Sylla sisters separated by just four seconds at state meet

Throughout their time together running cross country in high school, sisters Taylor and Allie Sylla have pushed each other to get better and formed a dynamic duo that led the way for the Independence/Gilmanton program. Therefore, it felt a bit poetic that their final race together for the Indees ended with them separated by just four seconds and with only one runner between them on the grand stage of the state meet.

Taylor crossed the finish line in 35th and Allie was right behind in 37th in the Division Three girls’ race at the 2025 WIAA State Cross Country Championships, held this past Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids.

Taylor, a senior, was making her second straight state meet appearance and therefore had valuable experience under her belt in what it takes to best attack the challenging, hilly course at Ridges Golf Course. Allie, a sophomore, was making her state debut.

Ultimately, only Oshkosh Valley Christian’s Mya Moran in 36th kept the Sylla sisters from finishing back-to-back in the race, as Taylor posted a time of 20 minutes, 21.8 seconds and Allie followed with a mark of 20 minutes, 25.8 seconds.

“There’s always that little bit of competition, sister love, out on the course of making sure that you beat your sister in the end,” said I/G co-head coach Jenna Sonsalla. “But I think that’s just positive fuel. It’s good inter-squad competition, but it comes from a good spot for them because they both know how to push each other.”

Kohler junior Maggie Behler won the D3 girls’ race with a time of 18 minutes, 22.5 seconds. Darlington took home the team state championship with 92 points, just ahead of runner-up Kohler with 96 points.

In addition to the Syllas, the Dairyland Conference was represented by another sister duo at state: Cochrane-Fountain City senior Addy Duellman and sophomore Paxtyn Duellman. Both C-FC runners finished in the top 10, with Addy (18:36.3) placing second and Paxtyn (19:30.6) taking ninth.

That Saturday race marked final chapter in Taylor’s high school cross country career, though her younger sister will continue to carry on the lessons she learned from Taylor on how to be an effective runner.

“She always told me what to eat, what to do. Whenever she’s going to the bathroom, I go. Whenever she’s taking a drink, I go. She lays down, I lay down,” Allie said. “I just do whatever she does because I want to run exactly like her. She does extremely well in every single meet.”

Though Allie enjoyed a breakout season this fall as a sophomore, her older sister believes she’s just scratching the surface on her potential.

“Her strengths, I think they’re still coming. This year she improved a lot. And I mean a lot,” Taylor said. “I think she’s still figuring out those strengths. And I think throughout winter training and track and summer training, next year she’s going to come and kick them all in the butts.”

Bautista battles through sore knee in state debut

Despite battling through a minor knee issue since the conference meet a couple weeks back, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau’s Adrian Bautista wrapped up a successful junior season by making his state debut last weekend.

Bautista posted a time of 17 minutes, 26.1 seconds to finish in 61st in the Division Two boys’ race at the state cross country meet this past Saturday at Ridges Golf Course. Bautista admitted that the hills on the course proved to be an even bigger challenge than he anticipated, and part of his focus in his offseason training will be on improving his running on hills along with speed workouts.

Using prior experiences as fuel is nothing new to Bautista, as narrowly missing out on state at sectionals last year helped motivate him to put in the work that got him to the state meet.

“He made it. He ran his best race when he needed to at sectionals and it got him to the show. This was the goal. This is where we wanted to be. And this is exactly where we’re standing today. We could not be more proud of him, more happy for him,” said G-E-T head coach Paula Gold. “Now that he’s made it and he raced the race and he saw the course, what he just told me again was ‘now I know what’s my next goal. I’m going to be back.’ And that’s what’s so exciting about him is that he just keeps pushing forward.”

For all his individual success, Bautista said he was proudest of all he and his teammates had accomplished together this season and how they used each other to improve.

“I’m most proud of my team, honestly, more than myself because of how we all pushed each other to get where we are during the season,” Bautista said.

In that D2 boys’ race, Rice Lake senior Carter Kucko (15:45.6) was the winner while Shorewood (66 points) secured the team state championship ahead of runner-up Kohler (72 points).