Oct 24, 2022

This Saturday, the boys and girls varsity cross country teams competed in the WIAA Division 2 Sectional meet in Prairie Du Chien. The girls took the win and are state bound, but the boys sadly fell short by only 1 point and were not able to qualify for state. 

The girls went into the meet very confidently, and it was looking like it would be an outstanding race for the team when all seven runners passed through the first mile in under six minutes. Ellie and Annie Robinson led the race, which they have been doing at nearly every race all season. Senior Julia Thomspon stayed in the pack that followed right behind the twins. Brienna Wasley, Grace Wersal, Addison Christopher, and Regan Schuette began to break apart at this point. The four usually run as if connected at the hip, but this race was beginning to tell a different story. Wasley went up to run by Thompson, which really propelled her forward in the race. Wersal followed behind them, and Christopher with Wersal in her sights. Schuette dropped back dramatically between the first and second mile, but knew she was able to rely on her teammates. The hills on this course were brutal, and the temperature of 70 degrees was a lot to handle after running in snow earlier this week. Almost every team saw changes in the places of their runners, some even having their usual 5th runner become their 1st. The Dodge-Point team was no exception to this when Annie Robinson began to see spots with a quarter mile left. Every teammate that passed after her had to be yelled at not to touch or help her, for fear of disqualification. Robinson did finish the race on her own, and received immediate medical attention afterwards.

The team places were as follows: Ellie Robinson 2nd, Julia Thompson 9th, Brienna Wasley 10th, Grace Wersal 17th, Addison Christopher 20th, Annie Robinson 33rd, and Regan Schuette 35th. With Robinson finishing 30 spots behind what she would have on any other day, the team was not sure where their fate lay. The team waited around anxiously for updates on Annie, the boy’s race, and awards. When 3rd place was announced, there were sighs of relief all around; when 2nd place was announced, there were shouts of joy. It was very exciting to hear Dodge-Point announced as first, but the anxious feelings returned when it came time to announce the boys’ results.

The boys did not have it as easy as the girls did; they all knew they had to have the best race of their career in order to move on to the state meet. Even though most of the boys had an outstanding performance, they were not able to make it. Sophomore Layne Aurit, however, did advance as an individual.  The top 5 runners in the race were able to qualify for state individually, and Aurit finished 6th overall. Joey Robinson, who finished his last ever high school cross country race, came down the chute in 15th place. Just after him came Parker Owens in 17th. Alex LaMere finished next in 28th place. Gabe Engel impressed everyone by finishing only 2 seconds after LaMere in 29th place. Jesse Yoder finished 37th, and last but not least, senior Lucas Sullivan finished in 48th place. Everyone understood that awards would be stressful, knowing that one Dodge-Point team made it and one team lost by 1 point. When they said Dodge-Point got third, everyone’s hearts sunk. The boys were disappointed but knew that they would work harder next season to achieve their goals.