Port runners making strides during day, night

It was a nontraditional meet in the sense that vision was hampered at Neenah last Friday night, but the Port Washington High School cross country teams still maintained their high placement in the pack.

The Pirate girls lost a third-place tiebreaker to Little Chute in the Large School Division. Both teams had 116 points, but Little Chute’s sixth runner finished four places ahead of Port’s runner.

Senior Abbey Lotz paced the Pirates, finishing the 5,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 38.58 seconds.

Senior Braeya Thomas was 14th in 20:56.36. Sophomore Madison Myers was 23rd in 21:38.69. Freshman Payton Wysocki was 31st (29th in team competition) in 22:02.78, and freshman Mia Blum was 44th (41st) in 22:47.05.

Freshman Avery Newell was 63rd in 24:42.05, and junior Danielle Ehaney was 66th in 25:33.29.

“Some people had some great races,” coach Joe Adamak said. “I’m starting to see some improvement with some of the young runners, so hopefully they build on that.”

The night race made for unique conditions.

“It’s not normal. You can’t see the runners,” Adamak said.

“I’m not sure how far they can see in front of them. They’ve got Christmas lights all the way around the course. It’s marked really well.”

But it is a blast.

“They get to wear glow sticks and all sorts of things to light up. There’s music there; it’s a lot of fun,” Adamak said.

Green Bay Preble won the 14-team meet with 71 points. Freedom had 88. Preble is a large Division 1 school and Freedom is very good, Adamak said.

The Port girls return most of their team from last season. Sophomore Reagan Jerome is back but recovering from illness, and senior Emma Kasza-James is focusing on mountain biking instead this season.

Port boys crack the top five

The Pirate boys scored 108 points and finished fifth in the Large School Division.

Freshman Jameson Parulski was 14th (12th) in 18:30.72.

“This was a personal best for him and the first time he has led the team,” coach Mark Pasten said.

Alex Anwenter, a sophomore, was 16th (14th) in 18:37.58.

“Alex did a great job of starting fast and putting himself near the front of the field,” Pasten said.

Senior Gino Feciskonin was 20th (18th) in 18:54.22.

“Gino did an outstanding job of pacing his effort and moving up through the field throughout the race,” Pasten said.

Sophomore Pete Lotz was 31st (27th) in 19:39.94. Senior Finn Ritter was 42nd (37th) in 20:07.19,

In nonscoring runners, senior Ben Parulski was 46th (41st) in 20:36.52, and Alex Luna was 52nd (46th) in 21:00.22 in his first varsity race.

Bryce Grant sat out due to a muscle strain.

Winneconne won the 11-team meet with 37 points. Little Chute had 67, Amherst had 92 and Freedom had 104.

Port runs Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.