Verona cross country traveled to the Stoughton Invitational with set goals in mind.
Girls CC
Janna Wise, who posted a lifetime best time of 16 minutes, 2 seconds a week ago at the Verona Quint meet, had even higher expectations entering Saturday's Stoughton Invitational.
The senior more than lived up to her goal of cracking 16 minutes, finishing 18th overall in 15:53, while helping Verona finish second overall as a team with 123 points, 17 behind Eagan, Minn.
"We're pretty satisfied overall with the place, I was just a little surprised at how it came," head coach Dave Nelson said.
An athlete who bounced between JV and varsity last season, Wise has solidified her role on the team this year, which includes being one of four captains.
"As a captain I definitely want to give the girls a good example of leadership," Wise said. "This summer I felt like I needed to go to all the summer runs and that was huge for getting in shape and being ready for the season."
Sophomore Nicole Kollman once again finished runner-up, following Vikings standout Kiah Ehrke to the line in 15:04.37.
Ehrke, who finished behind Verona's Emma Spoon last year, won her first-ever Stoughton Invitational in 14:46.63.
Verona sophomore Becky Burton placed 27th in 16:08, while freshman Kayla Anderson, who was the team's No. 2 runner through a mile-and-three-quarters of the race, finished 35th overall in 16:19.
"I give Kayla a lot of credit for being willing to take a risk," Nelson said. "We talked before that meet that this was still a race where we could take a risk and learn from it and she did."
Senior Kelsey Sweeney was Verona's final varsity scorer, coming in 41st with a time of 16:33.37.
Nelson said everyone on both the varsity and JV have things that they individually can work on, more mentally than physically.
"We're to the point in the season where physically we're just about as strong as we're going to be," he said. "Mentally is really where we can separate ourselves from where we are now to what we could become."
Boys CC
Seeing a sophomore lead the Wildcats boys cross country pack is nothing new this season, as Trent Barthoff, Rob Horton and Dan LaCroix have battled atop for the lead each week.
With Barthoff and Horton atop the group pretty much week in and week out, Saturday's Stoughton Invitational gave LaCroix his chance to shine, finishing 21st overall in 16:51.94.
"We really wanted to leave a mark today and show the Big Eight teams that we are a tough team, we're good competitors and we're going to work hard," said LaCroix, who broke 17 minutes for the first time this season.
Barthoff placed 16th overall to pace the team in 16:45.79.
"I wish I could have kept up with Trent a little more, but I didn't quite fall back as far as I normally do," LaCroix said. "Sometimes I kind of have a mental breakdown around that two-and-a-half mile mark, but today was a pretty good day overall."
Dan Thorsen crossed the finish line as the Wildcats' third runner in 28th place with a time of 17:09.17.
Dan Schuchardt (17:32.99) and Jacob Hegge (17:34.29) rounded out the team's scorers in 45th and 47th place, as Verona finished fourth overall out of 16 teams with 157 points, 54 behind Big Eight rival Madison Memorial.
"We got out slow today and that hurt us," head coach Randy Marks said. "We can do better than this.
"I was actually surprised that we finished that high."
The Wildcats were expecting to be right there with Memorial, but the Spartans, which ran with a nice pack all the way back to their seventh man, had the edge on Saturday.
Two of the state's premier boys programs, top-ranked Stevens Point missed placing all five varsity within the top 10 by one spot to defeat Madison La Follette (31-47).
Horton slipped out of the top five for the first time this season, finishing 57th.
"He's one of those guys that races in the well," Marks said. "He's able to go deeper into the well than most runners, but if you do that a couple of meets in a row, it can be too much."
Horton will get off this Saturday's Middleton Invitational at Pleasant View Golf Course, the same site as the Big Eight Conference race on Oct. 18.
"That's not uncommon, especially for sophomores that aren't mature physically and our guys aren't," Marks said. "Our top guys have been going to the well pretty often."
None of the current varsity athletes have ran the course before, so they will all do at least a run-through.
