PLATTEVILLE — Two of the greatest runners in Platteville history and the next in line to carry on the Hillmen tradition will close out their seasons at the WIAA Division 2 State Cross Country Championships this Saturday.
Seniors Dan Iselin and Brelynn Updike, and sophomore Jace Serres each qualified for state with gutty performances at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Platteville Sectional at UW–Platteville’s Veterans Memorial Park.
“This is a great honor for each of these kids,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres. “To be one of the top five individuals to make it to the state meet out of the 100-plus runners is a great accomplishment.”
Iselin finished fourth out of 100 runners behind River Valley senior Dustin Hatfield (15:46.4), Monroe senior Nick Baumann (16:05.8) and McFarland senior Chris Pahnke (16:11.7) with a time of 16:15.4.
Serres came in 10th overall at 16:53.4, but earned the fifth and final individual state qualifier slot.
The Platteville boys (127) finished fourth as a team behind Dodgeville/Mineral Point (51), Monroe (54) and McFarland (95).
The top two teams (Dodgeville/Mineral Point and Monroe), as well as the top five runners not on a team qualifier advance to Saturday’s state meet at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The D2 boys’ race will begin at 12:35 p.m. The D2 girls’ race is scheduled for 2:25 p.m.
“Dan also went out after the leaders and ran a great race,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres. “I am very proud for Dan in making it to state again this season.”
Iselin will be making his third appearance at the state cross country meet. He placed 94th at state in 2013 as a freshman, when Platteville qualified as a team and finished sixth. Last year, he finished 27th at state with a time of 17:04.09.
This will be Serres’ first trip to state in cross country.
“Jace ran a gutsy race, getting up with the leaders and sticking with them,” said coach Serres, who is also Jace’s father. “Jace has been a great runner for us all year and has learned a lot from Dan on what it takes to be a champion.”
In the girls’ race, Updike made an early move to take the lead with 1,000 meters left and ended up finishing third out of 95 runners with a new school record time of 19:48.4.
“Brelynn ran a fantastic race,” said Serres. “She made a gutsy move with 1K remaining and blew open the pack of six or seven runners that were leading at the time. Her move really changed the outcome of the race. She came up a bit short of winning, but it secured her bid to making it to state.”
Updike’s surge led Platteville to a fourth place team finish with 113 points, behind McFarland (75), Dodgeville/Mineral Point (94) and Evansville (108).
Junior Morgan Wehnke finished 10th overall with a time of 20:18.6. Freshman Brittani Meis placed 28th (21:11.1), senior Sami Brookens was 35th (21:45.6), sophomore Julia Kasper 37th (21:49.8), senior Grace Hammermeister 45th (22:13.1) and sophomore Cori Kettler was 46th (22:20.2) for the Platteville girls.
Junior Logan Henry ran one of his best races of the season, passing a number of numbers in the final 200 meters to finish 31st for the Platteville boys with a time of 17:52.3.
Sophomore Tyler Moss finished 39th at 18:06.0, while classmates Calvin Wernimont finished 43rd (18:10.5) and Alex Sonsalla placed 45th (18:14.4), and junior Tikiri Bandara was 51st (18:27.9) for Platteville.
“All of the kids ran their hearts out on Saturday,” added Serres. “The competition was fierce, and we knew that coming in. We raced hard and did our best on the given day. I was proud of our kids and how they worked this season. It was an honor to coach such a wonderful group of athletes.”
WIAA Division 2 Platteville Sectional
(from Saturday, Oct. 22 @ UW–Platteville)
(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.McFarland 75, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 94, 3.Evansville 108, 4.Platteville 113, 5.Mount Horeb 130, 6.Lodi 147, 7.Brodhead/Juda 161, 8.Monroe 169, 9.Prairie du Chien 183, 10.Madison Edgewood 234, 11.River Valley 314, 12.Beloit Turner 354, 13.Richland Center/Ithaca 361, 14.Edgerton 374.
Top finishers: 1.McKenzie Fillner (Evansville) 19:45.7, 2.Ava Schroeder (Evansville) 19:47.3, 3.Brelynn Updike 19:48.4, 4.Amber Huser (PdC) 19:49.0, 5.Rachel Meier (Monroe) 19:56.1.
Platteville: 3.Brelynn Updike 19:48.4**, 10.Morgan Wehnke 20:18.6, 28.Brittani Meis 21:11.1, 35.Sami Brookens 21:45.6, 37.Julia Kasper 21:49.8, 45.Grace Hammermeister 22:13.1, 46.Cori Kettler 22:20.2.
**= individual state qualifier
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 51, 2.Monroe 54, 3.McFarland 95, 4.Platteville 127, 5.Madison Edgwood 134, 6.River Valley 184, 7.Lodi 198, 8.Mount Horeb 211, 9.Brodhead/Juda 222, 10.Southwestern/Benton/Cuba City 222, 11.Evansville 292, 12.Beloit Turner 324, 13.Edgerton 353, 14.Richland Center/Ithaca 415.
Top finishers: 1.Dustin Hatfield (RV) 15:46.4, 2.Nick Baumann (Monroe) 16:05.8, 3.Chris Pahnke (McFarland) 16:11.7, 4.Dan Iselin (Pla) 16:15.4, 5.Andrew Pahnke (McFarland) 16:17.8.
Platteville: 4.Dan Iselin 16:15.4**, 10.Jace Serres 16:53.4**, 31.Logan Henry 17:52.3, 39.Tyler Moss 18:06.0, 43.Calvin Wernimont 18:10.5, 45.Alex Sonsalla 18:14.4, 51.Tikiri Bandara 18:27.9.
**= individual state qualifier
