WEST SALEM — The plan for the West Salem High School boys cross country team was to run together in the pack at the front until the two-mile mark, then race to the finish line.
That’s when sophomore Evan Berra took off and proved that no one was going to catch him at Saturday’s Gale Johnson Invitational at Maple Grove Venues.
Berra crossed the finish line at 16 minutes, 51.1 seconds to highlight a 1-2-3 finish for the victorious Panthers.
West Salem’s boys ran to a team score of 42 on the 5,000-meter course, and the Aquinas girls had the top two finishers — including sophomore champion Sanjana Musafir — on their way to the same score of 42.
“We wanted our top four to stick together and then see how it panned out,” said Berra, who led senior Carson Gronemus (second, 17:07.2) and junior Andrew Lorenz (third, 17:11.3) across the finish line. “I was out front (at the two-mile mark) and decided to just go.”
Sophomores Owen McKinney (17th, 18:19.4) and Landon Rieber (19th, 18:23.6) also had scoring runs for the Panthers, who started their season with a team win at the Ken Trott Invitational in Westby four days ago.
Aquinas also won the girls championship at the Ken Trott and joins West Salem with a pair of team titles before the beginning of September.
The Blugolds also had junior Emily Bagniefski (second,20:37.9) and senior Alexa Myre (fifth, 21:00.2) in the top five to hold off second-place West Salem and its score of 49.
Senior Madelyn Grossbach (15th, 22:44.1)and junior Helen Onyebor (19th, 22:51) also had scoring runs for the Blugolds on Saturday.
West Salem’s girls were led by sixth-place freshman Nora Johnson (21:02.9), junior Elis Flock (eighth, 21:45.4), sophomore Anna Witte (ninth, 21:51.7) and junior Sam MacRogers (10th, 22:00.1) in the top 10. Junior Anna Knudson (16th, 22:48.9) gave the Panthers their team score.
Third-place Onalaska (87) was led by sophomore Sadie Peterson (seventh, 21:11.3) and junior Francesca Vriens (11th, 22:04.6). Sophomore Maya Hartman (18th, 22:50.8), freshman Madelyn Davidheiser (22nd, 23:20.1) and sophomore Abbie Hanson (29th, 23:55.7) also scored for the Hilltoppers.
Onalaska’s boys placed fifth with a score of 144, and Aquinas (eighth, 179) and Onalaska Luther (10th, 241) followed in the 12-team field.
Junior Carson Fink (eighth, 17:48.9) was the top runner on any of those teams, and senior Porter Mallady (26th, 18:48.3), junior Sam Sulentic (33rd, 19:05.9), senior Luke Archer (34th, 19:13.9) and senior Lewis Go (43rd, 19:38.3) rounded out the team score for the Hilltoppers.
The Blugolds were led by 12th-place senior Kaleb Azene (17:59.1) and 13th-place senior Oliver Buck (17:59.2) with backup from freshmen Nolan Vandenlangenberg (46th,19:45), Spencer Buck (53rd, 20:23.9) and Alex Boland (55th, 20:27).
The Knights were led by sophomore Gavin Labus (21st, 18:31.4). Juniors Levi Braaten (41st, 19:32.7), Caleb Priem (49th, 20:06.2), Nathan Dobberstein (61st, 21:17.4) and Elijah McClellan (69th, 22:46.7) also had scoring runs for Luther.
Husky Invitational
EAU CLAIRE — The Holmen girls placed fifth with a score of 113, and Central was eighth (230) in a field of 12 teams at Lowes Creek Park.
Holmen’s boys were seventh (176) and Central’s 14th (366) in a field of 15.
Senior Sabrina Lechnir led Holmen’s girls with a seventh-place finish and time of 19:18.1. Senior Naomi Wedan (20:23.3) wasn’t far behind in 14th place.
The Vikings also received scoring finishes from freshman Reese Gamoke (19th,20:37.7), sophomore Ruby Kinsman (30th, 20:57.5) and freshman Claire Wagoner (47th, 22:30.8).
The RiverHawks were led by sophomores Charlotte Yard (27th, 20:54.1) and Kaylyn Torkleson (49th,22:35.6). Senior Chloe Wynn was 55th (23:07.1), junior Brynn Bosshard 57th (23:13) and junior Mae Medinger 58th (23:14).
Holmen’s boys received a 14th-place run from junior Matthew Hoff (16:35.3), and senior Josiah Kulmaczewski was 35th in 17:26.8). Senior Spencer Lowman was 37th (17:28.9), sophomore Casey Horman 44th (17:42.33) and sophomore Hudson Moss 50th (17:52).
Junior Jacob Fresia was 58th (18:10.2) to lead Central, which also had senior Lyndon Torkelson finish 65th (18:57.2). Sophomore Therron Hamilton was 75th (19:35.4), senior Sean Erickson 87th (20:20.4) and sophomore Ryan Wilder 102nd (21:12.9).
Cashton Invitational
CASHTON — The Melrose-Mindoro girls finish sixth and its boys eighth.
Junior Sheila Johnson led the girls with her eighth-place finish and time of 22:58.4.
Seniors Calysta Bautch (25th, 26:12.7), Ava Schweitzer (29th, 27:17.4 and Mattison Foster (35th, 29:44) and freshman Grace Loecke (36th, 29:48.3) also scored for the Mustangs (133).
The boys had a team score of 218 and were led to the finish line by junior Caleb Arneson (21st, 19:40.7).
Arneson was backed up by freshman Carter Wortman (42nd, 21:27.9) and juniors Ryker Werner (50th, 23:10.6), Grayson Mulholland (52nd, 23:41.2) and Dayten Wade (53rd, 23:41.8).
