The girls’ and boys’ cross country teams earned their annual FVA Conference Championships at Kaukauna on Thursday, Oct. 12. The Neenah’s JV and Varsity won first place for both genders. The boys won their fourth consecutive year in a row, and the girls commemorate their first win in a decade.
Junior Mazie Olkowski said: “We’ve been better than in previous years, and I think pretty much everyone besides one or two people set a PR. It was a really good meet.”
Freshman Drew Sabatke added: “I think the boys performed better than expected. Varsity did exactly what they were supposed to do, and we had a JV sweep.”
Cross country is a team sport where the top five runners for each team score points based on their race placement. For example, a runner who placed third would accumulate 3 points for their team, with the goal of contributing the fewest points. The team with the least points wins the meet.
The Neenah Girls’ Varsity team scored a total of 32 points. Mazie Olkowski (junior) earned 2 points, Elsa Gruber (sophomore) 5, Natalie Schultz (freshmen) 6, Natalie Willes (sophomore) 9, and Maddie Schoonover (freshmen) 10. The Neenah Girls’ JV team had a total of 23 points. Brooke Veith (junior) received 2 points, Lexi Dorner (senior) 3, Lauren Linstedt (senior) 4, Mea Jones (sophomore) 6, and Claire Gloudemans (junior) 8.
The Neenah Boys’ Varsity team received a total of 40 points. Wyatt Armock (senior) captured 6 points, Zach Verhagen (sophomore) 7, Braedy Klawikowski (junior) 8, Harmon Posegate (junior) 9, and Nolan Smith (junior) 10. Additionally, all of the top 5 runners for Neenah Boys’ JV placed in the top 5 spots, earning the JV team 15 points. Sam Kleisner (senior) secured first place and 1 point, Owen Martin (senior) collected 2, Jackson Holzheu (sophomore) earned 3, Oliver Steiner (sophomore) scored 4, and Brayden Willis (sophomore) secured 5.
In addition to all these victories, Mazie Olkowski broke the school record. Running the 5k in 18.47 minutes, surpassing the previous record of 18.51 minutes.
Olkowski shared her excitement, “It’s a really good feeling. It’s been something I’ve been trying to do for most of the season, so when a couple of my teammates came up to me after to tell me it was really exciting.”
Neenah Cross Country has WIAA Sectionals on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Standing Rocks Park in Stevens Point.
Olkowski said, “I think we’re going to perform pretty well.”
