MENOMONIE — The West Salem High School boys and Holmen girls both placed fourth in the WIAA Division 1 Menomonie Sectional on Saturday.
And while neither qualified as teams for the upcoming state meet, both will send individuals to Wisconsin Rapids next weekend.
West Salem’s Evan Berra and Carson Gronemus and Holmen’s Sabrina Lechnir all grabbed individual spots in the meet, which will be run at The Bridges Golf Course. The top two teams and top five individuals not on those teams in sectionals qualified for state.
Berra, a sophomore, was fifth overall with a time of 16 minutes, 21.1 seconds. Gronemus, a senior, wasn’t far behind in seventh with his time of 16:34.1 that helped the Panthers to a team score of 91.
Menomonie (62) and Hudson (68) earned the team spots at state, and Eau Claire Memorial was third (76).
Holmen placed fifth (138), Onalaska 10th (276) and Central 12th (314).
Berra and Gronemus also ran with the Panthers when they qualified as a Division 2 team and placed second at state last year, and Gronemus led West Salem to a fourth-place Division 2 finish two years ago after qualifying with the team as a freshman.
Junior Andrew Lorenz, another state veteran for the Panthers, placed 18th in 16:57.5, and he was followed by junior Michael Torrance (28th, 17:20) and senior Kaleb Spah (33rd, 17:30.5) on the West Salem scorecard.
The fifth-place Vikings were led by senior Josiah Kulmaczewski’s 11th place finish and time of 16:40.3, and he was joined among the top 25 by freshman teammate Carter Sinn (22nd, 17:03.1). Holmen sophomore Hudson Moss (26th, 17:15.8), sophomore Spencer Lowman (39th, 17:44.4) and sophomore Casey Horman (40th, 17:49.4) also scored.
Junior Carson Fink led Onalaska with a time of 17:30.4 that was good for 32nd place. Senior Porter Mallady (49th, 18:07.5), junior Elliott Luecke (59th, 18:34.1), senior Luke Archer (67th, 18:49.5) and senior Brett Schindler (69th, 18:52.3) were also scoring runners for the Hilltoppers.
Junior Jacob Fresia (50th, 18:09.3) led the RiverHawks, and he was followed closely by senior teammate Sean Erickson (53rd, 18:13.7). Central senior Lyndon Torkelson (58th, 18:31.9), sophomore Wesley Olson (76th, 19:18.8) and sophomore Theron Hamilton (19:19.6) also scored.
Lechnir became a four-time state qualifier with her third-place individual finish and time of 18:28.6 in the girls race. Her performance helped Holmen finish fourth with a score of 111. Menomonie senior Lauren McCalla (17:15.3) and Bloomer junior Aliya Hartman (18:27.8) were the only runners to beat Lechnir.
The Vikings also received scoring runs from senior Naomi Wedan (20th, 19:57.6), freshman Reese Ganmoke (23rd, 20:01.9), sophomore Ruby Kinsman (32nd, 20:32) and sophomore Jolee Valiska (33rd, 20:37.9).
Central’s girls finished 10th (242) and Onalaska’s 11th (296).
Onalaska sophomore Sadie Peterson was the top runner on those teams with her 21st-place finish and time of 19:58.
Junior Maya Hartman (62nd, 22:20.2), sophomore Claire Verzwyvelt (66th, 22:38.3), junior Francesca Vriens (73rd, 23:13.1) and freshman Madelyn Davidheiser (74th, 23:29.9) also scored for the Hilltoppers.
The RiverHawks were led by sophomore Charlotte Yard (29th, 20:14.9). Sophomore Kaylyn Torkelson (44th, 21:12.7), junior Brynn Bosshard (52nd, 21:42.6), freshman Clara Jantz (54th, 21:47.9) and junior Minna Crusan (63rd, 22:22.3) also scored for Central.
