By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
There were some surprised faces among fans standing along the final stretch of the WIAA Division 1 boys state cross country race.
Stevens Point Area Senior High's Chris Solinsky ran up a gradual slope about 200 meters from the finish line with no one in front or back of him. Defending individual champion Matt Esche of Waukesha West, the favorite to win, would not catch Solinsky.
The sophomore from SPASH, who won every race this year except the first one, crossed the finish line as the new state champion. Solinsky's time, 15:32, tied the state record for a sophomore.
"We knew coming in that Esche would do what he did last year. He starts out fast and tries to drop everybody. Chris was ready for that," SPASH coach Donn Behnke said.
"He was back in 25th at the half mile, 12th at the mile and then all of a sudden he's in fifth. At a mile-and-a-half he's in second and has Esche in his sights."
Solinsky caught Esche near the two-mile mark and surged past him. Esche never challenged Solinsky for the lead again.
"We were neck and neck and that's when I decided to make a move. I was kind of mad at myself," Solinsky said. "I didn't know if I should've gone that early. My first thought was 'No.' I thought I'd die off."
Added Behnke: "Then the question was if (Solinsky) was going to be strong enough to hold him off."
Behnke said Solinsky told the coach before the race that he didn't want to have to out-sprint Esche to the finish line. "The last 100 meters (Solinsky's) tank was empty but the race was won. He told me he didn't want it to come down to a kick."
Early in the race, Solinsky gradually made his way to the front pack. "I wanted to make sure I was patient in the first mile. Some guys go out crazy. I wanted to have a good pace and get up front," he said.
A year ago, Solinsky finished 25th in 16:40. After seeing the results, he set his sights on beating Dustin Fier of Hudson, who was the first freshman to finish, taking 21st in 16:37. This year, Solinsky not only beat Fier (eighth in 16:10) but the entire field.
"It's incredible," Behnke said. "Wisconsin has a long history of good individual runners. To come out here and win this thing as a sophomore is very, very rare."
Behnke said part of the reason Solinsky became so good so fast is genetics. "The other aspect is he's a tremendous worker. He's an awesome competitor. No matter what he does, he's always looking at what he's doing next."
Solinsky's championship was the fourth in the history of the SPASH boys program. Pete Skorseth (1978), Keith Hanson (1981) and Doug Milkowski (1988) all won individual championships. Clint Eiden finished second by less than a second in 1997 while Gary Anderson was the runner-up in 1983.
Suzy Favor won four state titles for the SPASH girls team, from 1982-1985.