FENNIMORE – The brother-sister duo of senior Jonathon Murphy and sophomore Lydia Murphy will be representing the Lancaster boys and girls cross country teams at this year’s WIAA State Cross Country Meet.

Both finished among the top five individuals who were not members of a state qualifying team from those who participated in last Saturday’s division 3 Fennimore Sectional.

Lydia finished third of 110 runners at Saturday’s sectional, running the 5,000-meter race in an impressive time of 20:26.6. The top finisher from Belleville came in with a time of 19:26.2.

As a sophomore, Lydia will be making her second straight trip to the state meet, where she placed seventh last year with a time of 19:40.6. 

Jonathon will be making his first trip to the state meet after a sixth-place finish 117 competitors, running his 5,000-meter race in a blistering time of 17:32.5. Darlington sophomore Payton Heinberg took top honors with a time of 16:55.8.

He is a two-sport athlete this fall, and plays forward for the Platteville/Lancaster boys soccer team. The co-op team defeated Sparta in this past Saturday’s regional final, and will take on top-seeded Mount Horeb this Thursday evening in a division 3 sectional semifinal contest. 

If the soccer team wins on Thursday, they will advance to the sectional final, which will also be played on Saturday at Edgewood’s Reddan Park, beginning at 4 p.m.

The division 3 boys cross country meet begins at Noon this Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, with the D3 girls race scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m.

With the top two teams from each sectional advancing to Saturday’s state meet, it’s unfortunate that Lydia’s teammates aren’t able to join her in Wisconsin Rapids after finishing fourth of 14 teams at the Fennimore Sectional.

Rounding out Lancaster’s top five runners were sophomore Hanna Cohen who placed 21st (22:26.6), sophomore Crystalyn Mish who placed 24th (22:39.7), junior Maddie Hampton who placed 28th (22:46.3) and freshman Kylie Hale who placed 34th (23:21.8).

On the boys’ side, Lancaster finished eight of 16 competing teams, as junior Hunter Liddell placed 41st (19:33.7), junior Tyler Graney 56th (20:03.9), senior Harrison Stone 67th (20:34.4) and junior Austin Doyle 76th (21:00.5).

Winning both sectional team titles were the Darlington Redbirds, while Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld also advanced on the boys’ side, as did Albany on the girls’ side.

Live updates from the WIAA State Cross Country Meet will be made available by PT Timing at their website: http://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=105

D3 Fennimore Sectional

(from Saturday, Oct. 22)

Boys

Team scores - 1. Darlington 32; 2. Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 77; 3. Albany 121; 4. Boscobel 132; 5. Marshall 163; 6. New Glarus/Monticello 184; 7. Parkview 205; 8. Lancaster 246; 9. Waterloo 259; 10. Wauzeka/Steuben 278; 11. Kickapoo/LaFarge 295; 12. Riverdale 298; 13. Fennimore 303; 14. Iowa-Grant/Highland 338; 15. Belleville 357; 16. Madison Country Day/Abundant Life 425.

Top finishers from Lancaster

6. Jonathon Murphy 17:33.4; 41. Hunter Liddell 19:33.7; 56. Tyler Graney 20:03.9; 67. Harrison Stone 20:34.4; 76. Austin Doyle 21:00.5; 81. Andrew McCarville 21:10.1; 107. Cade Lenz 23:11.6.

Girls

Team scores - 1. Darlington 62; 2. Albany 67; 3. Marshall 102; 4. Lancaster 110; 5. Boscobel 127; 6. Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 168; 7. Fennimore 200; 8. Waterloo 202; 9. New Glarus/Monticello 208; 10. Belleville 232; 11. Madison Country Day/Abundant Life 263; 12. North Crawford 365; 13. Kickapoo/LaFarge 371; 14. Pecatonica/Argyle 383.

Top finishers from Lancaster

3. Lydia Murphy 20:26.6; 21. Hanna Cohen 22:26.6; 24. Crystalyn Mish 22:39.7; 28. Maddie Hampton 22:46.3; 34. Kylie Hale 23:21.8; 44. Megan Volkmann 23:51.5; 48. Devin Wagner 24:15.9.