Eagle runners close season at Sectionals

The Northland Pines cross country team wrapped up its 2024 season with a WIAA sectional run at Colby High School last Friday. 

The boys finished in the middle of the pack by taking ninth place out of 16 teams. The girls grabbed 11th place out of the 16 teams.

Senior Jason Linn led all Eagle runners with another top-15 finish this season as he took 14th place out of 95 competitors. 

“The girls ran with great effort and determination and the boys were motivated and did a great job today,” said Pines head coach Patrick Gauthier about the performances on both sides. 

Even though there were no state qualifiers for Northland Pines, there was still a personal best time in the girls race. 

For the boys, Linn’s time of 18:07 was followed up by classmate Kaemyn Heritage with a time of 18:42, which was good for 31st. 

Next was Ethan Miller (19:05), Cole Wiedenbeck (20:00), and Griffin Beyer (20:43) who finished in the middle or the back half of a competitive sectional field. 

Owen Grassl and Matt Milanowski rounded out the boys with times of 21:33 and 22:19, respectively. 

For the girls, Abigayle Congleton led Northland Pines in another race this season. She finished her high school cross-country career with a 40th place finish with a time of 23:20. 

Freshmen Jessica Linn and Emily Ritter were the next pairing to cross the finish line for the Eagles, with times of 24:20 and 24:24. Linn’s time was a personal best as she heads into her sophomore season next year. 

Aubrey White finished directly behind Linn and Ritter with a 24:25 time, which placed her in 55th place. 

The last of the Lady Eagle runners was Ava Gaetano, who finished at 25:29. 

Northland Pines will lose seven seniors between the two teams for next season, and the coaching staff had nothing but kind words for what they did in the program. 

“The coaches want to say thank you to our seven seniors,” stated Gauthier. “They have given a lot of effort, sweat and time to the program. They will be missed.”