VERONA — The West Salem High School boys cross country team competed with much larger schools on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Panthers from claiming a fifth-place finish among 32 teams at the Verona Invitational on Saturday.
West Salem put two runners among the top 30 and ran to a team score of 288, which trailed DeForest (94), Madison West (148), Verona (164) and Middleton (175).
Sophomore Evan Berra placed 16th individually with a time of 16 minutes, 41.2 seconds. Senior Carson Gronemus was 29th in 17:03.5 in a race won by DeForest senior Lucas Tanner (16:00.6).
Junior Andrew Lorenz (46th, 17:32.5), sophomore Owen McKinney (96th, 18:29) and sophomore Landon Rieber (101st, 18:30.8) also scored with runs for the Panthers.
The Aquinas boys placed 28th (684) and Onalaska’s 29th (695), and Aquinas senior Kaleb Azene (37th, 17:22.6) was the top runner on those teams.
The Blugolds also received scoring runs from senior Oliver Buck (108th, 18:35.6), freshman Bolan Vandenlangenberg (154th, 19:27), freshman Alexander Boland (190th, 20:27.6) and freshman Spencer Buck (195th, 20:45.5).
The Hilltoppers were led by junior Carson Fink, who was 80th in 18:13.9. Sophomore Sam Sulentic (137th, 19:15.5), senior Luke Archer (151st, 19:22.2), senior Porter Mallady (153rd, 19:25.7) and junior Elliott Luecke (174th, 20:01.6) also contributed to Onalaska’s score.
Aquinas had the top girls team performance with 12th place and a score of 335 in a field of 31 teams.
The Blugolds had two of the top 40 runners and were led by junior Emily Bagniefski’s time of 20:30.5) and place of 26th. Sophomore Sanjana Musafir was 39th in 20:52.6.
Senior Alexa Myre was 59th (21:45), junior Helen Onyeabor 99th (22:39.6) and senior Madelynn Grossbach 112th (23:00.5).
West Salem’s girls were 16th (444) and Onalaska’s 18th (467).
West Salem freshman Nora Johnson was 46th in 21:20.9) and Onalaska sophomore Sadie Peterson 47th in 21:24.5.
Junior Sam MacRogers was 80th (22:07.9), sophomore Anna Witte 84th (22:16.4), junior Elise Flock 97th (22:37.5) and junior Anna Knudson 137th (23:44) for the Panthers.
Junior Francesca Vriens was 70th (21:56.7), junior Maya Hartman 89th (22:22.6), freshman Madelyn Davidheiser 90th (22:22.9) and sophomore Elizabeth Asleson 171st (24:48.3).
Several photos from Mike Ochowski follow:
