Senior Brooklyn Luebke advanced to the WIAA State Cross Country Championships for the third-straight year with her second place finish at the Division 3 Sectional meet hosted by MLHS at Meadow Links Golf Course in Manitowoc on Saturday.
The race for the individual girls sectional crown was a battle of determination between Luebke and freshman Hannah Welch of Valders. Luebke, after taking and maintaining an early lead up until the middle of the race, then traded the lead a few times with Welch in the last half-mile of the race while the rest of the 107 girls in the race were a half minute or more behind them. Both runners were gassed in the final hilly 400 meters to the finish, with Welch managing to pass Luebke to take the sectional crown with her 19:35 finish. Luebke took second in 19:45 to earn her three-peat trip to the State meet as an individual qualifier.
Our Lancers girls team took 7th out of the 20 schools at the meet, matching their 2019 Sectional finish, and finishing higher than any time in the five years previous to that. Freshman Trisha Kiss finished 29th in 22:48, senior Emma Kolar was 38th in 23:03, junior Isabella Blauert was 56th in 23:53, junior Lizzy Kolar was 66th in 24:13, senior Grace Zander was 67th in 24:18, and sophomore Taylor Schuettpelz was 92nd in 27:00. Besides seniors Emma Kolar and Grace Zander, varsity alternate Katie Ungemach also closed out her Lancer cross country career Saturday.
The two girls teams advancing to the state meet by virtue of their 1st and 2nd place finishes are Oshkosh Lourdes and Valders. Besides Brooklyn Luebke, other girls individual state qualifiers are Bea Dramm (Sevastopol), Leah Patterson (Valley Christian), and Hadley Heimerman and Lyndsay Sass (both Cedar Grove-Belgium).
The Lancer boys took 6th of 20 schools, which included some very difficult competition. Senior Shawn Egerer led the Lancers, finishing 22nd in 18:29 to close out his Lancer cross country career. Freshman Jacob Kanzenbach took 35th in 19:13, junior Seth Ciha was 42nd in 19:27, junior Jonah Melso was 44th in 19:32, freshman Braden Revak ran a PR time of 20:29 to finish 54th, sophomore Jon Thoma was 69th in 21:08 and sophomore Noah Lukasek was 94th in 22:40.
Valders won the boys Sectional team title, with Sheboygan Lutheran taking 2nd to also qualify as a team for the State meet. Individual boys qualifying for State from our sectional are Andrew Mader (Hilbert), Davis Behler (Kohler), Mason Hoopman (Cedar Grove-Belgium), Cameron Cullen (Kewaunee), and Ryan Jacoby (Roncalli).
Full results from our Sectional meet are on pttiming.com. Coach Abbey Bubolz gives a big thank you to EVERYONE who once again helped MLHS host a great Sectional meet.
Brooklyn Luebke is only the third person in MLHS history to qualify for State three times in cross country. She is the returning Division 3 state champion; in 2019 she finished 4th at State. She will compete this Saturday at the WIAA State Championship meet, held at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The girls Division 3 race will start at 3:05pm – it is the last race of the day, following all the Division 1 and 2 races and the boys Division 3 race. The first race of the day is at 12pm.
Lancer Fans are encouraged to come to Wisconsin Rapids to cheer and support Brooklyn at the State meet! Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Please refer to the complete info on the meet at https://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Fall/Girls-Cross-Country/Tournament#50481616-state-tournament-spectator-guide. All spectators must use the shuttle parking service that is utilized at the meet.
God’s blessings to Brooklyn at State!
Varsity Games This Week
Thursday: WIAA Sectional Semi-Final VB game @ Howards Grove, 7pm
Saturday: WIAA State Cross Country Meet @ Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids
3:05pm - Brooklyn Luebke races in the Girls Div. 3 race
Potential WIAA Sectional Championship VB
vs. Shoreland Lutheran/Kenosha Christian Life @ Williams Bay, Wis., 7pm