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MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK (Cross Country): Fennimore Golden Eagle Cross Country Relays
FHS girls win title, boys finish second at Golden Eagle Relays
FHS girls CC champs
Fennimore won the girls title at Saturday’s Fennimore Golden Eagle Cross Country Relays. Members of the FHS girls varsity team are (from left) Keira Kartman, Marie Meyer, Lucia Bonilla, Kate Kenney, Kylee Mumm, Natalie Horsfall and Julia Goenaga. (photo by John Linden / Fennimore High School)

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Sept. 23–30)
PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Fennimore Golden Eagle CC Relays

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Fennimore girls win title, boys finish second at Golden Eagle Relays
FENNIMORE — The Fennimore girls cross country team finished first out of eight complete teams at Saturday’s Golden Eagle Cross Country Invitational, which was held at the Hickory Grove Golf Course.  The Fennimore boys finished second on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles prepped for Saturday’s home invitational by competing in the Prairie du Chien Invitational last Thursday afternoon.

“Our meet in PDC doubled as a workout,” said Fennimore head coach Ryanne Carl. “With such a busy schedule, it can be hard to fit everything in, but when the opportunity came to race at PDC — the site of our sectional — and we knew it was important to preview the course. 

“Thursdays are usually our workout days, so we took our workout to the golf course. The plan was to start at the back of the race and run on/off intervals throughout the first two miles (30 seconds on/1:30 off), then hammer the last mile. It was great to watch the team execute the workout within the race, and a few even managed to sneak out a top-15 medal. Overall, it was a great chance to see the course, get quality work in, and finish the day feeling strong.”

Just two days later, the Eagles were back on a golf course — this time at Hickory Grove — on what is probably the toughest course they will see all season.

“I was really impressed with how well the team raced under those conditions,” added Carl. “We’ve been talking about setting the tone early by getting out in the top three, and the kids understood the assignment and rose to the challenge.”

Juniors Keira Kartman (1st, 20:40.4) and Natalie Horsfall (2nd, 20:43.0), senior Kylee Mumm (3rd, 21:26.7), and junior Kate Kenney (7th, 22:16.3) each ran to top-10 finishes to lead the Fennimore girls to victory despite running in four different races.

The Eagle Relays is a unique prep cross country meet, where varsity teams are split up into seven individual heats and the combined times of each team’s top five runners are tallied to created team placements.

This style of “relay” racing eliminates the traditional cross country strategy of pack running — where runners from the same team tend to run in groups to push each other — and forces each runner on each team to set their own pace for the good of the team.

“This meet was a different style than we’re used to, as each runner competes individually instead of feeding off teammates in the same race,” said Carl. “That format often creates unique results, with athletes sometimes beating competitors they don’t usually finish ahead of. That’s the beauty of Eagle Relays!”

The Fennimore boys were again led by freshman Bobby Schmidt, who finished seventh at 18:11.0, senior Griffin Fry (13th, 18:50.6) and sophomore Teegan Griswold (16th, 19:21.80).

Fennimore  Golden Eagle CC Relays
(from Saturday, Sept. 27 @ Fennimore)
(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Fennimore 108:48.1, 2.St. Ambrose Academy 119:38.1, 3.Richland Center/Ithaca 122:39.0, 4.River Valley 124:06.0, 5.Albany 125:41.7, 6.Wauzeka–Steuben 128:55.0, 7.Port Washington 129:39.2, 8.Lake Mills 136:07.05, Tri-State Homeschool inc., Kickapoo/La Farge inc., Cuba City inc., Postville (Iowa) inc., Riverdale inc.
Top individuals: 1.Keira Kartman (Fen) 20:40.4, 2.Natalie Horsfall (Fen) 20:43.0, 3.Kylee Mumm (Fen) 21:26.7, 4.Mollie Maes (RV) 21:33.6, 5.Veronica Kressner (Lake Mills) 22:14.4.
Fennimore (108:48.1): 1.Keira Kartman 20:40.4, 2.Natalie Horsfall 20:43.0, 3.Kylee Mumm 21:26.7, 7.Kate Kenney 22:16.3, 18.Julia Goenaga 23:41.7, 37.Marie Meyer 25:58.7, 53.Lucia Bonilla 27:33.6.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Richland Center/Ithaca 88:52.6, 2.Fennimore 95:55.9, 3.Port Washington 95:56.5, 4.St. Ambrose Academy 97:41.7, 5.Albany 98:38.2, 6.Lake Mills 99:42.8, 7.Kickapoo/La Farge 101:54.4, 8.Cuba City 103:23.3, 9.Darlington 107:08.4, 10.River Valley 109:52.4, 11.Wauzeka–Steuben 110:48.8, 12.Postville 111:42.6, 13.Shullsburg/Belmont 112:11.9, 14.Tri State Homeschool 117:37.4.
Top individuals: 1.Owen Drier (RC/I) 16:17.0, 2.Jameson Koebel (PW) 16:39.1, 3.Ryan Stadler (RC/I) 17:32.6, 4.Clayton Lee (RC/I) 17:41.4, 5.Kaleb Broughton (Albany) 17:45.1.
Fennimore (95:55.9): 7.Bobby Schmidt 18:11.0, 13.Griffin Fry 18:50.6, 16.Teegan Griswold 19:21.80, 24.Riley Horsfall 19:42.70, 25.Avery Hrubes 19:49.6, 31.Caiden Evans 19:59.0, 35.Orlando Bonilla 20:14.0.