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Boys cross country finishes fifth at Holmen, third at Fennimore
Girls place seventh at Holmen, but injury leaves them incomplete at Golden Eagle Relays
reese shakes wolf
Hillsboro's Adriana Reese tries to shake Lancasters Nicole Wolf during the opening mile of Saturdays Fennimore relays in Fennimore. Reese finished eighth in the third runners race. - photo by Nate Beier photo/gx3media.smugmug.com

HOLMEN — Last Tuesday the Hillsboro cross country teams competed at Holmen Invitational.

Senior Noah Mayberry finished second overall out of 130 runners with a time of 17:18 to lead the Tiger boys to a fifth-place team finish with 129 team points.

Division 1 La Crosse Central cruised to the boys’ team title, outscoring runner-up Brookwood 36–63.

Senior Logan Rohn also medaled with a 13th-place finish at 18:33.

Brookwood’s Walker Rynes was the individual boys' winner, finishing at 16:56, 22 seconds better than Mayberry.

On the girls' side, Hillsboro finished seventh as a team. Viroqua edge La Crosse Central, 49–51, for the team title.

Junior Michaela Bach led the Lady Tigers with an 18th-place finish (23:35). Fellow junior Adrianna Reese finished 22nd (23:45).

At Saturday’s Vince Lease Fennimore Golden Eagle Relays, Mayberry was once again in the lead pack.

The sensational senior placed fifth individually in 18:00 to lead the Hillsboro boys to a third-place finish in the small schools division.

The top five runners' times were added together to determined team placements, making the meet a relay-type event.

Boscobel won the boys’ small school division with a  combined time of 94:10. Hillsboro’s combined time was 99:21.

Bach led the Hillsboro girls with a 23rd-place finish at 19:00, but the Lady Tigers were an incomplete team with just four healthy runners.

Both Bach and Reese (34th, 19:13) beat Cashton’s Betsy Shrier for the first time this season. Shrier is one of the favorites to win the Scenic Bluffs Conference girls title.

Hillsboro was shorthanded Saturday because Macey Brown is still out of the lineup since being injured at the Westby Invitational on Sept. 10. She is expected to return soon.

“For some reason times were slow across the board,” said Hillsboro head coach Ben Leis of Saturday’s races. “Maybe it’s because it was so warm out, I’m not sure. It was a beautiful morning for racing, but probably one of the warmest Eagle Relays I have experienced.

“Overall, I was proud of how the kids attacked the races. The majority of them were not afraid to get up there and run with the leaders in their individual races. That’s why we come here. This is their chance to see what it feels like to run with the lead pack or even lead the race.”

Hillsboro will travel to Platteville this Saturday for the 46th annual Dick McKichan Hillmen Invitational.