Boys Traveling North

The Sectional race just isn't long enough for Annika Ziperski (20:56). Knowing that five of the top runners, who are not on a State qualifying team, receive an invitation to go to State, Annika decides to finish in the top nineteen at this Sectional Meet. She moves into 19th place she continues to pass others, sprints across the finish line and finishes 12th of the 100 runners representing 15 teams. If the race was 4 miles instead of 3.1 (5Km), she likely would pass another bunch of athletes and, who knows?
Also running her season best, Dayna Karls (22:40) places second on the New Glarus-Monticello girls' team. Tenley Faber (23:01), Whitney Disch (23:03) and Molly Molencamp (23:05) run in the low 23's. Alexa Thayer (26:41) outsprints a Lodi girl and Dylan Noll (29:54) breaks the 30-minute barrier. NGM Varsity ladies place 11th of the 15 Division 2 teams at Sectionals.
The Boys Sectional Race at Spring Green starts minutes after the girls finish. Top two teams qualify for next Saturday's State Meet at Wisconsin Rapids. New Glarus-Monticello Boys recently received a State Ranking, but so did Edgewood, Monroe, Mount Horeb and Dodgeville/Mineral Point. At least seven of the fifteen teams believe going to State is a possibility for them. Edgewood places runners in 1st and 3rd, DMP in 4th and 8th, Mount Horeb 7th and 10th. NGM shows up in 11th and 12th with Joe Quaglia (17:36) followed immediately by Evan Guenther (17:38). Now the race is between three teams. Two more Mount Horeb's finish before Braylon Hoesly (17:49), Conor McCoy (17:59), Tom Nelson (18:03) and Adam Nelson (18:06) come across the line. If Mount Horeb gets their fifth guy in soon, they'll win. We see our seventh man, Ty Ready (18:20), trailing that key Norwegian by 3 seconds and Mount Horeb wins the Sectional Race.
Two teams qualify for the State Meet. Our neighbors to the north - the city inhabited by Trolls - places first with 85 points. New Glarus-Monticello scores 92. Will that be enough for second place? Dozens of people stare at smart phones waiting for the results. Dodgeville/Mineral Points pops up with 106 and NGM'ers release their breath. Second place and we're going to State!
The New Glarus-Monticello Varsity Boys take off at 2:00 p.m., at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids this Saturday. Being part of this sixteen team line-up makes all the training worthwhile.