By NATE BEIER | For the County Line
Chase Ferries and Alexis Gnewikow led the Brookwood cross-country teams at the Holte Invite in Arcadia on Oct. 8.
The course was moved from the Schultz Farm to Arcadia High School to keep it in fair condition for this week’s Coulee Conference race as well as the Division 3 sectional race Oct. 22. The move didn’t seem to hamper the Falcon harriers, however, as the boys finished second to Augusta and the girls were second to Melrose-Mindoro in the small-school division.
Ferries was the top small-school runner at the invite, finishing the course in a time of 17:56. He was 15th among all competitors.
Orrie Maurhoff was 10th; Adrian Degenhardt, 15th; Dakota Markell, 15th; and Zach Leis, 21st. Also, Sam Downing was 24th and Cole Brandau 38th. Brookwood’s team score of 61 was nearly triple that of Augusta, the team champion. The Beavers scored just 22 points, as six of their seven runners finished in the top 10.
Arcadia’s Ramon Romero won the overall title with a time of 16:37.12.
Gnewikow finished 35th overall but seventh among small-school runners with a time of 22:05. Jacqueline Santiago was 10th; Samantha Atteln, 20th; Shelly Powell, 21st; and Hailey Schueller, 29th. Also, Chelsey Letcher was 31st; and Allyson Nelson, 42nd.
The team scored 87 points. To win the title, Melrose-Mindoro scored 71.
Wisconsin Dells’ Laura Beghin won the girls race with a time of 18:46.64.
The Falcon cross-country teams will travel to Necedah on Oct. 15 for the Scenic Bluffs Conference meet. It is the first time Necedah will host the event. Nearly every school will field a full team of runners, with Brookwood and Hillsboro acting as favorites to contend for either the boys or girls titles.