Raider boys first, Michalak third in girls race at Arcadia XC invite
Cole Lockington finished ninth to lead the Arcadia boys cross country team to the title at the Gerald Holte Invitational in Arcadia on Saturday while Tegan Michalak was fourth for the Arcadia girls team. (Times photographs by Andrew Dannehy)
Blair-Taylor’s Kristoffer Sandal finished third while Independence/Gilmanton’s Gracie Rombalski was was sixth at the Gerald Holte Invitational in Arcadia on Saturday. (Times photographs by Andrew Dannehy)
A team title for the boys and a fourth place finish from junior Tegan Michalak was the culmination of a fine day of racing for the Arcadia High School cross country team at its home invitational on Saturday.
The Raiders were one of four Trempealeau County teams to run in the event, and each saw varying levels of success.
Arcadia and G-E-T were slated to compete in the conference championship race on Saturday in West Salem, while Independence/Gilmanton and Blair-Taylor will join Whitehall at the Dairyland Conference run in Cochrane-Fountain City on Thursday.
Arcadia claimed the top team score in the boys race on Saturday, led by a fifth place finish from junior Nestor Badillo. The Raiders had a solid pack just behind Badillo, seeing five different runners claim top 20 finishes on Saturday (Cole Lockington, Peyton Nelson, Andy Monroy, Ivan Aguilar).
Michalak claimed the top county finish with a fourth-place performance in the girls race on Saturday, finishing in 22 minutes, 28.2 seconds. Edith Gonzalez finished 58th and Galy Barragan was 59th for Arcadia.
Independence/Gilmanton placed third as a group, paced by freshman Taylor Sylla’s fifth place finish and Gracie Rombalski’s sixth place run. Leah Sylla finished 23rd followed by Kia Back, 34th; Bianca Najera, 47th and Hannah Gierok, 55th.
Claire Becker of Melrose-Mindoro crossed the finish line first for all girl runners in 20:28, and Aquinas claimed the top team score. Aquinas’ Jonathan Skemp took medalist honors in the boys race, running a leading 16:38.1.
Blair-Taylor saw a pair of top 10 finishes just behind Skemp—Kristoffer Sandal ran to third place to lead Trempealeau County runners and Delorean Peterson took seventh. The Wildcats also got a 16th place run from Jacob Olson and took third as a team. Anthony Oldendorf finished 27th; Juan Lopez, 41st; Ben Kidd, 47th and Riley Gunderson, 50th.
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau also competed on Saturday, finishing eighth in the boys race and sixth in the girls race. Junior Jack Beedle led the way for the boys—taking 29th—while sophomore Anya Wolfe finished 20th to lead the Red Hawk girls.
Quinn O’Neil was 32nd for the G-E-T boys followed by Liam Caya, 39th; Nathanael Sorenson, 56th; Max Wilhborg, 61st and Grant Ruiter, 64th. Aubrynn Rotering finished 39th for the G-E-T girls followed by Ellie Gold, 40th; Nora Higgins, 41st and Raylin Cooksey, 59th.
Blair-Taylor was led in the girls race by Emmalee Johnson, who took 35th. Ella Halverson (37th) and Kelsey Lien (51st) also ran for the Wildcats.
Boys cross country, Holte Invitational, Oct. 8 at Arcadia High School
Arcadia 43, Aquinas 51, Blair-Taylor 79, Chippewa Valley 99, Columbus Catholic 130, Necedah 158, Hope Farm School 179, G-E-T 181
Arcadia—N. Badillo, fifth, 17:34.4; Lockington, ninth, 18:20.2; Nelson, 12th, 18:39.7; Monroy, 13th, 18:49.8; Aguilar, 17th, 19:13.8; M. Badillo, 26th, 20:46.2; Dahl, 31st, 21:27.7.
B-T—Sandal, third, 17:11.7; Peterson, seventh, 17:50.2; Olson, 16th, 19:09.6; Oldendorf, 27th, 20:50.4; Lopez, 41st, 22:05; Kidd, 47th, 22:49.1; Gunderson, 50th, 23:16.1.
G-E-T—Beedle, 29th, 21:11.2; O’Neil, 32nd, 21:31.5; Caya, 39th, 21:43.4; Sorenson, 56th, 24:21.6; Wihborg, 61st, 25:09.8; Ruiter, 64th, 25:19.7.
Girls cross country, Holte Invitational, Oct. 8 at Arcadia High School
Aquinas 37, Melrose-Mindoro 59, Loyal/Greenwood 71, Independence/Gilmanton 89, Chippewa Valley 120, G-E-T 145
Arcadia—Michalak, fourth, 22:25.8; Gonzalez, 58th, 31:24.4; Barragan, 59th, 32:01.2.
I/G—T. Sylla, fifth, 22:28.2; Rombalski, sixth, 22:49.8; L. Sylla, 23rd, 25:09.5; Back, 34th, 25:59.3; Najera, 47th, 27:43.4; Gierok, 55th, 30:42.6.
G-E-T—Wolfe, 20th, 25:07.6; Rotering, 39th, 26:42.6; Gold, 40th, 26:43.4; Higgins, 41st, 26:43.6; Cooksey, 59th, 32:25.6.
B-T—Johnson, 35th, 26:07.7; Halverson, 37th, 26:37; Lien, 51st, 28:16.3.
Arcadia boys fourth, I/G girls fifth at Chileda Classic
Two area teams cracked the top five racing against a mix of large schools and small schools with strong programs at the Chileda Classic in West Salem last week Monday.
The Arcadia boys team had three runners finish inside the top 20 as they finished fourth, behind Chippewa Falls, La Crosse Logan and La Crosse Aquinas. Nestor Badillo led the team, finishing 10th overall while Cole Lockington was 13th and Andy Monroy finished 19th. Peyton Nelson was just outside the top 20, taking 21st followed by Matthew Padillo, 32nd; Ivan Aguilar, 36th and Irbin Ortiz, 56th.
The Independence/Gilmanton girls team had two runners crack the top 10 as they were fifth in the team standings. Taylor Sylla finished eighth for the Indees, one spot better than Gracie Rombalski. Leah Sylla was third on the team and 24th overall followed by Kia Back, 42nd; Andrea Laehn, 55th; Bianca Najera, 56th and Hannah Gierok, 64th.
I/G was the only area school to have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
Arcadia had four runners, including the top area finisher, Tegan Michalak, who took sixth out of 70 runners. Edith Gonzalez finished 66th; Nayeli Reyes, 68th and Getsemani Maldonado, 70th.
Blair-Taylor had three runners, led by Emmalee Johnson, who finished 39th. Ella Halverson took 48th and Kelsey Lien was 54th.
Kristoffer Sandal finished second out of 98 runners for B-T in the boys race as they finished sixth in the team standings. Delorean Peterson finished 11th, Jacob Olson, 34th; Anthony Oldendorf, 45th; Ben Kidd, 69th; Juan Lopez, 74th and Riley Gunderson, 77th.
Whitehall finished eighth, led by Titus Buhl who was 44th. Matthew Poulos was second on the team and 62nd overall followed by Oriah Anderson, 67th; Brayden Lisowski, 76th, Theodore Mikesell, 86th and Ashton Hanson, 91st.
Girls cross country, La Crosse Chileda Classic, Oct. 3 at Maple Grove Venues, West Salem
Brookwood 32 Chippewa Falls 76 Luther 89 Cashton 90 I/G 115 Aquinas 124 Logan 161
Arcadia — Michalak, sixth, 21:34; Gonzalez, 66th, 30:42; Reyes, 68th, 34:37; Maldonado, 70th, 37:46
Blair-Taylor —Johnson, 39th, 25:16; Halverson, 48th, 26:24; Lien, 54th, 27:30
I/G —T. Sylla, eighth, 21:59; Rombalski, ninth, 22:03; L. Sylla, 24th, 23:55; Back, 42nd, 25:28; Laehn, 55th, 27:50; Najera, 56th, 28:32; Gierok 64th, 30:22
Boys cross country, La Crosse Chileda Classic, Oct. 3 at Maple Grove Venues, West Salem
Chippewa Falls 42 Logan 68 Aquinas 77 Arcadia 88 Luther 127 B-T 130 Cashton 197 Whitehall 234
Arcadia — N. Badillo, 10th, 18:00; Lockington, 13th, 18:08; Monroy, 19th, 18;41; Nelson, 21st, 19:53; M. Badillo, 32nd, 19:55; Aguilar 36th, 20:18; Ortiz, 56th, 21:26
Blair-Taylor —Sandal, second, 16:54; Peterson, 11th, 18:01; Olson, 34th, 20:08; Oldendorf, 45th, 20:47; Kidd, 69th, 22:34; Lopez, 74th, 22:55; Gunderson, 77th, 23:26
Whitehall — Buhl, 44th, 20:45; Poulos, 62nd, 21:45; Anderson, 67th, 22:27; Lisowski, 76th, 23:20; Mikesell, 86th, 26:05; Hanson, 91st, 28:36
