Union Grove Girls Win Conference Title on Tiebreaker; Boys Finish Second

UG Girls Take It All At Conference! Boys Finish Second With Standout Showings

Union Grove, Wis - Eddie Rabbit’s yacht rock hit proclaims he loves a rainy night, but the Union Grove Cross Country team seems to love a rainy afternoon. And what is not to love? The Bronco girls’ team took first place overall in a hard-fought competition that resulted in a tie with Elkhorn’s top five runners, with Union Grove taking the victory decided by their sixth overall runner. The boys’ team was no slouch either, duking it out with Badger and giving it their all, which found them in second place after the dust (mud?) settled.

It was a wet, rainy afternoon in Beloit’s Leeson Park for the October 15th Southern Lakes Conference meet. While the forecasted weather showed some mercy and left out the heavy downpours, an afternoon of rain soaked the course, making for a soggy and sloppy event. The saturated turf, however, did not wash out either teams’ spirits, with the entire girls’ varsity team posting either PRs or season best times across the board, with several boys also attaining the same.

The girls’ team earned first place in the Southern Lakes Conference, lead by freshman Aila Johnson posting a PR time of 19:30.4 and taking first place overall in the girl’s race. Emma Schafer, a freshman, claimed second place overall in the race and grabbed a PR of 19:47.1 in the process. Grabbing the 10th spot and a PR of 20:18.8 was another freshman, Mila Johnson. Senior Sam Antonneau ran her season’s best time of 20:54.9 and a scoring position of 19th, and junior Aubree Krueger rounded out the top five for the girls in 21st with a PR time of 21.09.2. Normally, the top five team finishes determine overall placement for the team, however, Union Grove’s top five tied with Elkhorn, so each girls’ team’s sixth place runner determined who would emerge victorious. That honor ultimately went to the Union Grove girls, with sophomore Nataljia Milicevic posting a PR time of 21:18.1 and taking the 22nd spot, which delivered the goods to edge out Elkhorn and win the conference.

The boys’ team battled for their top spot with Badger, but ultimately had to settle for second place overall. It wasn’t for lack of trying, with stellar performances and efforts that netted the top-five boys runners a PR. Parker Newland, a junior, delivered an impressive performance to see him finally break seventeen minutes with a new PR time of 16:45.8 to take third place overall for the SLC boys. Abe Ackley, junior, shattered his prior PR time by over 45 seconds and posted 17:18.4, easily marking his first foray into sub-eighteen minute times and taking the seventh overall spot. A third junior boy, Xander Stulo, scored 9th in the boy’s SLC conference with a new PR time of 17:32.1, leaving Ethan Ross to cap off the junior boy’s efforts with his own PR of 17:40.9 for the 12th spot. Sophomore Benjamin Thomason rounds out the top five for the Bronco boys, taking a PR of 18:32.1 in the process and 27th overall. The boys finished seven points behind Badger to take second place in the SLC.

While the weather was gloomy, both Union Grove team’s placements in the individual all-conference rankings were a definite bright spots. Aila Johnson took it all for all conference rankings in the SLC, taking 1st place honors in the first team all conference. Emma Schafer was right behind in 2nd in the first team all-conference rankings, with Mila Johnson taking 10th to represent the Union Grove girls in the second team all-conference rankings. The junior boys also made their presence known, with Parker Newland grabbing 3rd and Abe Ackley at 7th overall to rank in the first team all-conference lineup. Xander Stulo and Ethan Ross landed on the second team all-conference line up for the Bronco boys with 9th and 12th places respectively.

The girl’s team looks to keep their momentum going this Saturday, October 24th, at the sectionals meet at Fox River Park in Salem Lakes with their sights set squarely on qualifying for state. The boys are also in the hunt for state, and will go back up against Badger and others in their section to battle it out for a spot.