Hoopman provides a spark in the dark

It was a little more difficult to see runners at the Nightfall Classic 920 cross country meet in Neenah last Friday night, but Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Mason Hoopman didn’t need to look ahead to catch anyone.

The senior won the small school division race by 15 seconds, beating 68 other runners and leading the Rockets to the title in the seven-team meet.

Hoopman finished the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 52.36 seconds, about eight seconds slower than last year when he was second.

“He has really been aggressive from the beginning of each race. The key for him is focusing on maintaining his position during the middle portion of the race,” coach Brandon Langer said.

Sophomores Will Huenink was sixth in 18:13.06 and Jamison Velzke was seventh in 18:19.62, and freshman Wes Huenink was seventh in 18:25.73. All earned medals.

“Jamison did a much better job moving up after the first mile as he is learning how to race. Wes had an outstanding race, dropping 50 seconds off his previous best.  He was more aggressive at the beginning — he was ahead of Jamison for the first 1.75 miles approximately — and it paid off.  Those two are still just scratching the surface of what they can become,” Langer said.

Junior Michael Kuerschner was 21st (19th in the team competition) in 20:03.24, 40 seconds faster than his last race.

The Rockets scored 38 points, cruising past St. Mary Catholic’s 59 and Marathon’s 77.

Sophomore Reid Ketterhagen was 30th (27th) in 20:48.68, and senior Alessandro Gala was 31st (28th) in 20:49.78.

“We have numerous runners who are fighting for the six to 10 spots, which will only help as the season progresses,” Langer said.

Rocket girls take silver

The Rocket girls finished second with 49 points, behind Lourdes Academy, the top-ranked team in Division 3, which scored 29.

Junior Hadley Heimerman was third in the small school division race in 21:13.28, and senior Faith Konzak was right behind in fourth in 21:19.03.

Junior Elise Brill was 11th in 22:06.15 — 45 seconds faster than last year.

“She really had an extremely strong third mile,” Lange said.

Sophomore Amara Beernink was 15th in 22:16.88, and freshman Ashleigh McCluskey was 16th in 22:20.19.

“The most impressive part of the girls’ race was how they are narrowing the gap between our No. 1 and our  No. 5,” Langer said. “The gap between Hadley and Ashleigh was 1:07. It had been around two minutes for the first two meets.”

Junior Mallory Arroyo was 30th (29th) in 24:08.02 — nearly a personal record.

Senior Allie Jaworski was 59th (52nd) in 27:14.28, and sophomore Brooke Teunissen was 63rd (48th) in 28:11.91, a personal record by nearly four minutes.

“If the top two can push each other to get out quick during the first mile, and our Nos. 3 to 6 can continue to push the pace and challenge each other, good things will happen both individually and as a team,” Langer said.

The Rockets run Saturday, Sept. 17, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. It’s an important meet since that’s the site of the Rockets’ sectional this year, where teams try to advance to the state meet.