The Mauston Golden Eagle CC teams competed at the LaCrosse Logan CC  Division 2 sectional  meet on Saturday October 21… The top two teams in each race as well as the top five individuals on non-qualifying teams advancing to the 2023 WIAA State Cross Country Championships held at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday October 28th..

MHS,junior, Josh Ellerman raced his way  to the state championships with his 5th place overall finish with a time of 16:50.5. The MHS boys “pack” was in hot pursuit sophomore Brekk Peterson 13th place(17:12), senior Tyler Schwartz 15th place (17:27), Senior, Drake Gosda 26th place

( 17:56), freshman Haakon Peterson 28th(18:02), senior Blake Herrewig 44th( 18:26 ) and freshman Weston Pouillie 45th (18:31) .  There were 93 runners in the boys race..  The team scores for the top 5 teams:  West Salem 41- D-MP 48- Richland Center 82-MAUSTON 87 and Arcadia 128.

 ” Our sectional had a very fast and deep talent pool. with two teams ranked in the top six boys D-2 teams in the state ( West Salem ranked 2nd and DMP ranked 6th) so we knew the race was really going to be a challenge for our ” bests’ to do what they could do..Our kids really responded to the challenge – we had five lifetime bests on the boys team.  We compete with the “all you can do is all you can do” philosophy and that is exactly  what they did at sectionals. sectionals is always an emotional roller coaster. At the end of the day there are some smiles and some tears..The smiles are good and the tears are good because each of them has experienced  what it means to give your best possible and what happens- happens . We are so proud of our teams” commented MHS CC coaches Bill DeVoe and John Maki 

     The MHS girls team raced to a 10th place finish at the sectional meet, MHS senior, Morgan Firlus was the top finisher for the girls team with her16th place finish.  Morgan’s time of 21:21 was a lifetime best performance.. The balance of the girls team placing :  junior , Alexys Smith 32nd (22:27)- sophomore Maddie Gosda 63rd ( 24:43)-freshman Genevive Hanson 64th 24:51-senior Naome Pouillie 66th ( 25:05 and freshman Scarlet Smith 75th 26:37. : We are so proud of our girls team- throughout their CC journey this season- they gave what they had to give and had some fun in the process” commented Coach Maki and Coach DeVoe.

      ” The state championships are always pretty incredible- they start out fast and keep getting faster.  Josh raced at the state meet last year so he has an understanding of the race management needed  for his best to do what it can do..It will be another week of training -race prep and some fun..” commented Coach Maki.