WISCONSIN RAPIDS — West Salem High School freshman Nora Johnson and Logan junior Gabe Passe qualified for the WIAA state cross country meet with their individual performances at the Division 2 Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Sectional on Friday.
Johnson placed eighth overall in the girls race with a time of 19 minutes, 40.2 seconds, and Passe was ninth in the boys race in 17:00.8 at Tri City Golf Course.
Johnson and Passe grabbed individual spots at the state meet as local teams came up short of qualifying.
The Panthers were third in the girls race — the top two teams qualify — with 84 points. Mount Horeb won the team title with a 28, and Assumption followed at 62.
Logan’s boys were fourth with a 140 in a meet won by Richland Center/Ithaca (39). Mauston placed second with a 54 to grab the other qualifying spot.
Logan’s girls finished 12th with a 300 and Arcadia’s 15th with a 467. Arcadia’s boys were ninth (242), and West Salem’s boys run in a Division 1 sectional on Saturday.
The Panthers had four runners among the top 18 in the girls race. Sophomore Anna Witte was 13th (20:24.4), freshman Natalia Minard 16th (20:32) and junior Sam MacRogers 18th (20:36.9). Junior Elise Flock was also 29th (21:19.8) for West Salem.
Logan’s girls were led by junior Kareena Ramakrishnan, who was 15th in 20:29.7. Junior Ivy Miles (55th, 22:57.1), junior Marlee Stevermer (71st, 24:06.5), junior Natalie Pedretti (72nd, 24:07.5) and sophomore Rachel Sward (91st, 26:40.7) also scored for the Rangers.
Arcadia’s girls ran in a pretty tight cluster and were led by junior Malanie Moreno’s 88th-place finish and time of 25:56.6. Sophomore Shaylah Rodriguez (89th, 26:14.7), senior Abbye Rojas (95th, 27:22.7), freshman Samantha Bustos (100th, 28:35.9) and sophomore Shannon Cruz Sandoval (103rd, 31:25.8) also scored for the Raiders.
Logan’s boys had all scoring runners among the top 50.
Juniors Quinn Passe (24th, 18:10.5), Gabe Driscoll (28th, 18:15), Tate Kujak (29th, 18:15.5) and Zach Shilling (50th, 19:10) also scored for the Rangers.
Arcadia’s boys were led to the finish line by Diego Ortiz, who was 23rd with an 18:00.9. Senior Alec Conrad (27th, 18:15), junior Nathan Badillo (35th, 18:26.3), junior Jonathan Aguilar (79th, 20:58) and senior Bryan Simon (80th, 20:58.9) also scored for the Raiders.
