I/G’s Sylla wins first meet of the season

Independence/Gilmanton’s Allie Sylla won her first meet of the season in her first race since last year’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championship.

Sylla, a junior, finished ahead of second-place finisher Laney O’Brien of Augusta by about 23 seconds to claim the individual championship at last Tuesday’s meet hosted by I/G at Pietrek Park. 

The I/G girls had three runners crack the top 15, but did not have anybody else compete in the race. Five runners are needed to qualify for the team standings. Anna Kent took seventh for I/G and Sophia Kampa was 13th. 

Whitehall finished fifth in the team standings with 117 points. The team was led by sophomore Rani Waldera, who finished 20th, one spot better than teammate Lexi Kurth. Symphony Haas was 49th for Whitehall while Marisol Guzman took 51st and Sophia Knutson was 55th. 

The I/G boys finished third in the team standings, just four points ahead of Whitehall.

Jayden Harz led the Indees, taking 13th overall while freshman Stian Howard was 14th. Darion Gibbs took 20th, followed by Maddox Pronschinske, 31st; James Wolfe, 43rd; Carson Klimek, 45th; and Jordan Boncimino, 56th.

Christopher Mann led Whitehall by taking 11th overall while Erick Aguilar finished 15th. Gage Garbers was 26th; Cayden Platteter, 35th; Finn Anderson, 39th; Colby Santos, 46th; and Weston Stenulsen was 60th. 

Girls Cross Country, I/G cross country meet, Aug. 25 at Pietrek Park

Fall Creek 42 Augusta 50 Stanley-Boyd 70 Mondovi 81 Whitehall 117

I/G — Sylla, first, 21:11; Kent, seventh, 23:10; Kampa, 13th, 24:10

Whitehall — Waldera, 20th, 25:20; Kurth, 21st, 25:29; Haas, 49th, 35:31; Guzman, 51st, 37:16; Knutson, 55th, 39:54

Boys Cross Country, I/G cross country meet, Aug. 25 at Pietrek Park

Mondovi 28 S-B 66 I/G 105 Whitehall 109 Fall Creek 109 AC Lincoln 116 Augusta 142

I/G — Harz, 13th, 20:43.6; Howard, 14th, 21:10; Gibbs, 20th, 21:35; Pronschinske, 31st, 23:31; Wolfe, 43rd, 26:08; Klimek, 45th, 26:50; Boncimino, 56th, 30:45

Whitehall — Mann, 11th, 20:40; Aguilar, 15th, 21:10; Garbers, 26th, 21:59; Platteter, 35th, 23:43; Anderson, 39th, 24:59; Santos, 46th, 26:54; Stenulsen, 60th, 32:20

G-E-T runner wins Gale Johnson Kick-Off

By Zach Rastall

Times Staff

Having already established himself as a decorated runner during his time with Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, Adrian Bautista enters his senior year hoping to finish with a flourish. He got things off to a promising start with a win in the team’s first meet of the new season.

Bautista crossed the finish line with a time of 17:05.7 to take first in the boys’ 5,000-meter race at last Saturday’s Gale Johnson Kick-Off, held at the Maple Grove Venues in West Salem and hosted by Onalaska High School.

Bautista’s winning time put him just over five seconds ahead of Tomah senior Tyler Boettcher (17:11.0) who was second overall.

The boys’ team standings were a flip of the individual standings, with the Timberwolves taking first with 41 points and G-E-T following in second with 74. Fennimore was close behind the Red Hawks in third with 76 points.

In addition to Bautista, G-E-T had junior Connor McDonnell (18:11.1) in seventh, sophomore Logan Tibbitts (18:48.7) in 17th, and seniors Ayden Aschbrenner (18:58.0) and AJ Earney (19:25.8) in 21st and 28th, respectively. 

The G-E-T girls finished in sixth place in their team standings with 191 points, led by freshman Harper McCutchen (23:46.1) in 22nd, senior Bella Tibbitts (25:02.5) in 38th, freshman Hadassah Becker (25:13.9) in 41st, senior Claire Breidenbach (26:20.9) in 53rd and sophomore Kinley Giemza (27:10.5) in 62nd.

Arcadia teams 11th at first XC meet

By Zach Rastall

Times Staff

The Arcadia cross country team began their season as part of the field at last Tuesday’s Ken Trott Memorial Invitational in Westby.

The Raiders were 11th in both the boys’ and girls’ team standings. Senior Nathan Badillo was the highlight performer of the day for Arcadia, finishing just outside the top 10 with his 11th-place showing in a time of 15:19.1

Other runners for the Arcadia boys included seniors Emi Vazequez Luque (86th, 19:25.0) and Reese Kujak (90th, 19:37.0), junior Brian Lorenzo (95th, 20:17.6) and sophomore Amadeus Vazquez Luque (120th, 23:33.6).

The Raider girls were led by junior Shaylah Rodriguez (24:35.9) in 70th, followed by senior Malanie Moreno (71st, 24:37.1), junior Shannon Cruz (74th, 24:54.7), senior Ashly Sandoval (75th, 24:59.0) and sophomore Ellie Tempski (90th, 28:13.9).