Mixed emotions surrounded the Boscobel boys cross country team after finishing seventh at the WIAA Division 3 state meet Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids. Happy to participate in the meet, unsatisfied with the results. That seemed to be the Bulldogs sentiment.
"I'm glad that they feel letdown; it's someone elses day today," Boscobel coach Skyler Reynolds said. "They step back and they look at that. There's two seniors in the top seven who have been phenomenal for the program, got us back to state, but there are five underclassmen that are looking here and watching. Someone else had their day and they know that they can have theirs in the future. I'm glad that they are letdown, if they were content, they might come back next year and be seventh or eighth. That they're letdown, that means that they want to take this farther next year."
Darlington won the meet with a 46, Grantsburg was second with a 74 and Kenosha St. Joseph Academy was third with a 107. The Bulldogs finished with 192 points - 14 out of fourth place finisher Manitowoc Lutheran. Rosholt and Chequamegon also placed ahead of the Bulldogs.
"We set our goals for fifth in the state, we came up a bit short, but I am proud with how we did this year," senior Eric Mindham said. "We all worked really hard."
A factor hindering the chances of the Bulldogs was the health of top runner Eric Mindham. Mindham was battling a fever and sore throat most of the week leading up to the race and looked visibly weary after the race. Ryan Mindham was the second best Bulldog runner of the day, finishing 35th overall with a time of 18:04.29.
"I don't feel like I ran my race, because I was sick of course," Ryan Mindham said. "We'll just try to get back here (next year) and get better."
The Bulldogs top runner was Cameron Cashman, who placed 32nd overall with a time of 17:57.39. Other Bulldog runners were: Logan Wacker ,38th overall with an 18:05.80; Eric Mindham, 42nd overall with a 18:08.49; Cole Clark, 45th overall with a 18:12.28; Jon Frazier, 59th overall with a 18:31.94 and Nate Boughton, 63rd with a 18:37.40.
The Boscobel boys made their first appearance to the state meet since 2004 and knocked on the door the past three seasons, barely missing the state meet with two third place finishes and a fourth
"Boscobel has been good at cross country for a long time and it's just great to be a part of it," Boughton, a senior said. "I think we're going to start to get here year after year because we have a some good (runners) coming up and we're the ones that started it. Most teams that come here, they come away with a trophy, but we weren't able to do that. It's disappointing, but still it's great to be here."