Arcadia’s Conrad carves out spot on All-Coulee first team

The West Salem boys were in their own class in the Coulee Conference when it came to cross country this fall. But among a crowd of standout Panther runners, Arcadia’s Alec Conrad carved out a place for himself on the all-conference first team to help punctuate a breakout debut season for him.

Conrad nabbed the seventh and final spot on the boys’ All-Coulee first team for the 2024 season, which marked his first with the Arcadia cross country program.

All-conference positioning is decided by individual finishes at the Coulee Conference Championships, which this year were held on Oct. 17 at Ettrick Golf Course.

Conrad was the only non-West Salem runner among the top nine finishers. Crossing the finish line ahead of Conrad for the Panthers were senior Carter Quackenbush (the 2024 runner of the year), junior Carson Gronemus, senior Tom Stenberg, senior Brennon Anderson, senior Drew Anderson and sophomore Andrew Lorenz.

The top of the leaderboard was similar to the 2023 race, where Gronemus finished first followed by Brennon Anderson, Stenberg, Quackenbush and Drew Anderson.

The all-conference second team for this year featured West Salem freshman Evan Berra, West Salem junior Sawyer Stakston, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau sophomore Adrian Bautista, Arcadia senior Andy Monroy Ramirez, G-E-T junior Carter Giemza, West Salem freshman Landon Rieber and West Salem junior Kaleb Spah.

All-Coulee honorable mentions were G-E-T senior Sawyer Smock, Westby senior Beckett Brueggen, G-E-T sophomore Cavin Spitzmacher, Westby senior Reid Fisher, Viroqua freshman Finn Siemon, Westby senior David Simonson and Viroqua freshman Matthew Berra.

Westby junior Elizabeth Curtis finished as the Coulee’s girls’ runner of the year, headlining a list of first-team honorees that also included Viroqua freshman Allyah Schwem, West Salem senior Mia Olson, Westby sophomore Addison Evenstad, Viroqua senior Rivyn DiPadova, Westby sophomore Molly Hamilton and Westby freshman Hannah Hagen.

The All-Coulee second team featured West Salem senior Faith Minard, Westby senior Natalie Miller, West Salem sophomore Samantha MacRogers, Westby freshman Odessa Huebner, Westby sophomore McKenna Jothen, Black River Falls senior Lily Miller and West Salem senior Maclaine Heilman.

All-conference honorable mentions were Viroqua sophomore Hazel Goltz, West Salem senior Kennedy Garbers, G-E-T freshman Ruby Johnson, West Salem senior Mallory Long, West Salem sophomore Ava Schuster, G-E-T senior Reyna Garcia and West Salem senior Victoria Lysne.

The Coulee’s team conference champions for 2024 were West Salem for the boys and Westby for the girls.