Seniors Tricia Serres and Adam Niehaus represented Platteville High School at the WIAA Division 2 State Cross Country Championships this past weekend in Wisconsin Rapids.
    This was Serres’ fourth consecutive year qualifying for the state cross country meet, a feat that had never been accomplished in the history of Platteville cross country until now.
    Serres placed 6th overall in a time of 14:44.31, making it to the medal stand (top 6) for her third year in a row. As a sophomore the most decorated runner in Hillmen history finished sixth at state. A year ago the four-time individual conference champion finished second.
    Serres went out fast and took the lead in the Division 2 race early on and led until the very end, when a pack of runners led by eventually individual champion Molly Hanson of Dodgeville/Mineral Point caught her.
    “Tricia ran an inspirational race, establishing herself early as the leader of the field,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres, who is also Tricia’s father. “It’s always difficult to lead a cross country race, because the rest of the field uses you as a pace setter and can sit on you and run a bit more relaxed. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to do that  especially at the largest venue in state competition. So, I was very proud of Tricia. She led all the way to the end, and then simply ran out of legs over the last few hundred meters. She has had a spectacular career and I couldn’t be more proud of a Platteville High School athlete.”
    In the boys’ D2 race Niehaus ran exceptional as well, placing 32nd in the field of 152. His time of 17:00.77 is one of the fastest of his short career, that began just this season, and a very good time on the state course which is known as a tough course, especially over the last mile.
    “Adam ran a great race,” said coach Serres. “Our plan was for him to start out comfortably fast, establishing himself in the top 1/3 of the field. We then wanted to have him maintain a fast steady pace, and then bring in the last 1/2 mile with whatever he had left. He ran the race perfect to plan with an outstanding finish against the best competition in the state.
“This was Adam’s first year out for cross country, something he wished he could change. It would be interesting to see how tough he could actually be with another couple of years of training. I was very proud of Adam. He is a tough, tough competitive kid.”

WIAA Division 2  State Championships
(from Saturday, Oct. 22 @ Monroe)
(Girls)
Team Scores - 1.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 45, 2.Madison Edgewood 115, 3.Freedom 127, 4.Luxumburg-Casco 172, 5.Wisconsin Lutheran 178, 6.Shorewood 185, 7.Chilton 205, 8.Sparta 123, 9.Plymouth 221, 10.Pewaukee 226, 11.Notre Dame 226, 12.Rice Lake 255, 13.Viroqua 319, 14.Bloomer 320, 15.Poynette 325, 16.Watertown Luther Prep 337.
Top Individuals - 1.Hanson (Dodge-Point) 14:23.10, 2.Haupert (Aquina) 14:23.09, 3.Johnson (Plymouth) 14:28.56, 4.Smits (McFarland) 14:31.51, 5.Linzmeier (Chilton) 14:34.85.
Platteville - 6.Tricia Serres 14:44.31.
(Boys)
Team Scores - 1.Wisconsin Lutheran 77, 2.Nekoosa-Ports Edwards 93, 3.Shorewood 114, 4.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 151, 5.La Crosse Aquinas 162, 6.Monroe 188, 7.Freedom 191, 8.Oconto Falls 203, 9.Valders 212, 10.Northwestern 238, 11.Little Chute 266, 12.Ashland 270, 13.Waupun 293, 14.Poynette 334, 15.Pewaukee 352, 16.Lakeside Lutheran 358. 
Top Individuals - 1.McCoy (NG/Monticello) 15:38.27, 2.Wunnicke (D/MP) 15:50.61, 3.McKenna (Edgewood) 15:58.64, 4.Christianson (Aquinas) 15:59.92, 5.Vodacek (Bloomer) 16:06.38.
Platteville - 32.Adam Niehaus 17:00.77.