WEST SALEM — Josiah Kulmaczewski crossed the finish line and instantly turned into support for his fellow runners on the Holmen High School cross country team.
He greeted every teammate upon cross that same finish line at Maple Grove Venues on Thursday.
Some were greeted with a hug and others with a high five. One received an arm around his shoulders and slow escort to the end of the ropes after a taxing run at the MVC championships.
Kulmaczewski placed second, but his larger concern was encouraging teammates as they tried to win a conference championship.
“That’s something I’ve been trying to do more of,” the senior said. “I used to always be down after races, but I’m trying now to lift people up because the mindset is the biggest part of this sport.
“I want to help people along with that because it goes a long way.”
Kulmaczewski’s runner-up time of 16 minutes, 55.8 seconds was only beaten by Sparta’s Ben Carney (16:43.9), but it ended up as the lead time that gave the Vikings a second straight conference championship.
The Vikings had three of the top five and finished with a team score of 39 that beat second-place Sparta (67) and third-place Tomah (76). Logan was fourth (102), Aquinas fifth (112), Onalaska sixth (127) and Central seventh (143).
Kulmaczewski, Carter Sinn and Casey Horman all placed in the top five for Holmen, which also had its final two runners among the top 15.
Sinn was fourth in a time of 17:04.91, and Horman followed him in fifth at 17:10.9.
Kulmaczewski said it was interesting to race at Maple Grove and not be chasing Onalaska graduate Manny Putz — a four-time champion who now runs at the University of Wisconsin — from a distance.
Instead, he stuck with the front pack as long as he could, then focused on the best strategy for his team.
“It was quite the experience to be able to lead it for a little while,” said Kulmaczewski, who ran at the front for the first mile. “Then I was overtaken.
“There are a lot of good, young runners here, and it’s great to see. I love watching them run, especially the ones on our team. Once I was overtaken, I tried to run the best way for our team.”
Aquinas senior Kaleb Azene was third overall in 17:01.1. Logan’s Gabe Passe was sixth (17:12.6) and Onalaska’s Carson Fink ninth (17:29.2).
Kulmaczewski said the Vikings came into the meet comfortable about their chances to win and came through for themselves.
Rex Lancaster (15th, 18:00.1) and Spencer Lowman (16th, 18:08) for Holmen in the team victory.
Behind Passe, the Rangers received scoring runs from Quinn Passe (19th, 18:19.7), Tate Kujak (22nd, 18:27.5), Gabe Driscoll (18:29.3) and Isaac Gabriel (32nd, 19:13.2).
Fink ‘s finish was complemented by teammates Porter Mallady (24th, 18:37), Sam Sulentic (26th, 18:45.9), Luke Archer (33rd, 19:21.2) and Elliott Luecke (35th, 19:26.3).
Central’s top finisher was Jacob Fresia, whose time of 18:15.1 placed him 18th. The RiverHawks also had scoring runs from Sean Erickson (25th, 18:40.8), Lyndon Torkelson (28th,18:52.9), Wesley Olson (34th, 19:23.6) and Ryan Wilder (38th, 19:42.3).
