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University Lake runner sets state record in Midwest Invitational

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Midwest Cross Country Invitational

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JANESVILLE — Molly Seidel ran a race for the ages Saturday.

The University Lake School senior crossed the finish line in 13:19.99 to win the girls 4,000-meter race at the Midwest Invitational high school cross country meet at Blackhawk Golf Course.

Seidel’s time is the fastest recorded for that distance in state history. She set the previous mark of 3:34.27 at the Hartland Arrowhead Invitational three weeks ago.

Russell Sandvold won the boys 5,000-meter race to lead Hartland Arrowhead to the team title with 71 points. Janesville Craig, which got a third-place finish from defending champion Tommy Meister, finished second with 96.

Neenah held off Madison West by 15 points to win the girls team title.

Seidel, however, was the story of the day.

In successfully defending her title, the soft-spoken Seidel surged ahead from the opening gun and ran well ahead of the pack.

Currently the fourth-ranked runner in the country, according to a national publication, Seidel had only one goal in mind for Saturday’s race.

“I definitely wanted to run faster today than I did last year,” Seidel said of her 2010 winning time of 13:55.5. “I trained so hard over the summer that it has allowed me to really focus in on each and every race this season.”

Seidel, who can name her Division I school of choice for next year, said her recent accomplishments haven’t sunk in.

“It’s really amazing to be compared to someone like Suzy Favor,” Seidel said of the former Stevens Point High School and University of Wisconsin standout who is considered the greatest female distance runner in state history. “It’s all kind of surreal, but it means my hard work is paying off.”

While Seidel finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Olivia Pratt (13:58.96) of Madison West, the boys race came down to the wire. Sandvold held off Madison La Follette’s Chandler Diffee by just over two seconds in winning at 15:11.37.

The time broke the course and meet record of 15:29, set by Meister in 2010. Meister led at one point of the race, but could not keep up the last 600 meters and finished third with a time of 15:21.32.

Sandvold, who lost to Meister earlier in the season, changed his race strategy Saturday.

“When we raced earlier, I stuck with Tommy and decided I’d try and kick with him,” Sandvold said. “Obviously, that didn’t work. He has more leg speed than me. So the goal today was to start pushing at a mile-and-a-half, and that’s what I did.

“I’m glad I won, but the biggest thing was for the team to come here and win. This is one of our biggest meets of the year.”

Arrowhead is the top-ranked boys team in the state and ranked 14th in the country. The Warhawks showed their incredible depth by placing four runners in the top 20.

Craig, which is the second-ranked team in the state in Division 1, had four runners in the top 25. Besides Meister, Spencer Hrycay was sixth, Hunter Salmon 21st and Evan Lalor 23rd.

Midwest Invitational

BOYS

TEAM SCORES

Hartland Arrowhead 71, Janesville Craig 96, La Crosse Logan 100, Lake Park (Ill.) 165, Wisconsin Lutheran 173, Madison La Follette 188, Darlington 212, Dubuque Senior (Iowa) 292, Monroe 293, Dodgeville-Mineral Point 317, Mequon Homestead 318, Houston MacArthur (Texas) 349, Madison Memorial 368, Middleton 369, Neenah 435, Whitnall 506, Waunakee 522, Fond du Lac 531, Mukwonago 540, Sun Prairie 563, Platteville 567, Fort Atkinson 617, Verona 618, Albany 67, Milwaukee Marquette 671, Stoughton 749, Mount Horeb/Barneveld 759, Milton 765, Oregon 767, Beaver Dam 798, DeForest 835, Beloit Memorial 871, Rockford Guilford 897, Waukesha Catholic Memorial 906, Janesville Parker 914, Delavan-Darien 1,021, Elkhorn 1,113.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(5,000 meters)

1. Russell Sandvold (Arrowhead), 15:11.37; 2. Chandler Diffee (La Follette), 15:13.44; 3. Tommy Meister (Craig), 15:21.32; 4. Kyle Lewin (Arrowhead), 15:25.9; 5. Trevor Wunnicke (Dodgeville), 15:39.39; 6. Spencer Hrycay (Craig), 15:41.35; 7. Paul Escher (Logan), 15:53.18; 8. Tyson Miehe (Darlington), 15:55.10; 9. A.J. Kitchen (Beaver Dam), 15:56.19; 10. Michael Bourland (Neenah), 15:56.89; 11. Jonah Weisse (Mmemorial), 15:57.83; 12. Kevin Jorgenson (Lake Park), 15:58.5; 13. Juan Fraga (MacArthur), 15:58.59; 14. Chris Ganrude (Logan), 16:00.45; 15. Jonathan Melms (Lutheran), 16:00.93; 16. Wil Conley (Arrowhead), 16:00.97; 17. Alejandro Cano Tel (Lutheran), 16:01.14; 18. Jake Dubnicka (Arrowhead), 16:01.86; 19. Taylor Gruntzel (Logan), 16:15.4; 20. Kyle Staven (La Follette), 16:17.96; 21. Hunter Salmon (Craig), 16:19.72; 22. Ethan Moehn (Monroe), 16:25.28; 23. Evan Lalor (Craig), 16:26.05; 24. Brett Hottmann (Dodgeville), 16:26.71; 25. Ernesto Polania (La Follette), 16:26.82.

n Other Craig finisher—43. Joe Sarow, 16:39.89.

n Top Parker finisher—107. Dane Tyler, 17:24.

n Top Fort Atkinson finisher—69. Eric Bender, 17:00.

n Top Milton finisher—77. John Wells, 17:05.

n Top Albany finisher—74. Jose Ramirez, 17:04.

n Top Delavan-Darien finisher—104. Sam Logterman, 17:22.

n Top Elkhorn finisher—179. Tom Fortune, 18:29.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES

Neenah 56, Madison West 71, Hartland Arrowhead 74, Dodgeville-Mineral Point 75, Beaver Dam 190, Wisconsin Lutheran 254, Verona 262, Dubuque Senior (Iowa) 290, Middleton 317, Waunakee 348, DeForest 350, Platteville 353, Sun Prairie 370, Janesville Craig 397, Oregon 406, Darlington 422, Madison Memorial 435, Mukwonago 439, Fort Atkinson 497, Fond du Lac 511, Whitnall 530, Stoughton 576, Madison La Follette 582, Monroe 672, Milton 727, Janesville Parker 790, Elkhorn 815, Monona Grove 845, Beloit Memorial 881, Rockford Guilford 922, Delavan-Darien 936.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(4,000 meters)

1. Molly Seidel (Lake School), 13:19.99; 2. Olivia Pratt (West), 13:58.96; 3. Tricia Serres (Platteville), 14:07.01; 4. Jackie Dubnicka (Arrowhead), 14:12.22; 5. Alison Parker (Neenah), 14:22.81; 6. Molly Hanson (Dodgeville), 14:25.97; 7. Sarah Heinemann (Waunakee), 14:26.59; 8. Jessica Parker (Neenah), 14:32.87; 9. Jennifer Parker (Neenah), 14:40.18; 10. Elena Barham (West), 14:40.25; 11. Taylor McDowell (Arrowhead), 14:45.82; 12. Mairin Cahill (Dodgeville), 14:48.10; 13. Natalie Burant (Arrowhead), 14:50.2; 14. Anna Eisenzimmer (Dodgeville), 14:51.09; 15. Hannah Owens (Dodgeville), 14:52.91; 16. Claire Knaus (Neenah), 14:56.19; 17. Erica Higgins (Verona), 14:57.1; 18. Bailey Flanigan (West), 14:57.18; 19. Gina Sereno (West), 14:57.21; 20. Lea Patek (Arrowhead), 14:57.32; 21. Amy Kong (Sun Prairie), 14:59.33; 22. Taylor Zimprich (Waunakee), 15:04.47; 23. Lydia Fahrenkrug (Neenah), 15:05.81; 24. Isabel Seidel (Lake School), 15:11.35; 25. Maria Martinez (Beaver Dam), 15:13.83.

n Craig finishers—62. Michaela Holzhuter, 16:04; 67. Elizabeth Maginot, 16:08; 72. Danica Reinicke, 16:10; 97; 97. Brittney Fry, 16:28; 99. Stephanie Perleberg, 16:29.

n Top Parker finisher—76. Miranda Slaback, 16:12.

n Top Fort Atkinson finisher—41. Hannah Kuenzi, 15:43.

n Top Milton finisher—66. Mandi Speer, 16:07.

n Top Elkhorn finisher—142. Kenna Miller, 17:13.