Tim Gast posted on November 07, 2011 09:21
Mission Accomplished----Girls Place 5th at State!
Before the season, the Living Word Lutheran High School girls set several goals. All were accomplished before Saturday’s state cross country meet in Wisconsin Rapids except one. It was a lofty goal, but one the girls felt they could achieve as a team – place in the top five at state. Mission accomplished. The Living Word girls placed fifth out sixteen of the best teams in Wisconsin. This is up five places from last year.
The journey to the state was impressive enough. The girls notched several meet championships, captured their first ever conference championship, and won back-to-back sectional championships. This was accomplished without a single senior. And now the lady T-wolves can add an impressive state performance to a season that will go down in Living Word history as one of the most successful ever.
Becca Gosselin led the way as she has done all year running under sixteen minutes and placing 22nd. Gosselin has been hampered a bit by some tendonitis the last few weeks, but this didn’t seem to stop her from improving from last year. Stephanie Rutkowski was second on the team. She used her trademark finishing kick to pass 38 runners after the first mile. Lauren Weiss, Stephanie’s “twin” stayed close to finish strongly herself. Meanwhile, Rachel Gosselin and Katie Ziemann pushed each other to finish two seconds apart giving Living Word five finishers in the top 100. Not to be overlooked was Annalise Jasinski’s incredible effort breaking eighteen minutes for the first time all year and Emilie Wipperfurth’s missing her personal best by just one second.
The future looks bright for next year with all the girls returning. For now, though, the girls will enjoy the good feeling of a successful season. As well they should. In fact, a deserved rest is in order, but not too long. There are still more miles to run and room on that state leader board to move up.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS – (22) Becca Gosselin; (52) Stephanie Rutkowski 16:33; (66) Lauren Weiss 16:51; (87) Rachel Gosselin 17:11; (89) Katie Ziemann 17:13; (114) Annalise Jasinski 17:57; (146) Emilie Wipperfurth 18:53
TEAM RESULTS – TOP TEN – 1) Oshkosh Lourdes 57; 2) St. Mary-Springs 72; 3) Darlington 118; 4. Cedar Grove-Belgium 142; 5) LIVING WORD 174, 6. Edgar 192; 7. Spring Valley 203; 8. Boscobel 224; 9. Laona-Wabeno 239; 10. Stanley-Boyd 268