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MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U CO-GAME OF THE WEEK (Prep Cross Country): SWC Championships
Platteville sixth runner Brian Richter wins tie-breaker to lift Hillmen to SWC boys title
Pla cc Boys
(from left) Platteville’s Erik Grabandt (second from left), Zade Plumb (4910) and Casen Udelhofen 4919) all finished in the top-10 along with senior Quinn Wright (not pictured), who finished second, to help the Hillmen win the conference title at Thursday’s Southwest Wisconsin Conference cross country championships.

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM CO-GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 12–19)
PREP CROSS COUNTRY: SWC Championships

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal

Platteville sixth runner Brian Richter wins tie-breaker to lift Hillmen to SWC boys title

SPRING GREEN  —  The Platteville boys and girls cross country teams competed at the SWC Cross Country Championships Thursday, Oct. 13th at the Spring Green Municipal Golf Course.

The Platteville boys earned five all-conference awards and won the 2022 conference title, while the Platteville girls ran to a runner-up team finish and earned four all-conference sections with top-14 finishes.

The boys actually raced Dodgeville/Mineral Point to a 39–39 tie, but won the conference tie-breaker on the sixth-runner tie-breaker.

Platteville junior Brian Richter (18:42.2) finished 15th, one spot ahead of Dodge/Point’s Jesse Yoder (18:52.2) to determine this year’s conference champion.

“This was most likely the closest race I have been a part of in all my years of coaching,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres. “To end in a tie and then have a sixth runner beat another sixth runner by one place is simply exciting. To be on the winning end of that is an incredible feeling!”

Senior Quinn Wright, a 2021 state qualifier, led the Hillmen Thursday, finishing second out of 68 runners with a time of 17:36.7 to earn his third-straight first-team All-SWC honor.

Senior Casen Udelhofen also earned first-team All-SWC honors with a seventh-place finish at 18:07.2.

Junior Zade Plumb (8th, 18:10.0), Erik Grabandt (10th, 18:13.7) and freshman Liam Davis (12th, 18:20.4) earned second-team All-SWC accolades and rounded out Platteville’s scoring team. Richter was 15th as mentioned, and senior Dominic Fansler placed 18th at 18:53.5 to round out Platteville’s seven-man varsity team.

Senior David Li (20th, 19:01.3), sophomore Andrew Donner (22nd, 19:09.5), freshman Guthrie Cline (25th, 19:22.9) and senior Noah Dies (26th, 19:25.7) finished 1–2–3–4 in the JV standings to lead the Platteville JV to a first-place team finish.

Dodge/Point sophomore Layne Aurit won the boys’ varsity race with a time of 17:26.7.

Richland Center/Ithaca finished third in the boys standings with 52 points.

In the girls’ competition, Emma Rooney paced the Platteville girls with a fifth-place finish at 20:10.5 to earn first-team All-SWC honors.

Junior Josie Yurs (9th, 20:48.6), senior Kendra Stastny (13th, 20:10.5) and senior Shaena Prestegard (14th, 21:20.0) each earned second-team All-SWC honors for the Hillmen.

Sophomore Ally Debuhr (20th, 22:02.8), freshman Leanna Borkovec (21st, 22:03.6) and junior Isabelle Rooney (22nd, 22:10.7) rounded out the Platteville girls’ varsity team.

Senior Ally Bird was the team’s eighth runner, placing second in the girls JV standings (and 23rd overall) at 22:12.3.

The Hillmen (60 team points) finished second behind Division 2 #1-ranked Dodgeville/Mineral Point (30) and ahead of D3 #6-ranked Lancaster (71).

“Our team goal was to be able to compete with Lancaster,” said Serres. “Lancaster is a great squad and we have a lot of respect for their girls. We knew that Dodge/Point was out of reach for us, but our girls really wanted to capture that runner-up position and all of their hard work came through Thursday.

“We definitely want to acknowledge our all-conference, and top seven runners, but what people won’t see is our eighth runner, Alli Bird She was the one that got our 5–6–7 pack rolling. If it wasn’t for her sacrifice and courage to push the pace at about the half way point in the race, we may not have been conference runner-up. Coach Herreid, coach Wagner and I are so happy for and proud of these girls.”

“It’s difficult to describe how very proud I am for these young women and men,” added Serres. “They set some powerful goals and then put in the work and effort needed to achieve those goals. Our seniors are a special group of leaders. They deserve most of the credit for rallying their teammates to be self-disciplined and focused on their mission. It’s a treat to be a part of this team.”


SWC Championships
(from Thursday, Oct. 13 @ Spring Green)
(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 30, 2.Platteville 60, 3.Lancaster 71, 4.Richland Center/Ithaca 118, 5.Prairie du Chien 126, 6.River Valley 152.
Top individuals: 1.Ellie Robinson (D/MP) 18:58.5, 2.Annie Robinson (D/MP) 19:11.7, 3.Kalyee Robinson (RC/I) 19:47.4, 4.Mallory Olmstead (Lan) 19:59.5, 5.Emma Rooney (Pla) 20:10.5.
Platteville (60): 5.Emma Rooney 20:10.5, 9.Josi Yurs (20:48.6), 13.Kendra Stastny 21:11.6, 14.Shaena Prestegard 21:20.0, 20.Ally Debuhr 22:02.8, 21.Leanna Borkovec 22:03.6, 22.Isabelle Rooney 22:10.7.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Platteville 39, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 39, 3.Richland Center/Ithca 52, 4.Lancaster 128, 5.Prairie du Chien 135, 6.River Valley 154.
Top individuals: 1.Layne Aurit (D/MP) 17.26.7, 2.Quinn Wright (Pla) 17:36.7, 3.Ryan Stadler (RC/I) 17:45.5, 4.Malachi Fretz (RC/I) 17:48.4, 5.Parker Owens (D/MP) 17:49.1.
Platteville (39): 2.Wright 17:36.7, 7.Casen Udelhofen 18:07.2, 8.Zade Plumb 18:10.0, 10.Erik Grabandt 18:13.7, 12.Liam Davis 18:20.4, 15.Brian Richter 18:42.2, 18.Dominic Fansler 18:53.5.