St. Croix Central runners perform well, but Colfax does better

• Lauren Moll

St. Croix Central freshman Lauren Moll (right) battles Glenwood City’s Kaitlin Konder as they sprint toward the finish line at the conference meet.
• SCC seniors

St. Croix Central’s Stephen Brunshidle (left) and Alex Halvorson both were first team all-conference runners this season.

Talk about it

The St. Croix Central boys ran with a great sense of purpose in trying to win the 2011 Dunn-St. Croix Conference Cross Country Meet, which the Panthers hosted last Thursday.

The only problem was the Colfax boys ran just as intently to win the conference title.

The Panther boys earned a hard-fought second place in this year’s D-SC meet. The Panther girls also put together one of their best races of the season to finish fourth in the meet.

Central coach Bill Emery said the boys were downhearted over not winning the title, but they understood that they ran well and Colfax met their challenge. Half of the Panther boys set personal records in the meet and all but one of the Panther girls set new personal best times on their home course.

“We had a good day, it just wasn’t perfect,” Emery said, referring to the team falling short of its conference championship goal.

Leading the Central boys were seniors Stephen Brunshidle and Alex Halvorson. They both earned first team all-conference honors with their efforts. Brunshidle took third place and Halvorson took sixth.

Andrew Skala, Logan Nelson and Brett Briggs all finished among the top 20 runners as Central’s five scoring runners. Nelson took 18th despite running most of the race with one shoe. Emery said Nelson was spiked from behind early in the race, causing his shoe to fly off. He continued on, knowing the importance of every second in this race.

The Panther girls also had two all-conference runners. Sophomore Courtney Kramer finished in seventh, earning first team all-DSC honors. Freshman Lauren Moll ranked 13th to finish on the D-SC second team.

None of the six Panther girls who ran in the D-SC meet are seniors and Emery foresees a bright future for this group.

The Panthers now turn their attention to the WIAA Division 2 sectional meet, which will be run at Barron High School this Friday. Emery said the goal is simple: get someone to state.

“Whether it’s one or two boys, one or two girls, or a team,” he said. “We’re hoping we can make it happen.”

Individually, Brunshidle and Halvorson are threats to advance in the boys race, as is Kramer in the girls race. The Panther boys are a serious challenger to advance as a team. Two teams advance from the sectional level to state. Emery said the Panthers are locked in a four-way battle for those two spots, along with Northwestern, Ashland and St. Croix Falls.

2011 Dunn-St. Croix

Conference Meet

Boys team scores: Colfax 46, St. Croix Central 64, Boyceville 92, Elk Mound 97, Glenwood City 98, Mondovi 140, Spring Valley 162

St. Croix Central finishes

3. Stephen Brunshidle 17:37; 6. Alex Halvorson 17:41; 17. Andrew Skala 18:52; 18. Logan Nelson 18:57; 20. Brett Briggs 19:04; 28. Max Kaul 19:27; 29. Nathan Bringgold 19:30; 30. Jordan Bringgold 19:31; 38. Derrick Holm 19:59; 43. Tyler Johnson 20:12; 44. Tim Ziegenbein 20:12; 50. Nick Hammond 21:08; 51. Lukas Hawkins 21:12; 55. Robert McVey 21:31; 60. Thomas Arneson 21:54; 65. Leonardo Toniecelli 22:24; 80. Lucas DeGross 27:34

Girls team scores: Colfax 42, Spring Valley 52, Glenwood City 76, St. Croix Central 102, Elk Mound 124, Boyceville 124, Elmwood 176

St. Croix Central finishes

7. Courtney Kramer 16:48; 13. Lauren Moll 17:20; 25. Ella Scott 18:13; 32. Hope Hoolihan 18:56; 35. Abbie Webb 19:22; 36. Emily Talapa 19:25; 45. McKenzy Johnson 20:29

Tags: cross country, sports, panthers, prep