Thompson runs her way to Wisconsin Rapids

Northland Pines freshman Ryleigh Thompson continued her strong freshman cross-country season by qualifying for the 2026 WIAA State Cross Country Meet after placing in the D2 sectional race at Northwood Golf Course in Rhinelander last Friday.

Her time of 20:13 was good for fourth overall in the field of 86 runners and was the second-best individual time of athletes not a part of state-qualifying teams. The Northland Pines girls’ team had four athletes toe the line at sectionals, while the boys’ team had seven and recorded a ninth-place finish with 232 points.
Thompson led the pack of Eagles as she worked into the top five early and remained there. She trailed a Lakeland runner by about five seconds for a top-three finishing position.

“Ryleigh put herself in position to go to state. She had a strong start and even stronger finish,” said Northland Pines Head Coach Patrick Gauthier.

Junior Emily Ritter was the next Pines runner to cross the finish line. Ritter grabbed 43rd and finished with a time of 23:43. Senior Ava Gaetano and junior Anna Chicka rounded out the Pines finishes with times of 25:34 and 25:54 to end their fall running seasons.

The boys also faced some tough competition from regular Great Northern Conference teams, but Peshtigo and Prentice added to the mix with some top finishes on the individual leaderboard. Northland Pines senior Ethan Miller, who has run consistently in the top 15 for much of the season, did so again but missed out on qualifying for the state tournament like last season. Miller worked through a tough course layout at Northwood Golf Club and battled his peers to 13th place out of 98 runners. The Pines senior finished his final high school cross-country race in 17:32, just a few seconds behind a top-12 finish.

“He took 37 seconds off his time from last year. He had a great race but came up short on going back to state. It was a great race for him, but the field was strong,” mentioned Gauthier.

Sophomore Jarrett Grassl also had tight competition with his 39th-place finish. He fended off and chased a few runners and finished with a time of 18:42.

Fellow sophomore Colin Miller also finished a consistent season with a finishing time of 19:49 last week. He will likely be a part of a nice returning core of junior runners for the Eagles. Junior Logan Manriquez and sophomore Ryan McGrath were the next finishers for Northland Pines with times of 20:16 and 20:44, respectively. McGrath finished his sophomore year with a new personal record.

Freshman Austin Fuller ended the season strong with a PR time of 22:08 and will also likely make a jump as a sophomore runner next fall. Senior Griffin Beyer ran his final cross-country race and finished in 22:26.

The WIAA State Cross Country Meet is scheduled for this coming Saturday, Oct. 31, down in Wisconsin Rapids. Thompson will experience her first state meet as a freshman and will compete against some of the best runners in D2.