Athlete of the Week 2012

Week #7: GNC Championships(October 13, 2012)

Stephanie Welke, senior

“… her leadership has been a key to the success of our girls team this season. She knows when to make things “fun” for the girls and when to keep them focused. Her individual drive and determination are incredible as indicated by her 4th straight 1st team All-Conference performance.”

Dakota Tomek, sophomore

“…for the third straight meet he PR’d knocking off over a minute over those meets, finally cracking the 19-minute barrier on Saturday and assuring himself a spot on the Sectional team next weekend. He has some natural abilities that he is able to tap into, which is making him more competitive each and every race. ”

Week #7: NPHS & Hatchet Invitationals (October 6, 2012)

Audrey Dichsen, sophomore

“…had a super week, first at Eagle River on Monday cracking into the 17’s for the first time this year and then knocking another nearly 20 seconds off at home. She is really pushing herself and with our trio (Larson, Whiting,) in the #3-4-5 spots improving our scoring gap is closing making us a stronger team overall as we approach the most important time of the year.”

Sheldon Dennis, freshman  

“…had the largest PR of the day at Edgewater knocking 44 seconds off of his earlier in the week PR at Eagle River…overall Sheldon improved over 80 seconds in just under a week of racing, that’s incredible! He is really challenging himself in races at it is showing in the final results.”

Week #6: Waupaca Invitational (September 27, 2012)

Alex Bellile, freshman 

“…on one of our toughest courses of the season, she really pushed herself and attacked the hills, recovering and maintaining her pace throughout the race to a PR by nearly a minute…Alex keeps improving and has been a real asset since joining the team after Bond Falls.”

Chris VanStrydonk, sophmore

“…competing in his first year of high school Cross-Country, Chris is learning how to pace himself and is getting very competitive and push himself as he goes for his individual time goals with each race. He worked with Dillon throughout the Waupaca meet and by the end he found himself with a new best 5K effort on a course that doesn’t normally produce many PR’s.”

Week #5: Colby Invitational (September 20, 2012)

Emmy Larson, sophmore

“…Emmy Larson also had a super performance as she pushed herself hard for the last 1000 meters to a PR and passed several runners after the mile working her way into medal contention. Additionally, she PR’d and made a statement with her performance as she finished as our #3 runner for the first time this season”

Bryan Tomek, junior

“Bryan picked up his second win, this one avenging two earlier losses to one of the top area runners (Studinski from Marathon). Bryan used an awesome kick down the final 200 meters after covering several late race surges that the Marathon runner attempted. With each race Bryan gains tactful racing strategies that will help him later in the season at tournament time.”

Week #4: Smiley Invitational (September 15, 2012)

Kayla Gass, sophmore

“Kayla used the large race field to her advantage and got out to a great start with the mostly D1 athletes and followed it up with a strong 2nd mile keeping an even pace thru to the finish to earn her first medal and PR by nearly two minutes.”

Ryan Kuehn, senior

“Ryan has been working so hard in practice and it is paying off. Besides setting a challenging time goal he had a goal of finishing as a medalist in the division. He accomplished both and also continues to excel as a leader and role model for his teammates.”

Week #3: Fall Creek Invitational (September 8, 2012)

Talyn Jones, sophmore

“…Talyn has had a rough stretch physically since coming back from Bond Falls.. she’s been sick and is not at 100% physically after tweaking her ankle a few weeks back…Talyn  has a high pain tolerance level and once again did not let her foot become an excuse. She had a strong finish which proved to be important as the ‘tie-breaker’ goes to the 6th runner, which was key in Tomahawk placing in the runner-up position.”

Jared Kiander, sophomore

“…Jared worked his way up to the lead of the JV race mid-race and looked really strong coming out of the hills…His time would have placed him into a scoring position for the varsity squad and earned him a varsity spot for the Smiley Invite next weekend.”

Week #2: Marathon Invitational (August 30, 2012)

Alex Zedler, sophmore

“Alex stuck with our pre-race plan early, which was to work with Emmy and Audrey getting out aggressively, but mid-race she felt great and made a big move working her way from around 20th to the top twelve by the two mile. Like the rest of our girls she basically hung on from there bettering her time from her last race by nearly a minute on a much tougher course.”

Troy VanStrydonk, freshman

“Troy comes into our program with a lot of raw talent and as he is beginning to get some solid base mileage under his belt he is starting to realize his potential as a runner. Troy was one of the top freshmen in the overall race and had a significant time improvement over his race at Ashland. He is gaining valuable experience and confidence every race.”

Week #1: Ashland Invitational (August 23, 2012)

*both ‘rookies’ that scored for us on varsity….

*Dani Whiting, freshman 

“…Dani went out aggressively from the start and ran like a veteran.  She is a real competitor and isn’t intimidated a bit. The biggest challenge she faced was adjusting to going anaerobic so early in the race, but she handled it well. To finish as a medallist in your first high school 4K race is quite an accomplishment.

*Jacob McGuire, sophomore

“…after a conservative first mile, Jake made a nice move in the last third of the course passing scoring runners from other schools. He was our #4 man today, contributing to our team score, much of which can be attributed to his focus this summer on his training and mileage. Jake had a solid race and really gave it his all.”