Nekoosa/Port Edwards runner shines at Smiley

WAUSAU - Miguel Mathias had a better start to his race Saturday morning than he did a week ago.

The same can be said for the finish as well.

The junior for Nekoosa/Port Edwards won the Division 2/3 boys race during the Smiley Invitational on Saturday morning at Tribute Golf Course.

Mathias finished the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 27.69 seconds. He finished almost a half minute ahead of Rosholt's Adam Rzentkowski. Athens' Josh Langteau was third and Stratford's Cade Lehman was fourth.

RELATED:Three local runners place in Top 10 in SPASH Invite

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The time was almost  a minute faster than what Mathias ran during a meet at Standing Rock Park last week. Mathias' issues in that meet began as he took off his warm-ups in preparation to the start of the race.

"I forgot my jersey and had to run back to the (team) tent and then run back to the start line. That kind of nixed it for me there," Mathias said with a slight laugh.

Mathias' time on Saturday was the best he has posted this season.

"Right in the third mile I really fell into my cadence and stride," Mathias said. "I was pretty happy. I saw the time and it was what I was going for today."

SPASH BOYS, GIRLS  TAKE SECOND

The Stevens Point Area Senior High boys and girls teams both finished second to Sun Prairie in the Division 1 races.

The Sun Prairie girls are ranked No. 1 in Division 1 in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association state rankings and had four runners among the top 11 finishers Saturday.

SPASH, which is ranked No. 9, was led by Maddie Hyland, who finished 15th overall. Mya Zajakowski and Grace Belson were 16th and 18th overall, respectively.

Wausau West's Brooke Jaworski was the top local finisher in the girls race as she placed ninth overall.

The SPASH boys ran without Ricky Perez, who was pulled from the race about 10 minutes before the start as he was having issues with a calf muscle.

"We had to sit him out and make sure he is healthy for  October," said SPASH senior Derek Franz, who finished fifth overall to lead the Panthers.

Teammates Liam Belson and Johnny Hyland placed 10th and 11th, respectively.

FINISHING IN STYLE

The Smiley Invitational is a home meet for the Wausau East cross country teams. Lumberjacks senior Axel Treinen set a personal record for the meet on Saturday in his final time running the Smiley.

Treinen finished seventh overall in the Division 1 boys race in 16:51.31.

"We really wanted to come out and beat Everest (as a team), because they have been beating us by four points exactly (in meets) and it's been like that since sectionals last year," Trienen said. "I wanted to also run with some of the guys who are going to be in our sectional," Treinen said. "Quite a few of these guys have been in competition with me all four years."

Treinen might have hit his individual goal, but the Lumberjacks were edged by Everest again. The Evergreens placed 11th overall in the Division 1 field, while East was 13th.

ROSHOLT GIRLS MAKE STATEMENT

The Rosholt girls came into the meet ranked No. 8 in Division 3 in the WCCCA state rankings, and could be moving up now.

The Hornets finished second in the Division 2/3 race, behind Albany — the No. 2 team in Division 3.

Rosholt was led by freshman Jordan Zdroik, who finished sixth overall in the race. Teammates' Brittany Gagas and Jenna Trzebiatowski finished 15th and 19th, respectively.

Edgar freshman Marissa Ellenbecker was the top local finisher as she placed third, while Iola-Scandinavia junior Erika Kisting was fourth.

Marathon junior Anna Buchberger was 10th overall.

Ellenbecker finished second in the SPASH invitational last week, losing in a photo finish to Beaver Dam's Jada Donaldson.

FINAL NUMBERS

There were 348 finishers in the boys varsity field between Divisions 1, 2 and 3 athletes combined in the 60th running of the Smiley Invitational. There were 354 finishers in the girls field.

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11

SMILEY INVITATIONAL

AT TRIBUTE GOLF COURSE

BOYS 

Division 1 

Team scores: 1. Sun Prairie 62; 2. SPASH 97; 3. Madison Memorial 127; *4. Lakeland 146; 5. La Crosse Central 202; 6. Appleton East 213; 7. Eau Claire Memorial 216; 8. River Falls 252; 9. DeForest 267; 10. Marshfield 291; 11. D.C. Everest 292; 12. Oregon 311; 13. Wausau East 374; 14. Medford 398; 15. Waunakee 404; 16. Seymour 412; 17. Wisconsin Rapids 436; 18. Eau Claire North 474; 19. Pulaski 498; 20. Rhinelander 502; 21. Shawano 558; 22. Wausau West 598; 23. Merrill 675; 24. Antigo 701.

*Top small Division 1 school 

Top individuals: 1. Sam Pinkowski, LCC, 16:13.79; 2. Jonas Bietz, MM, 16:25.58; 3. Justin Hodges, SP, 16:25.99; 4. Luke Vander Meer, MM, 16:33.03. 5. Derek Franz, SP, 16:39.49; 6. Kav Fitzpatrick, Lake., 16:42.38; 7. Axel Treinen, WE, 16:51.31; 8. Noah O'Neill, SP, 16:53.45; 9. Zak Sather, ECM, 16:56.46. 10. Liam Belson, SP, 16:59.72. 

Division 2 and 3

Team scores: 1. Shorewood 61; *2. Chequamegon 114; 3. Edgewood 118; 4. Albany 189; 5. Tomahawk 199; 6. Northland Pines 207; 7. Rosholt 231; 8. Amherst 255; 9. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 322; 10. Marathon 324; 11. Boscobel 334; 12. Kiel 339; 13. West Salem 345; 14. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 358; 15. Stratford 380; 16. Peshtigo 386; 17. Mosinee 414. 

*Top Division 3 school

Top individuals: 1. Miguel Mathias, Nek/Port Edw,, 16:27.69; 2. Adam Rzentkowski, Rosh., 16:56.59; 3. Josh Langteau, Ath., 17:02.67; 4. Cade Lehman, Strat., 17:09.18; 5. Cole Baumann, Shore., 17:01.68; 6. Cole Trimberger, Pesh., 17:29.94; 7. Thomas Basala, Pacel, 17:30.58; 8. Josh Dahl, Alba., 17:30.90; 9. Jordan Molof, Bosco., 17:33.53; 10. Henry Kuhlmann, Shore, 17:34.04.

GIRLS

Division 1 

Team scores: 1. Sun Prairie 43; 2. SPASH 106; 3. Eau Claire Memorial 116; 4. Madison Memorial 160; *5. Waunakee 206; 6. La Crosse Central 218; 7. Pulaski 223; 8. River Falls 240; 9. Wausau West 268; 10. Lakeland 280; 11. Appleton East 311; 12. D.C. Everest 314; 13. Homestead 331; 14. DeForest 331; 15. Oregon 358; 16. Medford 414; 17. Wisconsin Rapids 471; 18. Wausau East 487; 19. Rhinelander 536; 20. Marshfield 568; 21. Merrill 584; 22. Antigo 672. 

*Top small Division 1 school 

Top individuals:: 1. Annika Lizmeier, Pula, 19:04.03; 2. Hannah Roeske, ECM, 19:06.48; 3. Autumn Dushack, SP, 19:07.09; 4. Trista Pringle, SP, 19:11.26; 5. Sara Brekke, LCC, 19:15.85; 6. Allie Levin, Home., 19:23.51; 7. Izzy Owca, MM, 19:29.61; 8. Hannah Ray, SP, 19:38.69; 9 Brooke Jaworski, WW, 19:43.03; 10. Emily Schmitt, ECN, 19:48.26. 

Division 2 and 3

Team scores: 1. Albany 132; 2. Rosholt 158; *3. Kiel 171; 4. Chequamegon 191; 5. West Salem 193; 6. Phillips 214; 7. Boscobel 230; 8. Auburndale 256; 9. Pacelli 260; 10. Mosinee 291; 11. Peshtigo 308; 12. Iola-Scandinavia 324; 13. Little chute 340; 14. Marathon 351; 15. Tomahawk 381; 16. Edgar 397; 17. Stratford 403; 18. Amherst 447; 19 Colby/Abbotsford 450; 20. Neillsville 480; 21. Prentice/Rib Lake 507; 22. Northland Pines 517; 23. Spencer 564; 24. Three Lakes 576; 25. Loyal 642. 

*Top Division 2 school

Top individuals: 1. Dana Feyen, Gale-Ettr-Tremp, 18:39.37; 2. Lindsey Grams, LC, 19:39.34; 3. Marissa Ellenbecker, Edg, 19:56.42; 4. Erika Kisting, I-S, 20:03.55; 5. Mariah McDonough, Pesh., 20:09.30;  6. Ciara Kaderly, Alb., 20:12.87; 7. Jordan Zdroik, Rosh., 20:22.15; 8. Mackenzie Kauffman, Bosc., 20:31.87; 9. Kortnie Volk, Thr. Lak., 20:43.60; 10. Annalise Callaghan, NP, 20:44.20.