Port, Grafton runners have high hopes

The top 80% of last year’s Port Washington High School boys’ cross country team is back this season, and coach Mark Pasten thinks that might be enough to earn a berth at state.

Senior Mason Raasch returns as the No. 1 runner after qualifying for state last season, but he’s not in form yet. He had a hip flexor strain over summer and got an illness before gutting it out at the Milwaukee River Invite in Milwaukee on Aug. 26.

Raasch last season finished 37th of 114 runners in the Division 1 state meet as Port’s only qualifer.

“He’s not himself yet but I think he’ll round into shape pretty quick,” Pasten said.

Nate Meeks is back as the No. 2 runner and Austin Rinke is back after ranking No. 3 for Port last year.

“He’s gifted naturally,” Pasten said. “For the little amount of running he did over summer, I’m really happy where he’s at.”

Gabe Pasten is back at No. 4.

“He put in a good summer. Hard work paid off,” his coach and father said.

The No. 5 runner, Angelo Feciskonin, graduated.

Coach Pasten is impressed with the amount of training junior Bryce Grant did over summer, and he hopes senior Jake Meier comes around after a slow summer.

And it was hot and humid.

“It was definitely a hard summer to do that training, much more so than I can remember in recent memory for sure,” Pasten said.

His deep team will take it week by week but, he said, it has a good chance to get that second spot in a Division 2 sectional and make it to state. Powerhouse Shorewood, Pasten said, has the No. 1 spot locked up.

At the Milwaukee River Invite, Port finished seventh of 17 teams with 229 points. Homestead won with 40, and Marquette had 88. Shorewood had 93.

 Among nine Division 2 teams, Port was second with 76 points. Shorewood had 26.

Meeks ran the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 50.3 seconds and took 19th of 351 runners. Gabe Pasten was 42nd in 18:36.5. Raasch was 53rd in 19:06.6. Rinke was 59th in 19:11.4, and Grant was 77th in 19:53.6.

Port girls mix veterans with new runners

Experienced juniors Abbey Lotz, Breaya Thomas and Emma Kasza-James are back, along with senior Clare Woods.

Coach Joe Adamak said he also has “a nice group of young freshmen — four of them. They are all running well to start their careers.”

They are Renata Commare, Kennedy Enright, Reagan Jerome and Madison Myers.

“I have only one senior and a really young crew, but I return a lot of kids with experience,” Adamak said. “What that means is the future is really bright.”

At the Milwaukee River Invite, Port was ninth of 17 teams with 253 points. Shorewood won with 52 points, and Whitefish Bay had 69. Of the nine Division 2 teams, Port was third with 100 points. Shorewood had 27 and New Berlin Eisenhower had 63.

Lotz was ninth of 239 runners in 21:40.7, and Thomas was 11th in 22:13.5. Jerome was 26th in 23:26. Myers was 27th in 23:27.4, and Commare was 28th in 25:44.9.

“It was the first time running for many of the girls and they did just fine,” Adamak said.

On Saturday, Port runs in the Waukesha South Blackshirt Challenge at Minooka Park.

Grafton returns all top girl runners

The fastest Grafton girls last season might be the same ones this time around. The Black Hawks return their top five.

Evelyn Schmidt, Ava McLaughlin, Maddy Wille, Rachel Swenson and Josie Gehrke are all back, but Gehrke is injured and out for several weeks, coach Ceilia Shaughnessy said.

Freshmen Cecelia Williamson and Josstyn Durst “add to our small but mighty team.”

The Hawks have 11 girls on the squad.

Last season, the Hawks reached a Divison 1 sub-sectional, where they scored 135 points and finished sixth of nine teams.

At the Milwaukee River Invite, the Hawks took 11th with 274 points. Of the Division 2 teams, they fifth with 108 points.

Schmit was 35th in 22:17.3 McLaughlin was 52nd in 22:56.5. Wille was 56th in 23:00. Sophomore Keira Bryhan was 80th in 24:20.8, and Swenson was 96th in 25:02.

Senior group to lead Black Hawk boys

Grafton returns seniors Chris Kalies, Lance Greicar, Maddox Durst and Sam Thompson to the boys’ team.

“Our senior boys also continue to be the anchors of the team, however we have both returners and new runners that we expect will round out the strength of the varsity team,” Shaughnessy said.

“The exciting news is we have had multiple freshmen and a few sophomores join this year, bringing numbers and talent to our team.”

Nathan Baker, the only boy Hawk to qualify for the state meet all four years, graduated. He took 24th last year.

At the Milwaukee River Invite, the Hawks finished 11th with 306 points. Among Division 2 teams, they were fourth with 113 points.

Kalies was 54th in 19:07. Greicar was 60th in 19:11.6. Sophomore Keegan Vaculik was 68th in 19:36.8. Sam Thompson was 70th in 19:40.6, and Durst was 105th in 20:41.8.

Shaughnessy said she is pleased with the effort the boys and girls put in during the offseason.

“The teams were self-motivated and worked hard over the summer, focusing both on running and strength,” she said.

“We would like to be in the top half of our conference this year, and with the hard work the kids are putting in we have a good chance.”

Grafton runs in the West Allis Central Bulldog Invite at McCarty Park in West Allis on Friday.