Bluejays earn three medals at home; Waltz wins third straight top finish

Running on the familiar grounds of Big Stone Golf Course, the Three Lakes-Phelps cross country team hosted the annual Three Lakes Invitational last Thursday and collected three medals along the way. 

Nolan Waltz continued his dominant running by picking up his third consecutive 5,000-meter first-place medal, while Ethan Potrykus and Rylee Glembin also had top-10 medal finishes.

According to Bluejays head coach Laurie Levandoski, the environment at Big Stone has advantages for the team. 

“This is not only a beautiful location, but it is also a very spectator-friendly venue with long stretches of flat land for fans and families to cheer on their favorite athletes. The overall atmosphere is very motivational for the kids and encourages them to perform at their best. Even so, I am looking forward to next week where we will likely be running in much nicer 60-degree conditions.” 

The sun and warmth did not slow down Bluejays sophomore Nolan Waltz as he extended his streak of first-place medals to three while clocking in at a 16:32 race time, 17 seconds ahead of Ashton Bremer of Lakeland Union, who at one point on the course was just a stride or two behind Waltz.

Joining Waltz at the medal podium was Ethan Potrykus, who finished in fifth-place with his race time of 17:40. This was his third top-five medal this season and his best time since advancing to the Bluejays varsity squad last year. Potrykus was a state qualifier as a freshman in 2023 where he also had three top-five finishes.

The only other Bluejay to compete in the boys varsity race was sophomore Wyatt Gebele, who completed the course with the second half of the field at a 25:01 finishing time. There were 73 participants in the boys race representing nine high schools in the region, including 18 runners from Northland Pines and Rhinelander. 

In the girls competition, freshman Rylee Glembin continued to perform well by earning a seventh-place medal with a 5K running time of 22:32. This was her third medal of the season and the finishing time was within a half second of her personal best. Erica Stauffer was just a minute behind Glembin, but with six other runners finishing within that same span, Stauffer just missed earning her third medal of the year.

“These girls are really starting to run with confidence,” said Levandoski after the race. “Rylee especially impressed me today, and I look forward to seeing all of these kids make even greater progress as we hit the later stages of the season.”

Another top runner, Sophie Nafziger, finished the race in the 20th spot and a 24:36 race time to her credit. The course at Big Stone is no stranger to Nafziger as she has earned several medals here with multiple top-five finishes throughout her high school career.

Rounding out the performances for the Bluejays last week was Abby Raddatz, who finished 33rd in the race with a time of 26:13, followed by juniors Annabella Steinbach and Melanie Stauffer who had times of 27:56 and 28:27, respectively. 

Mikayla Corbett finished at 31:10, with Raqual Gebele and Hailey Koepp closing the race at 38:10 and 43:45 times, respectively. Alli Palmer of Tomahawk High School was the top runner in the girls competition as she finished the 5,000-meter course in 20:49.   

Levandoski was happy to see success up and down the grade levels, including the middle school level where Charlie Welsh and Matthew Potrykus, who ran the two-mile run virtually side-by-side, ended up with top-five medals. Zach DeHaan also earned a top-10 medal and the boys collectively won a first-place team award.

The Jays compete this Thursday, October 3, at Athens High School with races starting at 4:30 p.m., followed the next week by the Northland Pines Invitational in Eagle River where more than 10 schools will participate on Tuesday, October 8, beginning at 4 p.m.