The Prescott girls cross country team placed second at the Division 2 Black River Falls Sectional to qualify for state as a team and Noah Matzek of Ellsworth and Olive Halvorson, Quin Andrews and …
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The Prescott girls cross country team placed second at the Division 2 Black River Falls Sectional to qualify for state as a team and Noah Matzek of Ellsworth and Olive Halvorson, Quin Andrews and Jonah Majerus of River Falls qualified for State individually.
The Prescott girls finished just two points from winning the Sectional title at 71 points, finishing behind West Salem. Qualifying for State was a big moment for the team, as it is the school’s first cross country team to qualify ever.
“That’s been my goal since I got involved in the cross country program,” Prescott Head Coach Tim Philips said. “To help elevate Prescott distance running to kind of the same level as some of Prescott’s other sports.”
Philips has a lot of respect for Prescott sports and the history and success they have, seeking the same for his program.
“Maybe we’re not there yet, but we’re getting close,” Philips said.
Kyra Dix finished second for Prescott, Amber Van Loon eighth, Katie Huppert 17th, Addyson Allsop 18th, Kyla Gotzinger 33rd, Emma Schmitz 34th and Nora Boles 38th. Dix has been historic this year for Prescott, and it all culminated in the second fastest time from the Cardinal girls team in school history at 19:47.
Dix is a sophomore and did not run cross country as a freshman. When Philips saw Dix run distance in track and field, he knew she could play a major role for the team.
“She’s just a game changer,” Philips said. “She just keeps getting better. It seems every time she goes out she seems to get better, more aggressive with her race tactics.”
Dix has medaled in every race this season for Prescott. While she has done her part, cross country takes everyone, and Prescott had contributions from everyone in Sectionals.
“You gotta have a full team and we’ve got that,” Philips said.
Prescott competed in the Black River Falls Sectional for the first time when they had usually competed in Rice Lake. Philips said the course was hilly which played into the Cardinal hand as they practice with a lot of hills.
Philips said there are some extremely talented teams at State, making the coming meet difficult for the Cardinals.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto,” Philips said.
Prescott did not have all the fun as there were four individual State qualifiers from other schools. The River Falls boys finished one spot out of State qualification in third and missed out by a single point, but it was not all heartbreak as Andrews and Majerus from the boys team and Halvorson of the girls team all qualified individually in the Division 1 Menomonie Sectional.
Andrews finished fourth in Sectionals with a time of 16:09 and Majerus was seventh at 16:25. Owen Koepke was one spot behind Majerus, putting him just outside of qualification. Halvorson finished seventh in the girls race with a time of 19:15.
Andrews is making a fourth trip to State and is ranked around 15th. River Falls Head Coach Kari DeLuca said Andrews is really finding his form late in the season.
Majerus is a senior on his second trip to State. DeLuca said having the experience of State and less nerves since he has done it before could serve as a big help. Halvorson is making her first appearance at the State meet.
DeLuca said the team has grown all year and they saw that growth on the biggest stage even if they fell just short of making it as a team.
“We’ve had tremendous growth through this season,” DeLuca said. “They just got better and better and worked really hard… It was a heartbreaker and little bit of bittersweet because we did really well at sections but also not enough.”
DeLuca said nothing changes from a physical standpoint heading into State, but the mental side can be a challenge when dealing with nerves against the other top runners of the State.
Matzek took ninth place in Black River Falls to qualify in the fifth and final individual spot with a time of 17:29. Matzek is a senior and did not start cross country until his junior season.
“Last year he was racing really well, but this year you can just tell that he had that year of experience under his belt because he started to make choices in the race that really put him in a position long-term to be competitive,” Ellsworth Head Coach Marcie Jahnke said.
Matzek earned First Team All-Conference in the Middle Border race a week ago with a personal best time. Jahnke said that served as a well-timed confidence booster as the postseason arrived.
Jahnke said the most difficult part about State is that the pack of runners in the front is much larger than a normal race which can be both intimidating and require strategic tweaks.
The State meet takes place Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids with events beginning at noon.