PdC Cross Country
Ella Hein, Amber Huser and Faith Dillman run together. (Photo by Kathleen Hein)
Girls compete well at River
Valley Blackhawk Invitational,
PdC home meet also a success
The Prairie du Chien cross country team competed in the River Valley Blackhawk Invitational on Saturday. The Blackhawk Invitational was a huge meet with 41 schools and more than 1,600 runners.
The Prairie du Chien varsity girls’ team did extremely well against the steep competition finishing in sixth place out of 21 schools in the small school division.
“I’m incredibly proud of the girls. I asked my top four runners to run the first mile together at slower than usual controlled pace and then start passing and picking up places. That’s exactly what they did. They just kept accelerating past the other teams’ runners,” said Coach Kathleen Hein.
Prairie’s top four varsity runners all finished in the top 30. Ella Hein placed 16th for a medal. Amber Huser just missed a medal in 21st place. Faith Dillman and Karly Jaynes were just behind in 23rd and 28th place, respectively, and Maddie LaRocque finished in 67th for a team score 155.
The boys’ team did not have enough runners to place as a team, but Prairie should have a full boys’ team at their meet against Richland Center on Tuesday thanks to few late recruits.
The cross country team’s first home meet on Thursday, Sept. 8 was a success.
“Everyone ran well and did what I asked of them,” said Coach Hein. “And, more importantly, everyone, including the visiting team, seemed to enjoy themselves.”
All three boys raced well and were not intimidated by the fact that Platteville had 10 times more runners. Magnus Goltermann, Jayce Sexton and Blake Bartels all improved upon their times from Tuesday, which is incredible considering that LaRiviere is a much, much harder course. The girls also ran well. The coaches had asked the varsity team to run the first mile together at a slow relaxed pace. That is exactly what they did. The top four runners of Amber Huser, Ella Hein, Faith Dillman and Karly Jaynes ran most of the race as a pack, supporting each other and finishing strong in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Amber, Ella, and Faith all finished within less than a second of each other. Nicole Stieber, Allison Riebe, Bella Cummuta and Madelyn Roche all had personal bests or achieved individual goals.
One of the highlights of the meet was when both teams lined the last 100 yards of the course to cheer in Mari Hauschildt and Harlee Eastman.
