County runners earn all-conference honors at Coulee Championship meet

Multiple county athletes secured all-conference honors with successful runs at Saturday’s Coulee Conference championships.

West Salem continued its impressive season, sweeping the meet and taking home both the boys and girls conference championships. 

The Panthers also had both individual champions in Mia Olson (20 minutes, 4.7 seconds) on the girls’ side and Carson Gronemus (17:00.8) on the boys’ side.

Both Arcadia and G-E-T saw runners leave Saturday’s meet at Arcadia High School with all-conference honors.

The Arcadia boys were the second-best team behind West Salem and were helped by four runners placing in the top 10—Nestor Badillo was the Raiders’ fastest runner, placing sixth in 17:31.3 and was followed by teammates Peyton Nelson (seventh), Andy Monroy (ninth) and Cole Lockington (10th).

Badillo and Nelson earned first team all-conference honors by placing in the top seven times on a rain-soaked course Saturday, while Monroy and Lockington will be second team all-conference athletes this fall by finishing in the top 14.

Arcadia coach Tim Braunschweig said finishing second at the meet was a solid performance, especially considering how strong West Salem is — the Panthers had the five fastest times in the boys’ race on Saturday.

“They’ve been working hard all season,” Braunschweig said of his runners. “We got a couple of first team all-conference kids, so that was good. And then a couple are second team, so just really happy with that.”

Adrianna Rotering is hoping for a second consecutive trip to the WIAA Division Two state championship run, which will require a top five finish for the G-E-T senior at the sectional meet this Saturday at Maple Grove Venues in West Salem.

Rotering has momentum heading into this weekend, earning the best finish of any county runner at Saturday’s conference meet. 

Rotering led the G-E-T girls with a fifth-place run in 21:22.7, good for a spot on the first team all-conference squad.

“It’s a little difficult course with some of the hills but overall there are a lot of good downhills that you can really use when you’re running,” Rotering said after the race.

Teammate AJ Parker earned second team all-conference honors, taking 10th in 22:07.1.

Rotering said she and Parker push each other every day in practice, adding that Parker has made her a better runner.

“AJ has always been a top runner since we were both freshmen. We’ve always been pushing each other whether it’s in workouts or on the course. We just both motivate each other. She pushes me, I push her,” Rotering said.

Anya Wolfe ran to 18th, and G-E-T teammates Isabella Tibbitts (23rd) and Reyna Garcia (25th) also cracked the top 25 times.

Freshman Adrian Bautista took 12th in his first trip to the conference meet for G-E-T and joined senior teammate Xander Burmeister (14th) with second team all-conference awards as the Red Hawks finished third in the boys team scores.

Carter Giemza took 18th and Sawyer Smock finished 19th for the Red Hawks, which also saw AJ Earney (28th) and Liam Caya (29th) finish inside the top 30.

Arcadia’s lone girls runner was Nayeli Reyes, who finished 54th.

Boys cross country, Coulee Conference Championships, Oct. 14 at Arcadia High School

West Salem 15, Arcadia 51, G-E-T 83, Westby 91, Luther 151, Viroqua 168, Black River Falls 169

Arcadia—Badillo, sixth, 17:31.3; Nelson, seventh, 17:41.8; Monroy, ninth, 17:57.5; Lockington, 10th, 18:12; Aguilar, 21st, 19:11.7; Hernandez, 34th, 20:10.

G-E-T—Bautista, 12th, 18:24.5; Burmeister, 14th, 18:46; Giemza, 18th, 18:56.9; Smock, 19th, 18:59.5; Earney, 28th, 19:40.8; Caya, 29th, 19:47; Spitzmacher, 37th, 20:24.9.

Girls cross country, Coulee Conference Championships, Oct. 14 at Arcadia High School

West Salem 27, Westby 61, Viroqua 74, G-E-T 76, Luther 112

G-E-T—Rotering, fifth, 21:22.7; Parker, 10th, 22:07.1; Wolfe, 18th, 22:50.7; Tibbitts, 23rd, 23:15.5; Garcia, 25th, 23:18.8; Gold, 32nd, 24:30; Tarjeson, 33rd, 24:31.9.

Arcadia—Reyes, 54th, 29:32.3.