IowaGrant boys finish sixth in D2 at Platteville Invitational

Freshman Nick Connolly placed 9th individually in D2

Freshman Nick Connolly raced to a 9th place finish in the boys Division 2 varsity race at Saturdays 50th annual Platteville Dick McKichan Invitational.

PLATTEVILLE — The Iowa–Grant boys continued their steady improvement as a scoring team with a sixth-place finish in Division 2 at Saturday’s 50th annual Platteville Dick McKichan Invitational.

Freshman Nick Connolly raced to a 34th-place overall finish out of 153 runners in the boys’ varsity race and a ninth-place finish in the small schools Division 2 with a time of 17:31.9. He was also the fastest freshman in the entire field.

Senior brother Paul Connolly (19:02.9) placed 96th overall and 27th in the D2.

Sophomore Jesse Buroker (100/30th), senior Easton Dobson (109/36th), freshman Marcus Parish (141st/57th), sophomore Sawyer Dobson (152nd/64th) and junior Ittikorn Udomkitchote (153rd/65th) rounded out the Iowa–Grant lineup.

““I was really proud of how our guys ran on Saturday,” said Iowa–Grant head coach Jake Winkler, a 2006 graduate of Platteville High School. “Nick Connolly was the fastest freshman in the race, which is a really impressive feat. He has been such a steady and consistent runner for us this year. It was great to see Paul and Easton in the top 30 for us, as well.”

Iowa–Grant (159) placed sixth behind champion Darlington (31), Wisconsin Heights (93), New Glarus/Monticello (103, Lancaster (116) and Albany (156).

“We’re really starting to put together some nice races, and I’m excited to see how we can do down the stretch,” said Winkler. “It’s really important for us at this point in the season to stay sharp and to stay healthy.

“I’d also like to add that it’s really special for me to come back to the Platteville Invite. I would say this is the invite that I get the most hyped for every year. I can’t say enough about how much I respect the work that coach Serres and Spider Fromader have done for Platteville and how they shaped me personally. They really are two of the best to coach this sport.”

Sophomore Sam McLeer (27:39.6) placed 141st to lead the Iowa–Grant girls, who did not have a complete team. Freshman Cora Fritz (142nd), sophomore Gracie Rockwell (144th) and senior Jamie Dilley (146th) rounded out the I–G girls’ lineup.

The Panthers take part in the 25th annual Albany Baertschi Invitational on Saturday before closing out the regular season Monday at the Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton quadrangular. Iowa–Grant will then host the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League meet on Oct. 12.

Last Thursday Nick Connolly, Paul Connolly and Buroker all medaled with top-10 performances at the Kickapoo/La Farge Invitational to lead the Panthers to a second-place finish at the eight-team event.

Nick Connolly (17:47.22) finished third, Paul Connolly (18:53.44) was sixth and Buroker (19:03.99) cross the finish line 10th.

Parish (20:39.06), who recently came over from the football team, made his cross country debut with a 24th-place finish at Kickapoo.

“We’re entering a stretch now where we have a lot of meets pretty close together,” said coach Winkler. “Our focus is staying healthy and to keep improving each race.”

McLeer led the Iowa–Grant girls with a 27th-place finish at 28:24.11. Dilley (28:41.68) was close behind at 31st.

50th annual Dick McKichand Platteville Invitational

(from Saturday, Sept. 23 @ Janesville)

(Girls, 5,000 meters)

Division 2 team scores: 1.Prairie du Chien 36, 2.Lancaster 52, 3.Darlington 66, 4.Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 80, 5.Albany 99. 6.New Glarus/Monticello 184, 7.Belleville, Iowa–Grant inc.

Top individuals: 1.Lydia Murphy (Lancaster) 19:04.6, 2.Abby Martin (Union Groe) 19:43.9, 3.Madelynn McIntyre (Brodhead/Juda) 19:47.6, 4.Isabelle Clary (Lodi) 19:49.5, 5.Kristin Muench (Lancaster) 20:04.6.

Iowa–Grant: 141.Sam McLeer 27:39.6, 142.Cora Fritz 27:50.1, 144.Gracie Rockwell 29:13.4, 146.Jamie Dilley 29:44.5.

(Boys, 5,000 meters)

Division 2 team scores: 1.Darlington 31, 2.Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 93, 3.New Glarus Monticello 103, 4.Lancaster 116, 5.Albany 156, 6.Iowa–Grant 159, 7.Belleville 163, 8.Madison Country Day 177, 9.River Ridge 208, 10.Wauzeka–Steuben 223.

Top individuals: 1.Drake Ingold (Monroe) 15:59.6, 2.Andrew Pahnke (McFarland) 16:08.8, 3.Tanner Maier (Lodi) 16:23.9, 4.Payton Heinberg (Darlington) 16:26.4, 5.Dylan Scace (Monroe) 16:30.7.

Iowa–Grant: 34(9).Nick Connolly 17:31.9, 96(27).Paul Connolly 19:02.9, 100(30).Easton Dobson 19:09.0, 109(36).Jesse Buroker 19:28.7, 141(57).Marcus Parrish 20:51.7, 152(64).Sawyer Dobson 22:17.5, 153(65).Ittikorn Udomkitchote 23:42.9.

Kickapoo/La Farge Invitational

(from Thursday, Sept. 28 @ Kickapoo)

(Girls, 5,000 meters)

Team scores: 1.Prairie du Chien 20, 2.Richland Center/Ithaca 62, 3.North Crawford 70, 4.Wauzeka–Steuben 94, 5.Iowa–Grant 129, New Lisbon inc., Seneca inc., Kickapoo/La Farge inc.

Top finishers: 1.Helen Carstens (NC) 20:02.1, 2.Amber Huser (PdC) 20:52.02, 3.Ella Hein (PdC) 21:04.46), 4.Greta Hein (PdC) 21:09.2, 4.Karly Jaynes (PdC) 21:19.0.

Iowa–Grant: 27.Sam McLeer 28:24.11, 31.Jamie Dilley 28:41.68, 32.Gracie Rockwell 30:26.15, 35.Cora Fritz 32:27.5, 38.Haylee Vavricka 34:02.86.

(Boys, 5,000 meters)

Team scores: 1.Wauzeka–Steuben 38, 3.Iowa–Grant 56, 3.Kickapoo/La Farge 75, 4.New Lisbon 86, 5.Prairie du Chien 128, 6.North Crawford 136, Seneca inc., Richland Center/Ithaca inc.

Top finishers: 1.Owen Jones (NL) 17:27.7, 2.Jake Reichmann (Wauzeka) 17:43.2, 3.Nick Connolly (IG) 17:47.22, 4.Tyler Walters (Wauzeka) 18:07.65, 5.Holden Rydmark (NL) 18:37.57.

Iowa–Grant: 3.Connolly 17:47.22, 6.Paul Connolly 18:53.44, 10.Jesse Buroker 19:03.99, 13.Easton Dobson 19:13.98, 24.Marcus Parrish 20:39.06, 44.Sawyer Dobson 22:44.67, 45.Ittikorn Udomkitchote 22:51.73.

SWAL Conference

SWAL Conference