Viking cross country hosted its annual Stoughton Invitational on Saturday.
Girls CC
Dominating wins are nothing new to Stoughton's Kiah Ehrke, but last week's double ear and sinus infection, from which she didn't start to feel better until Thursday, added a new twist to Saturday's performance.
Running her home course for the last time, Ehrke cleared the 4k course in 14 minutes, 46.63 seconds, roughly 18 seconds ahead of runner-up Nicole Kollman of Verona to win her first-ever Stoughton Invitational. Ehrke finished second overall last year to Verona's Emma Spoon.
"I'm definitely not 100 percent, but I was definitely ready to run today," she said.
"I think had she not been sick this week she probably could've been 10, 20, 30 seconds faster," head coach Patrick Schneider said. "I think it's a good confidence builder to win by that much, running through adversity."
Winning every race she has ran this season by a comfortable margin (more than 30 seconds), Ehrke said her focus is just on time.
Fellow senior Taylor McMillan was once again the Vikings second runner, finishing 23rd overall in 16:30.
Stoughton's third through sixth runners would come in within 16 places of each other, finishing from 53rd to 69th place.
"I think they ran good races, it's just that I would really like them to move up as a group," Schneider said. "At this point in the year, I don't know if that's going to happen.
"At the beginning of the year they weren't running together and now I think they are actually better teamwise. I would bet they are several spots up because they don't want to get beat by the other person in the race."
Mikayla Braukoff, who struggled with asthma, probably had the Vikings best race, Schneider said, registering a personal best 16:50.09 to finish in 53rd, one spot behind teammate Amanda Staffen, who also had a PR (16:48.21)
The team's fifth runner, Breanna Robinson, also ran a personal best, clocking a 17:02.23 for 67th place as Stoughton placed eighth overall as a team with 198 points.
"Three of our top seven ran their best races and you just can't complain about that as a coach," Schneider said.
Eagan, Minn. won the meet with 106 points, 17 ahead of Verona. Stevens Point finished third overall with 130.
The Vikings travel to the Middleton Invitational on Saturday.
Ehrke will not compete at that meet in order to have her fresh for Oct. 18 when Stoughton, the three-time defending champions, travel to Lake Farm Park for the Badger South Conference meet.
"It seems like we are improving each week, but it's kind of a mystery on how we are going to do," Ehrke said.
Boys CC
Sophomore Riley Olson and senior Jake Tonstad each clocked personal bests on Saturday to pace the host Vikings at the Stoughton Invitational.
Olson, who has been the team's top runner throughout the season, placed 43rd overall in 17:31.70, while Tonstad followed in 54th with a 17:40.63.
Being very familiar with the course was a big help, Tonstad said, "I knew when I would be able to kick in certain spots and where I could take a breather at others and catch my pace."
Stoughton's third runner, Tanner Klitzke, finished 64th with a personal best 18:03.42, while Tom Speth (71st) and Nick Larson (79th) rounded out the varsity scorers in 18:23 and 18:36.54, respectively.
"It was a good race and a great day for it," head coach Jason Enke said. "Getting to run with a bunch of friends and family watching is always good."
Two of the state's premier boys programs, top-ranked Stevens Point missed placing all five varsity within the top 10 by one spot to defeat Madison La Follette (31-47).
"We were hoping to be in the top 10, so we were a couple of places lower," Enke said. "It's nice to run in a meet with great kids and teams like that, but we know we're not in that league right now."
Madison Memorial finished third with 103 points, while Stoughton placed 12th overall, two points ahead of conference rival Oregon with 305.
"It's going to be a battle," said Enke, whose team lost freshman Gage Thiessen for the season to a knee injury.
"That hurts us a little bit, but we're looking for some other guys to step up."
