin Conference championship this season but ran at state with two other CWC teams, Weyauwega-Fremont and Amherst. They ended up placing 10th and 15th, respectively, and Weyauwega-Fremont’s Marcus Benjamin went on to place second overall.
Gage Anderson led the Bears by placing 58th in 17:38, while other places and times were Garrett Anderson (100th, 18:30.2), Chitwood (128th, 19:30), Richter (129th, 19:31.3), Dworniczak (130th, 19:32.9), Ford (139th, 20:11.2) and Beilfuss (141st, 20:12.6).
“We had a lot of guys who came in and just wanted it,” coach Jacob Grenke said. “They worked hard. We had our sixth, seventh and eighth runners, and I think those were the guys that pushed everybody else. That’s what won us the sectional.”
Sending a cross country team to state is nothing new for Bonduel High School, as the boys and girls each have made seven trips in recent years.
The girls team made it to state in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, while the boys competed in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024.
The program’s long list of runners include Mariah Wondra, who placed sixth last year as a senior in the girls Division 3 race and now is a freshman on the women’s cross country and track teams at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“We have a lot of community support and (former coach) Diane Schnell did a pretty good job building the program to where it is now,” Grenke said. “When she handed it over to me, I really didn’t have to work too hard. She gave me a really successful team with a lot of hard workers.
“It depends on what their main sport is. Some use cross country to get in shape, and others use it as their main sport. The more serious ones are running through the summer.”
Division 2
Wittenberg-Birnamwood girls headed to state after winning a CWC championship and placing second at the Rhinelander Sectional.
The Chargers placed 15th with 375 points.
Freshman Brielle Rose led Wittenberg-Birnamwood by placing 80th in 20:59. Other places and times for the Chargers came from senior Gabrielle Timm (110th, 21:34.5), freshman Kendyll Ladwig (115th, 21:45.6), senior Nora Bushman (129th, 22:23.3), junior Harper Krull (131st, 22:27.3), freshman Sophie Wendler (145th, 24:08.8) and sophomore Lilyana Groh (147th, 25:01.3).
Like Bonduel, the state meet is a familiar place for Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s runners.
Heading into this year’s meet, the Chargers girls and boys teams have a combined 13 trips to state. The girls team qualified in 1982, 1986, 1999, 2010, 2016, 2024 and 2025, while the boys made it in 1971, 1973, 1982 and 1997.
The vast majority of Wisconsin’s high school cross country runners never have an opportunity to run at state, and that thought isn’t lost on a coach like Bonduel’s Grenke.
“It’s a state meet,” he said. “Don’t worry about the time; it’s all about placement. You made it and you’re here. Why not see what you can do?”
Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Nora Bushman and Harper Krull run together during the girls Division 2 race at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships. (Greg Seubert)
Bonduel seniors Joah Dworniczak and Oliver Chitwood lead a pack of runners in the boys Division 3 race at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships. (Greg Seubert)
