This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
RIB MOUNTAIN – Marshfield freshman Rebecca Voss had finished behind Wausau East’s Ashley Eckhoff every time they raced this season, so Voss wanted to give it her all Friday at the WIAA Division 1 cross country sectional and see if she could stick with her.
Voss did and used an incredible last push over the final 10 yards to edge Eckhoff by three-tenths of a second on the Nine Mile Forest Recreation Area course.
Voss ran a season-best time of 14:40.87 on the 4-kilometer course to earn a spot in next Saturday’s WIAA State Cross Country Championships at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
She will be joined by teammate Bryan Zimmerman, who became the first Marshfield boy to qualify for state since Sean Harrington did in 2006.
“I wanted to see if I could come closer to her (Eckhoff) than I did last Saturday,” said Voss, who finished 27 seconds behind Eckhoff to finish second at the Wisconsin Valley Conference Meet last week. “I tried to push myself and I felt really good going into it. I wanted to give my best for this race.”
Voss took the lead early, then hung close behind the rest of the way, always staying just 10-15 feet behind Eckhoff.
“I really felt good about myself,” Voss said. “I tried to push myself my hardest to see how I could run with her. I just tried to stick with her the whole time – then I knew I had a chance.”
Wausau East had five of the top eight finishers and Wausau West had five in the top 15 to grab the top two team spots and berths at the state meet.
New London’s Annalise Schroeder and Macy Egan, Antigo’s Sammy Stimac and Stevens Point’s Payton Tepp took the other individual qualifying spots, along with Voss.
“She’s such a strong runner,” Marshfield coach Dan Akin said of Voss. “I think Ashley went out conservative and Rebecca just focused on her the whole way and ran her best time of the year.”
Zimmerman, a senior, ran a career-best 16:50.16 to qualify for his first state meet. Zimmerman finished eighth overall and was fourth among the five individual qualifiers, joining Antigo’s Cody Artymiuk (third), Shawano’s Wade Reiter (fifth), Hortonville’s Tony Cass (seventh) and New Lond’s Michael Heise (ninth).
The Stevens Point boys cruised to the team title with 33 points, well ahead of second-place D.C. Everest.
Stevens Point’s Michael Larson edged teammate Jon Formella to the individual title by just less than 2 seconds.
“He went out right away and got himself set up and he held on,” Akin said about Zimmerman’s run. “He didn’t want to wait around and rely on a (late) kick. He was within the top 10 the entire race. With aobut 2 minutes left he was a little tired, but he really wanted it and he finished strong. I am so proud of him.”
Both Marshfield teams finished third in the team race, well behind the top two state qualifying teams.
Boys
Team standings: *1. Stevens Point 33; *2. D.C. Everest 65; 3. Marshfield 102; 4. Wausau East 114; 5. Shawano 144; 6. Hortonville 173; 7. Wisconsin Rapids 201; 8. New London 215; 9. Antigo 226; 10. Rhinelander 255; 11. Wausau West 281; 12. Merrill 366. (*state meet qualifiers)
Top 10 individuals: (T) 1. Michael Larson (SP) 16:32.51; (T) 2. Jon Formella (SP) 16:34.44; *3. Cody Artymiuk (A) 16:39.31; (T) 4. Jacob Dirkman (DC) 16:42.10; *5. Wade Reiter (SH) 16;49.55; (T) 6. Luke Helminiak (SP) 16:50.16; *7. Tony Cass (H) 16:50.30; *8. Bryan Zimmerman (MAR) 16:50.60; *9. Michael Heise (NL) 16;51.75; (T) 10. Matt Mitchell (SP) 16:56.04. (T) Member of team qualifier; *individual qualifier.
Other Marshfield finishers: 18. Adam Voss 17:18.35; 19. Aaron Anderson 17:19.13; 22. Adam Binder 17:34.02; 35. Colin Korlesky 18:00.68; 38. Adrian Kaiser 18:02.48; 54. Nolan Redetzke 18:36.79.
Girls
Team standings: *1. Wausau East 24; *2. Wausau West 50; 3. Marshfield 111; 4. Stevens Point 128; 5. D.C. Everest 139; 6. Antigo 150; 7. New London 152; 8. Hortonville 174; 9. Wisconsin Rapids 205; 10. Shawano 277; 11. Merrill 308; 12. Rhinelander 331.
Top individuals: *1. Rebecca Voss (MAR) 14:40.87; (T) 2. Ashley Eckhoff (WE) 14:41.16; (T) 3. Katelyn Stine (WE) 14:52.45; (T) 4. Sarah Poirier (WW) 15:00.64; (T) 5. Courtney Frahm (WE) 15:04.89; (T) 6. Krista Maguire (WE) 15:14.40; (T) 7. Marissa Matushak (WW) 15:19.22; (T) 8. Marissa Lange (WE) 15:22.85; *9. Annalise Schroeder (NL) 15:24.88; *10. Macy Egan (NL) 15:26.75; (T) 11. Kierra Kohlbeck (WW) 15:28.60; *12. Sammy Stimac (AN) 15:33.00; (T) 13. Michaela Matushak (WW) 15:34.98; *14. Payton Tepp (SP) 15:37.49.
Other Marshfield finishers: 20. Lisa Kaiser 16:00.36; 25. Sara Fuller 16:15.95; 31. Jennifer Kaiser 16:32.51; 34. Alexa Fritsch 16:34.04; 52. Danielle Sopiarz 17:04.32; 58. Alexis Dzikowich 17:29.98.
Complete results courtesy of the WIAA.