CG-Belgium and Grafton runners face tough foes

Cracking into the top echelon was a challenge for the Cedar Grove-Belgium and Grafton cross country teams last Friday at the Highlander Invite at Tendick Park in Saukville.

Facing Division 1 and 2 schools with populations much larger than that of the Rockets and Black Hawks made for a formidable challenge.

The Rocket boys scored 179 points to take seventh of 12 teams.

After the girls got off to a slow start in their race, coach Brandon Langer wanted to make sure the boys went faster.

“On the boys’ side, I thought they ran well. They were aggressive that first mile and did a good job in terms of competing and holding their position the rest of the race,” he said.

Quinn Hoopman led the pack by finishing the 5,000-meter race in 18 minutes, 16 seconds for 28th.

Ben Fleuchaus came in 32nd in 18:32, and Elliot Depies was right behind in 33rd in the same time.

Logan Ketterhagen was 45th in 18:45, shaving 90 seconds off his first race, and Bryce Ketterhagen was 45th in 18:58.

“We talked as a team the next practice about being happy with the performance, but not being satisfied, as this was a good second race, but there is still room for improvement,” Langer said.

Hamilton won with 60 points.

Grafton was eighth with 189. Zander Lichosik was seventh in 17:01. Nathan Baker was 22nd in 17:58.

Sam Peters was 51st in 19:04, and Jake Neperud was right behind in 52nd in 19:05. Hunter Bartelt was 57th in 19:16.

The Rocket girls finished last of 12 teams, scoring 317 points.

Karen Ibarra led with a 50th-place finish in 22:26. Grace Voskuil was 56th in 22:44. Jacy Zajac was 66th in 23:55. Lyndsay Sass was 72nd in 24:23, and Cheyenne Simonet was 73rd in 24:24.

“We’ve talked about racing strategy and making sure we get out that first mile, and then push the second, but this race was not executed they way we discussed,” Langer said.

“We talked about this the next day at practice, and I am positive that at our next meet at Chilton, we will position ourselves better.”

Hamilton won with 52 points.

Grafton was ninth with 218.

Maddy Wille was 30th in 21:31. Anna Eifert was 38th in 21:54. Morgan Ruona was 40th in 22:05. Ava Pederson was 43rd in 22:15, and Elise Lueck was 67th in 23:55.

The Rockets next run at 4:15 p.m. Friday at a Chilton Invite.

The Hawks next run Saturday at 9 a.m. at Menomonee Falls.