On a sunny Friday morning, the Redbird cross country team traveled to Irish Waters golf course in Freedom for their first meet of the season. Other teams attending included Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, Brillion, Chilton, Coleman, De Pere, Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Gillett, Green Bay East, Green Bay Preble, Kaukauna, Little Chute, Marinette, New London, Oconto Falls, Peshtigo, Sevastopol, Seymour, St. Mary’s Springs, Weyauwega-Fremont and Winneconne.
The boys varsity race was first up. Grady Lenn controlled the race from the start and left the competition in the dust, setting a new course record with a time of 15:26. Casey Trousil ran an even-split race and came home sixth overall. Chase Deshazer, Enoch Thielhelm and Evan Milkie stayed together throughout most of the race and came to the line 10th, 12th, and 16th. The boys team tied with Preble on raw points but won the large school division with the help of Ryan Bintz, who won the tiebreaker over the sixth Hornet runner by 14 points.
The varsity girls race was next. Jessica Rolain got some experience being the top runner on the team, finishing ninth overall with a time of 20:09. Bella Heideman mixed it up with some frontrunners as well, coming home 20th. Katherine Pahl was the only other returning varsity runner on the team before Kassidy Hutjens, Aubrey Kopling, Addison Klubertanz and Reese Abnet made their varsity debuts. The girls team finished seventh in the large school division.
A very crowded combined junior varsity race was the last event of the morning. The boys team had a very strong showing, with Noah Zhang seizing control of the race early on and keeping a good pace to win the boys division with a time of 17:56. It was a great showing for his first ever cross country race! A number of Redbirds were in close pursuit, with Aaron Broadrick third, Vlad Boettcher fifth, James Derenne sixth and Bryce Zellner ninth to round out the scoring runners. The boys JV team handily won their division.
The girls junior varsity team also performed well. In her first ever high school cross country meet, Hailey Dow carried the banner for the team, finishing 12th with a time of 23:56. Sarah Dahlquist was second on the team with a 24:11, follwed by Amelia Hoff, Samantha Christensen, and another cross country newcomer, Kyra Hutchinson. The girls JV team finished third to Preble and Kaukauna.
The next race for the Redbirds is the De Pere Invitational, held at the Shorewood Outdoor Recreational Center on the campus of UW-Green Bay. The meet is on August 31 and the first race will begin at 4:00 PM.
A seasonable day greeted 34 teams at the Shorewood Outdoor Recreation Center on the campus of UW-Green Bay. This was in stark contrast to 2022's meet, which was held in hot, sunny conditions and featured about half the number of teams as 2023. Other teams at the meet included Appleton East, Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, Freedom, Gillett, Green Bay East, Green Bay Southwest, Green Bay West, Hartford Union, Kewaunee, Kewaskum, Kohler, Laconia, Laona-Wabeno, Lena, Luxemburg-Casco, Manitowoc Lincoln, Manitowoc Lutheran, Mukwonago, New London, Oconto Falls, Peshtigo, Plymouth, Pulaski, Sevastopol, Seymour, Shawano, Waterford, Wausau West, West De Pere, Winnebago Lutheran Academy, Winneconne and Wrightstown. Before the meet, a short ceremony honored former De Pere cross country coach James Boyd, who took the helm of the program from 2012 to 2019 after many years as an assistant coach.
Junior varsity girls were up first, with 240 participants taking off at the start of the race. Sarah Dahlquist broke out of the large field and surged to take home a strong fifth-place finish with a time of 24:24. In only her second-ever cross country race, exchange student Filippa Morichetto was second overall on the team with a time of 24:51. Amelia Hoff was right on her heels, running 24:57. The team's depth and bond were also proven, with freshmen Madelyn Mills and London Medrano and junior Maeread Ulve all coming in at about 25:30. The team won the race with 101 points, a rare sight! They edged second-place Wausau West by 31.
Boys junior varsity was next, and it was the strongest showing of the day for the Redbirds. Aaron Broadrick and Vladimir Boettcher battled for most of the race, with Broadrick taking the win by 15 seconds in a time of 18:39. Freshman James Derenne was third on the team and fourth overall and Bryce Zellner ran a consistent race to claim fifth. The scoring team was rounded out by Bryce Bougie, and De Pere scored a very low 21 points and commandingly won the race. Nine Redbird runners ran sub-20 minutes!
Girls varsity took the course right at the warmest part of the day. Jessica Rolain was once again the team's top runner, finishing 6th in 20:04. Hope Dragseth finished her season debut second on the team and 12th overall, running a time of 20:27. Bella Heideman and Katherine Pahl were in close proximity as the team's third and fourth runners, coming in with times of 21:57 and 22:06. Freshman Kassidy Hutjens continued to put the team on notice, rounding out the scoring runners with a time of 22:55. Addison Klubertanz was close behind as well! Reese Abnet and Aubrey Kopling rounded out the varsity team.
Boys varsity was the finale race of the meet. Grady Lenn set the course record with a 15:44. Casey Trousil put in a solid 17:22 to finish 15th. Enoch Thielhelm, Ryan Bintz and Noah Zhang all came in between 17:42 and 17:51, rounding out the scoring with 105 points. Evan Milkie and Chase Deshazer both came in at 18:00 for a good depth performance overall! The team finished second overall with a score of 105, losing to Hartford by 19 points.