Three Lakes girls claim small team title in Rhinelander

The Three Lakes cross country teams took advantage of the season’s opening meet at the Hodag Invitational last Thursday, as the girls team took first place in the small school division for a second consecutive season with five medalists and a team score of 15.
Nolan Waltz was one of two boys runners for the Bluejays and took first place in the small division and overall with a time of 16:40.21. The next closest time in the meet was 16:59.50, run by D.C. Everest’s Will VanSlyke.
“Having a race close to home is a nice way for our kids to start off their racing schedule,” said TLP head coach Laurie Levandoski. “With five medals in the top 10, our varsity girls easily came away with top honors in the small schools division.”
The girls championship team included freshmen Bekah Koch and Grace Mandli, sophomores Erica Stauffer, Rylee Glembin and Emily Corbett, juniors Mikayla Corbett and Raqual Gebele and seniors Melanie Stauffer and Ayla Connor.
Underclassmen paced the Jays in the first race of the season, with Koch grabbing second in the girls small division. She finished her first varsity race with a time of 22:11. Stauffer (Erica) and Glembin ran right behind their teammate in third and fourth in the small division schools, running times of 23:11.10 and 23:26.40, respectively. Connor was the next Bluejay across the finish line, clocking a time of 25:41.10 in her first-ever cross country race. Mandli was the last scored runner for Three Lakes-Phelps as she also finished inside the top 10 out of 19 small-school runners. She finished all alone with a time of 26:13.80.

“It’s exciting to see growth from our girls varsity team,” Levandoski stated. “Rylee got off to a quick start but was not able to hold onto her pace. By the time you are midway through the race, it’s hard to self-correct. Rylee still finished in the top 10, earning a fourth-place finish.”
Levandoski also talked about her two freshmen runners, who both had strong races.
“Both middle school runners last year, it was exciting to see them step up to the longer distance at our first meet.”
Corbett (Emily) and Stauffer (Melanie) took 15th and 16th on the day, with Gebele and Corbett (Emily) rounding out the times at 36:56 and 42:57.90.
Crandon’s Addison May took medalist honors with a top time of 21:31.30. The Jays faced competitors from Crandon, Laona-Wabeno, Menominee Indian and Goodman-Pembine.
Waltz entered the 2025 season with a bang, as the junior runner shattered his time from a year ago at this same meet. He ran the course in 17:16 in 2024, improving his time by over 35 seconds.
Junior Wyatt Gebele was the other Bluejay runner on the boys side, taking 26th place in the race with a time of 29:28.70.
“Nolan let some of the other runners tow him along for the first part of the race before he made his move into the top spot,” noted Levandoski. “Wyatt had a nice race and will be looking forward to improving his time in the coming weeks.”
The Bluejays will be back in action this Thursday, Sept. 4, as the team travels to Nine Mile Park for a 14-team invite hosted by Marathon. Racing begins at 4:30 p.m. Three Lakes-Phelps will then be in Crandon for a meet Tuesday, Sept. 9, also starting at 4:30 p.m.