Rocket’s mission accomplished:

Cedar Grove-Belgium High School’s fastest girl runner in program history is now a state medalist.

Junior Brynlee Schmidt cracked the top 10 in the Division 3 race at Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, finishing ninth of 145 runners in the 5,000-meter race in 19 minutes, 11.4 seconds.

“My strategy for the race was to work my way up to the podium,” Schmidt said.
“As I was about halfway through the last mile and I was in position for top 10, I felt so grateful I had this opportunity to compete.”

Coach Brandon Langer said his star runner achieved her goal by reaching the podium.

“She was in about 30th at the 800m mark, which had me a bit concerned, but she moved up to 16th by the mile and was 13 seconds behind the leaders,” he said. “They went out a bit quicker than I anticipated, but Brynlee did a good job of adjusting and moving up throughout the race.”

At the two-mile mark, Schmidt was in 10th.

“The last mile was a gut check.  She made a move with about 1,000 meters to go by the roller coaster hills and battled a pack of three ahead of her over this final stretch of the course as she finished strong,” Langer said. “I was extremely proud to see her hard work and dedication pay off, as she is only the fourth Cedar Grove-Belgium girl to reach the podium at the state meet.”

Schmidt had finished 48th and 47th at state.

Schmidt was glad she could run in the same race as her sister Lydia. The sophomore finished 57th in 20:54.9.

“It was really fun to be able to do it all with Lydia and I’m glad she was able to experience competing at state Cross Country for the first time,” Schmidt said. “It truly is a gift that we are able to do this together. I wouldn’t be able to do this without my coaches, and I just thank God for the opportunity and gift to be able to run for His glory.”

Lydia said the race didn’t go as well as planned but she was happy to be there.

“I didn’t want to go out too fast the first mile like everyone else but instead I went out a little too slow, but I’m proud of my progress this season and I am happy I got to share it with my sister,” she said.

“Lydia moved from 78th place at the mile to 68th at the two-mile to 57th by the finish, exactly the type of movement we discussed,” Langer said. “Her last mile was only three seconds off her first mile, so she closed strong, which is outstanding considering the difficulty of the last mile.”

Cable moves up in his first state race

The Rockets’ other individual qualifier was another first-timer at state. Freshman Cable de Troye finished 49th in the Division 2 race in 17:07.5. That time would have placed 27th in the Division 3 race, but the Rockets got moved up a division after winning the state title in 2024 through the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s competitive balance initiative. The team moves back to Division 3 for at least the next two seasons.

Langer said de Troye was understandably nervous, but teammate and training partner Carsten Huenink was there to help, as well as other upperclassmen.

“He did a really good job moving up throughout the race, moving from 93rd at the mile to 66th at the two-mile to 49th at the finish,” Langer said. “Both his time and Lydia’s times were pretty solid compared to their season bests considering the course.”