Northwestern runners sweep HON titles

The Northwestern High School boys and girls cross country teams both ran to big victories Tuesday at the Heart O’ North Conference Meet in Spooner.

The Tiger girls won with a team score of 26, and the boys won with a score of 33. Hayward was the girls runner-up with 70 points, and Chetek-Weyerhaeuser took second for the boys with 68 points.

“These results show the depth of the team, their commitment to hard work and their desire to compete,” said NHS coach Phil McGrath. “Tonight shows that hard work pays off.”

All five varsity runners whose times counted toward the team score finished in the top 10 for both the Tiger boys and girls.

Ryan Lind won the boys race in 17:34.7. Travis Sznaider took sixth, Mason Lombard was seventh, Kyle Rautio was ninth and Josiah Vik was tenth.

Jordan Johnson led the Tiger girls with a second place finish, followed closely by Emma Nelson in third. Michaela Ruhman and Carmen Ormston were fifth and sixth, respectively, and Tess Nelson was tenth.

“I’m really proud of all our athletes and especially proud of our seniors and captains who lead by setting a good example and by being positive and working hard at every workout,” McGrath said.

The NHS junior varsity teams also had a strong showing as the boys and girls each claimed their respective titles with perfect scores of 15.

The Tigers next compete in a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet Oct. 19 in Barron. The state cross country meet is Oct. 27.

“We’re going to celebrate the win tonight and tomorrow refocus on our larger goal of making it to state,” McGrath said.

Heart O’ North Conference

Cross Country Championship

At Spooner High School

Team Scores

Girls Varsity

1. Northwestern, 26; 2. Hayward, 70; 3. Bloomer, 71; 4. Ladysmith, 123; 5. Spooner, 127; 6. Barron, 143; 7. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, 178; 8. Cumberland, 197.

Boys Varsity

1. Northwestern, 33; 2. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, 68; 3. Hayward, 78; 4. Barron, 112; 5. Bloomer, 133; 6. Spooner, 158; 7. Cumberland, 185; 8. Ladysmith, 194.

Girls JV

1. Northwestern, 15.

Boys JV

1. Northwestern, 15; 2. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, 59; 3. Barron, 67.

Individual Results

(Top 10, plus NHS results)

Boys Varsity

1. Ryan Lind, NHS, 17:34.7; 2. Daniel Pederson, Spooner, 17:41.4; 3. Clint Heinze, Bloomer, 18:18.0; 4. Chris Anderson, C-W, 18:18.9; 5. Martin Coulondre, Hayward, 18:22.2; 6. Travis Sznaider, NHS, 18:24.4; 7. Mason Lombard, NHS, 18:32.9; 8. Brandon Books, C-W, 18:36.9; 9. Kyle Routio, NHS, 18:41.7; 10. Josiah Vik, NHS, 18:46.7; 11. Ty Rankin, NHS, 18:47.6; 18. Bret Little, NHS, 19:50.3.

Girls Varsity

1. Andrea Ostenso, Ladysmith, 15:27.8; 2. Jordan Johnson, NHS, 16:01.7; 3. Emma Nelson, NHS, 16:33.6; 4. Chelsea Tremblay, Hayward, 17:06.6; 5. Michaela Ruhman, NHS, 17:11.1; 6. Carmen Ormston, NHS, 17:19.5; 7. Katerin Ocariz, Spooner, 17:31.9; 8. Nicole Lanzer, Bloomer, 17:35.9; 9. Cora Bruxvoort, Bloomer, 17:49.5; 10. Tess Nelson, NHS, 17:54.5; 13. Angela Snow, NHS, 18:16.5; 16. Anna Kalin, NHS, 18:37.9

Boys JV

1. Matt Stai, NHS, 19:54.3; 2. Nathan Markon, NHS, 19:54.3; 3. Thomas Trzynka, NHS, 19:54.6; 4. Matthew Thom, NHS, 20:21.3; 5. Leo Mack 9 5 NHS, 20:56.3; 6. Jeb Pflug 11 6 NHS, 21:22.1; 7. Aaron Ostrander, Hayward, 21:22.1; 8. Will Maher, C-W, 21:27.9; 9. Tim Heikkila, NHS, 21:33.1; 10. Foster Plunket, Barron, 22:06.7; 14. Luke Jarman, NHS, 23:06.6; 16. Michael Bessler, NHS, 23:09.4; 18. Jeremy Johnson, NHS, 23:22.9; 21. Nate Lindahl, NHS, 24:29.5; 22. David Fechtelkotter, NHS, 24:31.0; 23. Ahmed Benmoussa, NHS, 24:37.6; 24. Austin Corey, NHS, 25:33.8; 27. Nathaniel Fuller, NHS, 26:06.3; 28. Donovan Hursh, NHS, 26:14.8; 30. Connor Smith, NHS, 27:00.7.

Girls JV

1. Kelly Erkkila, NHS, 18:29.2; 2. Beth Gurske, NHS, 19:07.1; 3. Mariah Nelson, NHS, 19:12.6; 4. Kali Dvorak, Hayward, 20:22.7; 5. Meredith Ingbretson, Hayward, 20:23.2; 6. Sabrina Martinson, NHS, 20:31.1; 7. Logan Klobucher, NHS, 20:36.2; 8. Paige Mullen, Hayward, 21:17.0; 9. Brandee Dittbrender, NHS, 21:38.5; 10. Briana Green, NHS, 21:50.3; 12. Nichole Greely, NHS, 23:32.1.

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