Timberwolves’ Patterson repeats as Ridge & Valley Conference Female Runner of the Year
Submitted by admin on Fri, 10/25/2024 - 12:06
River Ridge runner Leah Patterson recovers after finishing first at the 2024 Ridge & Valley Conference Cross Country meet. Patterson won the meet for a second year in a row with a time of 21:53. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Yoselin Bautista concentrates during the race despite blinding sunlight. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Luke Patterson is all focus as he nears a turn during the boys race at the Krachey/Enke Fields course outside of Wauzeka. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By A.J. Gates
For the second consecutive season, River Ridge sophomore Leah Patterson secured Runner of the Year honors in the Ridge & Valley conference by finishing first at last Thursday’s conference cross country meet.
With a time of 21:53.0, Patterson finished 17 seconds ahead of Kickapoo/La Farge junior Katie Randow to take top honors at last week’s conference meet at Krachey/Enke Farms near Wauzeka.
This year’s conference honor follows last season’s accomplishments, where she finished first at the conference meet as a freshman.
“She has had a target on her back all season in the league after last season,” explained River Ridge cross country coach Shane Sperle. “She had to miss last Saturday’s meet at a fast Riverdale course, which was frustrating for her, but I think that rest was important for her to claim Runner of the Year for the second straight season.”
While Patterson led the River Ridge girls with her first-place finish, sophomore teammate McKenzie Taylor placed ninth of 34 runners to earn second-team all-conference honors with her time of 23:54.3.
“She has improved so much during the season and has really come on in October,” said coach Sperle. “I thought she would challenge for 13th or 14th place at the meet, but had to clue she would run as well as she did and get ninth.”
“McKenzie is such a strong runner that improves so much during the season with hard work,” Sperle added.
Rounding out the top five finishers for the River Ridge girls were: sophomore Yoselin Bautista in 18th (26:14.0), freshman Eden Thornton in 19th (26:36.5) and sophomore Chloe West in 20th (27:27.5).
As a team, the River Ridge girls finished third with a score of 67, while Kickapoo/La Farge finished first (28) and Wauzeka-Steuben second (58). River Ridge’s top six runners this season consists of five sophomores and one freshman.
“The girls finishing third is a good springboard for next season,” said coach Sperle. “We have a young team that had many of them running injured the last few weeks.”
“The guts the girls showed running a tough course with injuries will only make us a better team moving forward to sectionals and next season,” Sperle added.
For the River Ridge boys, senior Luke Patterson concluded the regular season with first-team all-conference honors, finishing fourth with a time of 18:19.3.
For Patterson, who has earned first-team all-conference honors all four seasons at River Ridge, the accomplishment certainly wasn’t’ lost on his coach.
“He is a true leader and pushes himself every time he competes and practices,” Sperle said of Patterson. “To be first-team all-conference all four years is something not many male runners can do.”
Finishing 12th in the boys race was River Ridge junior Mason Pecinovsky, who earned second-team all-conference honors with his time of 19:22.7.
“Mason set a goal last summer to work towards an all-conference spot. He has chased Luke all season, which has helped him improve during the year,” said Sperle. “I am so happy Mason achieved his goal and was able to earn his spot on a challenging course at conference.”
Rounding out River Ridge’s top five runners were: senior Colton Moris in 16th (20:09.4), senior Wyatt Bausch in 19th (20:55.8) and junior Luke Breuer in 27th (22:38.4).
The River Ridge boys finished third with a score of 78, behind Kickapoo/La Farge (33) and Wauzeka-Steuben (60).
“All the boys ran hard during the meet and were able to finish third in the league. This was the first year we had two boys make all conference since 2020,” explained Sperle. “We also had boys that did not make all-conference, but ran like it at the meet.”
Next up for the River Ridge cross country runners is the sectional meet held at Prairie du Chien on Saturday, beginning with the girls race at 11 a.m., followed by the boys at 11:45.
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