Waltz finishes runner-up at State XC meet

The 113th running of the WIAA State Cross Country Championships was a time for runners from the Three Lakes-Phelps varsity cross country team to soak in the experience as junior Nolan Waltz finished runner-up in the race at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids this past Saturday.

The varsity girls team ran as a team at the state meet for the first time in 16 years after qualifying at the Rosholt sectional nearly two weeks ago.

“Going into Saturday’s race, our goal for the girls was to race to their potential and to enjoy the experience of state,” said Head Coach Laurie Levandoski. “We told them to cross the finish line and know they had done their best.”

For Waltz, it was his third trip down to Wisconsin Rapids, and his improvement over the last few years put his mind in one place. He was going for the D3 individual championship.

“Nolan was going for the win. As a freshman, Waltz finished in 22nd place. Last year, he made the podium with an eighth place finish,” noted Levandoski. “With a second-place state ranking, he knew who he needed to chase. As the gun went off, Nolan’s goal was to run with the front pack of D3 boys before making his final push near the last half mile.”

Waltz did just that and kept pace with the front of the field and actually led during some parts of the race. Jonathan Simon from St. Ambrose Academy jumped in front late in the race to finish five seconds ahead of Waltz. The Three Lakes junior finished with a time of 16:11 on a tough Ridges course. Waltz told Levandoski that he learned a lot this year and knows how to attack next year to capture that D3 title.

Levandoski talked about the difficulty of the state course, mentioning its hilly terrain and multiple turns at different points. She also spoke about the other obstacles the runners face at such a prestigious event.

“There are a number of hills and turns and a large field of runners to compete against. Perhaps the most difficult is to try to acclimate to the thousands of spectators on the course,” she stated. “The noise level is intense. Everywhere on the 5k course, spectators are crowding the line trying to see their runners. Nerves can also get in the way, but I feel our team did a nice job at balancing everything.”

The girls team was ready for the challenge and competed against 15 other D3 schools and over 150 runners at the meet. The Jays took 15th place out of 16, ahead of Stratford, who beat them at the Rosholt sectional.

Freshman Bekah Koch paced the Jay’s team as she crossed the finish line in 64th place with a time of 21:09, capping off her freshman season of cross country. Senior Ayla Connor was the second runner to finish with her time of 22:28.

Sophomores Rylee Glembin and Erica Stauffer finished back-to-back and nearly crossed with line together with times of 22:41 and 22:42, respectively.

Freshman Grace Mandli took a time of 23:33 for the Bluejays.

Senior Kassidy Williams and Madelynn Hanneman rounded out the Three Lakes runners with their times of 25:26 and 26:02.

“Our girls were ready. Our girls had some outstanding races. One of our goals was to beat Stratford, who had finished ahead of us at Sectionals,” explained Levandoski. “We managed to finish eight points ahead of them. We will take that as a win.”

The coaching staff reflected on who they had as runners this season and the bright future the team has with younger runners coming up the pipeline.