Grafton boys replace eight runners; girls team is small
Young runners are already stepping up to replace the eight team members Grafton High School’s cross country team lost to graduation.
Among those graduating was Zander Lichosik, who finished 11th at the state meet last season. The team finished 10th.
The Black Hawks got off to a good start this year behind junior Nathan Baker’s sixth-place finish in 17 minutes, 28 seconds at the Milwaukee River Invitational last Thursday.
“He definitely put in the work in the offseason and it showed in him stepping up to be the leader this year,” coach Kevin Kriegel said.
The Hawks finished ninth with 270 points. Marquette won with 77.
The other runner who finished in the top five for Grafton at the state meet last season, junior Cael Abad, took 36th in 19:05.
Junior Thomas Eifert was 70th in 20:08. Sophomore Christopher Kalies was 72nd in 20:14 and sophomore Lance Greicar was 86th in 21:02.
Another runner from last year’s team pushing to get into the top five is junior Nathan Woolf, who was 98th in 22:06.
“We’ll see how things take shape. The goal is to get somebody to the state meet, possibly the team,” Kriegel said.
Girls are down in numbers this season
After finishing 12th in state last season, the girls team only has eight runners.
On the positive side, five of those runners have competed at the state meet in the last three years, Kriegel said.
Sophomore Maddy Wille and junior Morgan Ruona are injured and missed the Milwaukee River Invite.
Kriegel said he expects both runners to return in a couple of weeks.
Senior Ava Pederson was 35th in 22:44. Senior Natalie Cherella was 57th in 23:47. Sophomore Rachel Swenson was 96th in 25:04. Senior Anna Eifert was 104th in 25:18. Senior Grace Gasser dropped out of the race with a little so the Hawks didn’t have a fifth runner or a team score.
“We just need to kind of put things together and be healthy,” Kriegel said.
The Hawks are scheduled to run Friday in the Highlander Invite at Tendick Park in the Town of Saukville.
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