Five points separate Port Washington boys, girls from top spots in bid for Div. 2 cross-country honors
Five points kept the Port Washington boys’ cross-country team from continuing a championship tradition at last Saturday’s Verona Invitational.
Although the Pirates came close to winning their fourth straight Division 2 title in the meet, they had to settle for runner-up honors.
Paced by Jared Sandlin’s fifth-place finish, Port scored 48 points and trailed only Baraboo, which had 43.
Fort Atkinson took third with 73 points, and Stoughton was fourth with 88.
“We came up just a little shy,” Port coach Mark Pasten said. “I thought Baraboo would be our main competition, and it turned out that way.
“Their top runners were a little faster than ours, and that made the difference.”
Sandlin, a senior, finished with a 5,000-meter time of 17 minutes, 39 seconds.
The Pirates’ other scoring runners were Justin Fote in sixth (17:43), Augie Yates in 10th (18:01), Jake Verfuerth in 13th (18:06) and Brandon Hinneberg in 14th (18:08).
Jared Burris (18:43) and Jason Marhal (18:51) took 19th and 21st, respectively.
Baraboo’s Gerrit Bruni won the individual title in 16:43.
Port Washington got an impressive runner-up finish from its girls’ team, which also came up a few points shy of the Division 2 top spot.
Coach Joe Adamak’s squad was led by top-10 performances from Bianca Benkley and Ashley Hilton and scored 53 points. The Pirates trailed only Oregon, which had 48 points.
Fort Atkinson was a distant third with 99 points.
Benkley, a sophomore, finished fifth with a 4,000-meter time of 16:34, and Hilton, a senior, was sixth in 16:38.
Port’s other scoring efforts included Payton Greisch in 11th (17:15), Allison Hilton in 15th (17:20) and Diana Seer in 16th (17:22). Bonnie Allen placed 18th (17:23).
Baraboo’s McKaela Christenson won the Division 2 individual title in 16:11.
This Saturday, both Port teams will run at the Matt Hadler Invitational in Menomonee Falls at 9 a.m.
Grafton runners trail at invite
The Grafton boys’ cross-country team had trouble staying with the pack in the Bulldog Invitational at McCarty Park in West Allis last Saturday.
The Black Hawks got a 33rd-place finish from senior Stefan Lundgren (18:08) but placed 12th in a 14-team field with 300 points.
Grafton’s other scoring finishes were Justin Tomashek in 58th (19:05), Adam Kahmann in 62nd (19:17), Patrick Tobianski in 66th (19:22) and Josh Wimmer in 83rd (20:07). Michael Knapik was 84th (20:11).
The Grafton girls ran with an incomplete lineup.
Sophomore Amber Ducheny led the Hawks with a 19th-place finish (16:26), followed by Emily Volkmann in 49th (17:14), Heidi Bauer in 66th (17:47) and Haley Orlowski in 87th (18:21).
Both Grafton squads will run at the Hadler Invitational in Menomonee Falls this Saturday at 9 a.m.
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