West Salem High School senior Carson Gronemus and Holmen senior Sabrina Lechnir have learned a lot about running on The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids over the years.
They will use all of that experience and knowledge in the attempt to have the best performance of their careers on Saturday, when they compete in the WIAA state cross country meet for the fourth time.
Both are running in Division 1 races on the Wisconsin Rapids course, and both will run as individual qualifiers after previously running with teammates.
Lechnir ran with the Vikings as a freshman and sophomore before qualifying individually as a junior. Gronemus will run individually for the first time after West Salem qualified as a Division 2 team in each of the past three seasons.
“I’ve never really run in anything individually before,” said Gronemus, who will be joined in the field by sophomore teammate Evan Berra. “In the races I’ve run, I’ve always tried to run to make my teammates proud and give us the best shot at winning.”
That will change things a bit as Gronemus not only tackles the race from a different perspective but runs against many more new faces with the Panthers being a Division 1 team for the first time.
The boys races begin with Division 3 at noon and follow with Division 2 at 12:35 and Division 1 at 1:10 p.m. The girls Division 3 race is at 1:45 p.m., Division 2 is at 2:25 p.m. and Division 1 is at 3:05 p.m.
West Salem placed ninth in 2022, fourth in 2023 and second a year ago, and Gronemus was part of all of those performances. He was the Panthers’ second runner at last year’s meet with a time of 16 minutes, 45.8 seconds that was good for 27th place overall and gave them 14 points. He was 24th with a time of 16:45.1 as a sophomore.
While some of his strategy will remain intact, running unattached will lead to some changes. Instead of making sure others have what they need from Gronemus, he’ll focus more on time than he ever has.
The goal, he said, was beating his existing personal record of 16:27.
To do that, he’ll have to position himself for the toughest part of the course in his eyes — the third mile.
It’s right before the home stretch and finish, but it’s a long part along the river with no spectators,”
ronemus said. “There are rolling hills, and it’s draining. If you can master that, you will have a good race, but it’s what makes or breaks your state race at The Ridges.”
Lechnir placed 35th last year with a time of 19:27.3 after helping Holmen qualify as a team twice. She was the Vikings’ second runner as a freshman and top performer as a sophomore.
The four-time MVC champion was third at last week’s sectional and takes some momentum into her final run at The Ridges.
“I went into it with a positive attitude and stayed with the second pack,” Lechnir said of the sectional performance. “I was able to keep with that pack.”
Like Gronemus, Lechnir took an easy week of practices in preparation with teammates despite them not qualifying.
“I’m just focusing on running easy and recovery runs,” she said. “Most of the team is still running with me, so that’s been good.”
Lechnir cherishes the two years Holmen qualified as a team and is happy to have them help her train to run unattached on Saturday.
She said she likes to run the second mile and will use that as a point of attack on those running against her. Pacing will be important, Lechnir said, as will fighting the instinct of trying to run too fast at the start of the race.
“The start is tough because there are so many people,” she said. “The finish is hard, too but that’s because you are so tired.”
Sophomore Sanjana Musafir, senior Alexa Myre and junior Caitlin Wengel all helped Aquinas place second as a team in last year’s Division 3 race. Musafir was the Blugolds’ second runner, Myre its third and Wengel its fourth on the way to a team score of 98. Kohler won the meet with a 95.
Myre, senior Bethany Hale and junior Helen Onyeabor helped Aquinas place sixth as scoring runners two years ago.
ALL COULEE.COM SCHOOL QUALIFIERS
Division 1
Boys
Evan Berra, so., West Salem; Carson Gronemus, sr., West Salem
Girls
Sabrina Lechnir, sr., Holmen
Division 2
Boys
Gabe Passe, jr., Logan
Girls
Nora Johnson, fr., West Salem
Division 3
Boys
Caleb Arneson, jr., Melrose-Mindoro; Kaleb Azene, sr., Aquinas
Girls
Aquinas (Ava Fernholz, jr.; Madelynn Grossbach, sr.; Bethany Hale, sr.; Sanjana Musafir, so.; Alexa Myre, sr.; Helen Onyeabor, jr.; Caitlin Wengel, jr.)
