Bautista earns state breakthrough in borrowed spikes
Despite having to wear teammate Carter Giemza’s running spikes, G-E-T’s Adrian Bautista earned himself a state berth at last week’s sectional meet in Wisconsin Rapids. (Times photograph by Zach Rastall)
Diego Ortiz was the top Arcadia runner at this past Friday’s sectional in Wisconsin Rapids, as he finished 23rd in the boys’ race. (Times photograph by Zach Rastall)
Going into a sectional meet where he was already dealing with the pressure of seeking his first state tournament berth in his third try as a high school athlete, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau junior Adrian Bautista realized on the bus ride he’d forgotten something important in the trunk of his car: his cross country spikes.
Forced to improvise, Bautista was able to get an extra pair to use from his teammate Carter Giemza, who wears the same shoe size as him. Giemza’s bright blue spikes proved more than up to the task, as Bautista ran the best race of his career to earn the state berth that he’s long been working toward.
Bautista nabbed the fifth and final individual state qualifier spot by finishing in the top 10 of the boys’ race at a Division Two sectional meet hosted by Wisconsin Rapids Assumption at TriCity Golf Course.
After missing out on a spot at state as a sophomore by just four seconds, Bautista posted a new personal-best time of 17 minutes, 1.8 seconds that put him in 10th overall and left him anxiously waiting in the minutes after he crossed the finish line to see if it was good enough to send him on to state.
Once all the results were tallied, Richland Center/Ithaca and Mauston had earned the two boys’ team state berths and the five best times from runners not on those teams were also moving on: Dodgeville/Mineral Points’s Johnny Robinson and Gabe Engel, Lodi’s Everett Clemens, La Crosse Logan’s Gabe Passe and G-E-T’s Adrian Bautista.
“I used it a lot, especially during my training,” Bautista said of last year’s sectional close call serving as motivation. “I didn’t want to be in the same spot where I missed by four seconds. I just wanted to give it all I had, everything that I had.”
Using Giemza’s shoes, Bautista also felt that he was running for his teammate on Friday.
“We improvised and made it work for everybody or tried to make it work as best as we could,” Bautista said. “He’s our only boy senior, so wearing these shoes put forth that I’m doing it for him also, more than just me.”
Additionally for the Red Hawks, Logan Tibbitts shaved nearly a minute and a half off his previous person best to place 30th overall, followed by Connor McDonnell in 33rd, Carson Mayer in 36th and Cavin Spitzmacher in 37th.
The Arcadia boys had Diego Ortiz in 23rd, Alec Conrad in 27th, Nathan Badillo in 35th, Jonathan Aguilar in 79th and Bryan Simon in 80th.
In the girls’ race, the top G-E-T finishers were Isabella Tibbitts in 44th, Ruby Johnson in 45th, Kinley Giemza in 58th, Charlee McCutchen in 60th and Nora Higgins in 62nd.
The Arcadia girls had Malanie Moreno in 88th, Shaylah Rodriguez in 89th, Abbye Rojas in 95th, Samantha Bustos in 100th and Shannon Cruz Sandoval in 105th.
The Mount Horeb and Assumption girls earned the team state qualifying spots. Individual state qualifiers from the girls’ race were Lodi’s Aubrey Schoenemann, West Salem’s Nora Johnson, River Valley’s Mollie Maes, Dodgeville-Mineral Point’s Payton Christopher and Viroqua’s Allyah Schwem.
The 2025 state cross county meet is set to take place on Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Bautista will run in the D2 boys’ race at 12:35 p.m.
Boys cross country, Coulee Conference Championship Meet, Oct. 24 at TriCity GC
Richland Center/Ithaca 39, Mauston 54, Dodgeville-Mineral Point 70, La Crosse Logan 140, G-E-T 146, Lodi 170, Mount Horeb 188, Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld 227, Arcadia 242, Viroqua 278, Wisconsin Dells 280, River Valley 296, BRF 361
G-E-T — Bautista, 10th, 17:01.8; Tibbitts, 30th, 18:20.1; McDonnell, 33rd, 18:20.1; Mayer, 36th, 18:30.7; Spitzmacher, 37th, 18:32.3; Giemza, 41st, 18:38.3; Earney, 66th, 19:53.3
Arcadia — D. Ortiz, 23rd, 18:00.9; Conrad, 27th, 18:15.0; Badillo, 35th, 18:26.3; Aguilar, 79th, 20:58.0; Simon, 80th, 20:58.9; Kujak, 87th, 22:34.2; C. Ortiz, 91st, 24:03.6
Girls cross country, Coulee Conference Championship Meet, Oct. 24 at TriCity GC
Mount Horeb 28, Assumption 62, West Salem 84, Viroqua 131, Dodgeville-Mineral Point 141, Wisconsin Dells 211, River Valley 215, Richland Center/Ithaca 248, Mauston 262, G-E-T 266, Lodi 296, La Crosse Logan 300, Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld 310, BRF 351, Arcadia 467
G-E-T — Tibbitts, 44th, 22:14.1; Johnson, 45th, 22:21.9; Giemza, 58th, 23:05.9; McCutchen, 60th, 23:11.1; Higgins, 62nd, 23:12.9; Graham, 76th, 24:43.6; Thompson, 81st, 25:06.9
Arcadia — Moreno, 88th, 25:56.6; Rodriguez, 89th, 26:14.7; Rojas, 95th, 27:22.7; Bustos, 100th, 28:35.9; Cruz Sandoval, 103rd, 31:25.8; Barrios, 105th, 37:26.6
