Menominee’s Brandt Paces Area Runners at Marinette Invitational

Menominee’s Attica Brandt won the 36-runner Marinette Invitational on Saturday after a late surge with about a half mile left in the race.
Marinette sophomore Addison Lacy led for much of the 5K race, but with about a half mile remaining, Brandt made her move.
The Menominee senior said she started the race out a little bit slower before hitting her stride and finishing in 22 minutes, 33.9 seconds.
“Try to stay close and keep moving forward,” Brandt said of her strategy. “I tried to start out a little bit slower then build through the run. The hills were tough, but the last mile I really pushed through it.”
Brandt’s teammate Mikakah Mead took 27th (28:54.1). They were the only two Maroons in the race.
Escanaba was the top team, with five runners in the top 15 spurring them to victory ahead of second-place Marinette.
Lacy finished second in 22:50. She was one of two runners, along with Brandt, to finish under 23 minutes.
Julia Cano Hidalgo took eighth (24:43.8), Madison Kunick took 11th (25:29.4), Lacy Carviou came in 23rd (28:02.7), Karissa Valitchka took 28th (29:15), and Ava Looms was 35th (34:42.5).
Cano Hidalgo’s performance was one that Marinette coach Jenni Campbell emphasized after the race. Cano Hidalgo, a foreign exchange student, is running cross country for Marinette for the first time this season.
“She has improved drastically every time she has been able to compete, which today made a huge deal for us,” Campbell said. “We are very, very thankful and excited to have her on our team as a foreign exchange student this year.”
The Marines defeated North Eastern Conference rivals Wrightstown and Denmark, which should provide them a boost going into next month’s NEC race in Marinette.
“It’s a good opportunity for our conference teams to check out the course because it is a hard course. It really is,” Campbell said. “Once they get into the woods, it’s a little bit technical, they have hills, they have a single track course once they get in there. It’s a great opportunity because our kids are running these trails.”
For Coleman, Kiersten Jensen took 13th (25:40.2), Clare Gappa placed 15th (26:56), and Aliza Jensen was 34th (32:26.4).
Marinette’s boys were fifth of six teams. Of 39 runners, David Jezowski was eighth (20:09.1), Jackson Draheim took 16th (21:09.9), Dylan Demmith took 27th (23:10.7), Evan Reines was 31st (23:43.6), Aidan Anderson took 31st (23:43.6), and Aaron Peterson finished 37th (25:25.7).
Coleman took third behind Escanaba and Wrightstown, led by third-place individual Conner Markiewicz. He led the pack throughout the race after getting out to a quick start along with Stephenson’s Griffin Brown.
He was passed by Wrightstown’s Marshall Edinger and Jackson Lamers at around the two-mile mark. He hung around and finished in 19:18.7, just 12 and nine seconds behind the Wrightstown pair.
It was a personal record for the Coleman sophomore.
“The goal was to stay first and hold that lead as long as possible. Even if you don’t hold it, you’re still in position to finish strong,” Markiewicz said. “It was close, and then they just had more in them to finish than I did. I just needed a stronger position, and next time I hope to beat them.”
His Cougar teammate John Nowak took sixth in 19:58.9. Chase Gruber took 18th (21:19.6), Jake Cullinane-Maleport was 26th (23:08.2), Isaiah Nowak took 28th (23:24.2), and Wyatt Van Haren placed 35th (24:19.3).
Menominee took sixth. Aden Short was 21st (21:45.9), Brock Murphy took 22nd (21:46.9), Steven Zavala was 25th (22:58.7), Ethan Howarth took 29th (23:39.1), Brayden Bourion came in 30th (23:42.2), Henry Zuhels was 33rd (24:02.6), and Blake Bourion placed 36th (24:50.1).
Tigers Keep Pace
With the Big Schools
at Angel Invite
The Gillett Tiger boys took seventh of 31 mostly Milwaukee-area teams at the Angel Invitational at UW-Parkside on Saturday.
Mukwonago, Wisconsin Lutheran, and Lakeside Lutheran were the top three teams in the boys’ standings.
Gillett senior Alex Peterson was second of 201 total runners. He finished the race in 16 minutes, 35.5 seconds, second only to Mukwonago’s Joe McNulty.
Evan Anderson took 21st (17:38.3), Bradyn Wendorff took 38th (18:10.3), Nash Stage took 115th (20:01.3), Scott Herroux came in 125th (20:13.7), and Zander Davis placed 180th (22:16.3).
The Gillett girls were 17th of 25 teams. Brookfield Central, Wisconsin Lutheran, and Union Grove finished 1-2-3, respectively.
The Tigers’ Carleigh Kaczmarek took 17th of 176 runners. The senior finished in 21 minutes, 17.2 seconds.
Cheyenne Krueger placed 96th (23:38.1), Sophie Limberg took 105th (24:00.4), Laney DeBauch took 115th (24:21.9), and Lily Hansen came in 135th (25:16.5).
Bulldog/Bobcats
Compete at Wausau’s
Smiley Invitational
Peshtigo and Florence competed at the Smiley Invitational hosted by Wausau East High School on Saturday.
Kiel, West Salem, and Little Chute were the top three girls’ teams in Division 2. Peshtigo took sixth of 12.
Freshman Rachel Nelson took 14th of 82 runners in the division. She finished the race in 21 minutes, 16.6 seconds. Holly Pesch was 24th (21:59.9), Alaina Archambault came in 36th (23:41.2),  Addison Olson was 44th (24:22.7), and Kayla Murphy finished 57th (26:10.7).
Peshtigo’s boys took 10th of 14 in D2. Shorewood, West Salem, and Kiel were the top three teams there.
The Bulldogs were led by Andrew Nelson. Of 94 runners, his 17-minute, 41.8-second time was eighth.
Reese Yunke took 29th (18:39.8), Cole Grabian was 57th (20:43.7), Liam Smith took 77th (21:59.1), Eli Berndt was 78th (22:06.8), Marshell Bennett took 79th (22:26), and Braeden Murphy took 94th (27:02.2).
Florence did not qualify for a team score. In the girls’ race, Abbey Tripp was 14th of 53 Division 3 runners (23:53.2), Ingrid Holt took 32nd (26:47.1), Caitlyn Kelley took 43rd (30:14.6), and Rebecca Eller was 53rd (35:28.8).
For the boys, Blake Smith took 42nd of 71 (21:09.8), Seth Axley took 43rd (21:09.8), and Matt Bousley placed 65th (23:22.2).
Panthers Lead Area
Teams at Mike
Jameson Invite
Suring, Oconto Falls, and Coleman were among the teams at the Mike Jameson Invite in Bay Port on Thursday.
Oconto Falls’ girls were fifth of 11 teams. Hannah Ludemann was 11th of 84 runners, finishing in 21 minutes, 49.9 seconds. Brooke Hodkiewicz took 21st (22:22.7), Hailey Delzer came in 24th (22:28.8), Josie Holtz was 35th (23:27), Maddy Przybylski took 37th (23:35.6), Ava Hodkiewicz took 45th (24:12.6), and Sydney Bell took 61st (25:05.7).
The Suring girls took 10th. Olivia Noack took 15th (21:55.2), Georgia Gerndt took 53rd (24:40), Ginger Gerndt placed 68th (26:46.1), Morgan Suring took 71st (27:18.2), Allyson Seibert took 77th (28:04.7), and Samantha Seibert was 80th (28:47.6).
Coleman did not qualify for a team score on either the boys’ or girls’ side. The Cougars had three runners in the girls’ race. Clare Gappa took 70th (27:15.7), Gracelynn Nowak took 78th (28:19.9), and Aliza Jensen took 82nd (29:38.6).
Brookfield East, Appleton North, and Two Rivers finished as the top three girls’ teams.
Oconto Falls’ boys were seventh, led by 12th-place finisher Ben Adams, who finished the race in 18:04.2. There were 69 runners in the race.
Evan Yuma was 34th (19:37.4), Griffin Kopke placed 35th (19:38.7), Emerson Rice took 45th (20:17.8), and Brant Laluzerne came in 59th (21:07.2).
For Coleman, Conner Markiewicz took 39th (19:57.9), Isaiah Nowak was 65th (22:15.4), Jake Cullinane-Maleport took 68th (22:57.5), and Wyatt Van Haren placed 69th (22:58.8).
Suring did not have any runners in the boys race. Brookfield East was the top boys team, followed by Appleton North and Bay Port.