Platteville senior Tricia Serres set a new school record at Saturday’s 41-team Janesville Craig Midwest Invitational. In one of the state’s largest prep cross country invitationals, Serres went toe-to-toe with many of the finest runners in the state of Wisconsin.
Serres finished third overall in the girls’ varsity race that was comprised of 287 runners. Her time of 14:07 bested her own school-record time of 14:12 set last year, and is one of the finest times run in the state this season.
Serres was beaten only by last year’s D3 state champion Molly Seidel of University Lake School who set new a state record time of 13:20 over the 4,000-meter course, and Madison West’s Olivia Pratt (13:59).
Tricia’s finish helped propel Platteville into the 12th place team finish in the 41 Team field. Junior Laura Donovan (55), Cassandra Hirsch (91), Katie Melssen (98), Emma Wilson (107), Taylor Triphan (180) and Molly Lingel (191) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Hillmen.
In the boys’ competition, Tyler Schaefer once again led the Platteville charge with his 63rd place finish. He was followed closely by John Donovan in 71st. The Hillmen placed 21st overall in the competitive field of teams.
Adam Niehaus (109), Coda Phillips (152), Wade Roberts (172), David Hahn (178) and Quincy Pick (180) rounded out the Platteville varsity.
“This is one of the most competitive fields we run in all season,” said Hillmen head coach Rob Serres “Most of the teams we see here are very large schools with powerful programs. Some of the finest schools in Wisconsin, Iowa, and even a very fine McArthur, Texas team go head-to-head, and you see some great competition, and some very fast times.”
Sophomore Ben Bahr placed 15th to earn medalist honors in the freshmen/sophomore division.
The Hillmen will host the 44th Annual Dick McKichan Platteville Cross Country Invitational this Saturday, Oct. 1st at the UW-Platteville Veterans Memorial Park. Twenty-five teams from Southwestern Wisconsin will be competing in the event.
In addition to the four high school races (boys’ and girls’ varsity, and boys’ and girls’ JV) there will be two open races.
The first is a 1.5-mile Jr. High race that begins at 8:30 a.m. That race is open to all runners 8th grade and below. The second is an Open 4K or 5K race of your choice beginning at 11:00 for anyone out of high school. Neither of these races require an entry fee.
Last Tuesday Platteville improved to 2-0 in Southwest Wisconsin Conference dual meet races with a sweep of Visiting River Valley. Serres lead the Hillmen girls to a 22-38 victory. The Schefer-led Platteville boys were 24-34 winners.
Janesville Craig Midwest Invitataional
(from Saturday, Sept. 24 @ Janesville)
(Girls)
Top 10 Team Scores - 1.Neenah 56, 2.Madison West 71, 3.Hartland Arrowhead 74, 4.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 75, 5.Beaver Dam 190, 6.Wisconsin Lutheran 254, 7.Verona 262, 8.Dubuque Senior 290, 9.Middleton 317, 10.Waunakee 348...12.Platteville 353.
Top Individuals - 1.Molly Seidel (University Lake School) 13:20, 2.Olivia Pratt (Madison West) 13:59, 3.Tricia Serres (Pla) 14:07, 4.A. Parker 14:23, 5.Hanson (D/MP) 14:26.
Platteville (353) - 3.Tricia Serres 14:07, 55.Laura Donovan 16:00, 91.Cassandra Hirsch 16:23, 98.Katie Melssen 16:29, 107.Emma Wilson 16:36, 180.Taylor Triphan, 191.Molly Lingel.
(Boys)
Top 10 Team Scores - 1.Hartland Arrowhead 71, 2.Janesville Craig 96, 3.La Crosse Logan 100, 4.Lake Park (IL) 165, 5.Wisconsin Lutheran 173, 6.Madison La Follette 188, 7.Darlington 212, 8.Dubuque Senior (IA) 292, 9.Monroe 293, 10.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 317....21.Platteville 567,
Top Individuals - 1.Sandvold (HA) 15:12, 2.Diffoo (MLF) 15:14, 3.Meister (JC) 15:22, 4.Iewin (HA) 15:20, 5.Wunnicke (D/MP) 15:40.
Platteville (567) - 63.Tyler Schaefer 16:59, 71.John Donovan 17:01, 109.Adam Niehaus 17:26, 152.Coda Phillips 17:58, 172.Wade Roberts 18:21, 178.David Hahn, 180.Quincy Pick.
SWC Dual
(from Tuesday, Sept. 20 @ Platteville)
(Girls)
Team Scores - Platteville 22, River Valley 38.
Platteville - 1.Tricia Serres 14:43, 3.Laura Donovan 16:58, 5.Cassandra Hirsch 17:14, 6.Holly Kasper 17:15, 7.Katie Melssen 17:16, 8.Emma Wilson 17:19, 10.Allie Serres 17:47.
38.Allie Serres 17:13, 63.Emma Wilson 18:05, 74.Noah Hoeper 18:27.
(Boys)
Team Scores - Platteville 24, River Valley 34
Platteville - 1.Tyler Schaefer 18:02, 2.John Donovan 18:27, 4.Ben Bahr 18:38, 8.Coda Philips 19:04, 9.Quincy Pick 19:11, 10.David Hahn 19:13, 11.Wade Roberts 19:31.
