Grouping gives CG-Belgium girls a win

Pack running led the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ cross country team to the head of the pack last Saturday at the Sheboygan Lutheran Hilltopper Invite.
The Rockets won the five-team meet with 31 points, edging Watertown Luther Prep’s 36.
Freshman Hadley Heimerman was fourth on the 5,000-meter course in 22 minutes, 5.18 seconds.
Sophomore Faith Konzak was sixth in 22:18.84. Junior Lyndsay Sass was seventh in 22:21.96.
Freshman Elise Brill was 10th in 22:32.04, and senior Cheyenne Simonet was 11th in 22:40.69.
Each runner finished one or two places higher since runners without full teams don’t count toward team scores.
“They used the pack mentality extremely well, which is something we have been stressing in practicing. Our top five finished in the top 11 overall, which was great to see,” coach Brandon Langer said.
“With this course, there is a decent hill right after the mile. We talked all week about attacking it, both on the way up and the way down. The girls may have gotten out a bit quick, which may have cost them some time on the upper portion of the course, but overall, I was pleased with the effort.”
Rocket boys are dropping their times
The Rocket boys took fifth place of 12 teams, scoring 132 points.
The host won with 42 points, followed by Kohler’s 91, University School of Milwaukee’s 92 and St. Mary Central’s 115.
Sophomore Mason Hoopman finished 10th in 17:38.35, a personal record.
Freshman Brett Williams cut 50 seconds off his best run and took 20th in 18:25.42.
Freshman Michael Kuerschner was 29th in 19:28.46, dropping 30 seconds off his best time.
“These three have really embraced the challenge of competing and fighting for position during the race, and the results are starting to show for them,” Langer said.
Junior Alex Nett was 33rd in 19:59.99, and junior Logan Depies was 40th in 10:28.26.
“A couple of our normal scoring runners had an off day, and they will look to rebound this Thursday at Mishicot,” Langer said. “Mishicot should be a good challenge for both teams, as we will see numerous conference and sectional opponents. This meet is a typically a fast course, so I am expecting this race to set the tone for the remainder of the season, as it did last year in terms of times and competitive spirit.”