Stevens Point Area Senior High School's Chris Solinsky led a pack of local runners that excelled at the WIAA State Cross Country Meet at the Ridges Country Club in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Solinsky took first in the Division 1 boys race, destroying the state meet record by eight seconds in the process by finishing 15:07. "There was really no way anyone was going to beat him," said SPASH coach Donn Behnke.
The record was previously held by Tim Hackers, who ran in college for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, won numerous Big 10 championships and was the NCAA Champion in 1985.
Solinsky's time beat another famous runner's time, Gabe Jennings, on the course by more than 30 seconds. Jennings, who runs for Stanford, was the U.S.'s top miler in the last Olympics. "It (the record) puts him in some pretty good company," Behnke said.
The SPASH boys team finished second, just one point behind Neenah. "There's certainly disappointment out of coming in second, but the greater point is that we ran a great race," Behnke said. "I'm tremendously proud of what we did today."
Behnke said that all five of his top runners ran their best times at the meet. "There was really nothing more we could have gotten out of our guys."
Quinn Baumberger, Luke Langhorst, Mickey Katz and Tom Winkelman all scored for the team, finishing, 12, 31, 34 and 51 respectively. Curt Mitchell and Matt Ziehr also ran for the Panthers, finishing 78 and 89.
"Tommy Winkelman passed about 20 runners in the last quarter mile alone, he just about pulled it out for us," Behnke said.
Behnke said that in the 88 year history of the meet that it has only been decided by one point four times and that three of those involved SPASH.
The SPASH girls finished ninth, with Emma Tauchman leading the way by finishing seventh in 14:55. Other runners scoring for the girls were Kara Tauchman (39), Kim Klosno (56), Zoe Browne (60) and Jackie Kropp (61). Melissa Carlson (102) and Becky Sikorski (103) also ran for the Panthers.
Rosholt's Tami Scott took first in the Division 3 girls race in 15:13 with Amherst's Brittany Dick not far behind in third place in 15:23.
"Tami had the potential to be there for the last few years," said Rosholt coach Mike Trzebiatowski. "She didn't set as punishing of a pace as she did throughout the year, but she won and that's the biggest thing. It's been one of her goals to win the state meet."
The Rosholt girls team finished fifth. Jacki Yenter (31), Kati Kluck (38), Sara Omernik (45) and Lindsey Peplinski (46) scored for the Hornets. Nicky Bembenek (52) and Jackie Zdroik (57) also ran for the team.
Trzebiatowski said he was a bit disappointed in the team's finish. "We were good enough to be in the top two, but we just didn't run well."
The team finished with a 64-4 record against Division 3 opponents with their only losses coming at state. He said one contributing factor was the fact that Peplinski, who is normally the team's No. 2 runner was running injured unbeknownst to the coaches or other runners.
Peplinski was running on a stress fracture and is now on crutches. Still he said he was proud of the team. "You can't downplay that they had a super season. The camaraderie and friendship on this team is something special."
He also said the team might be even stronger next year, as only Scott is a senior. "We raised the bar for Rosholt cross country. We've started a tradition at this school."
The Hornet boys finished eleventh at the meet. Brady Staszak was the team's top finisher, taking 17th in 17:23. Paul Zdroik (41), Tyler Staszak (47), Matt Rice (68) and Casey Giese (75) scored for the Hornets. Andy Osowski (90) and Gavin LaFave (95) also competed for the team.
"The boys ran some people down and came back," Trzebiatowski said. "When the results came out we were pretty pleased. We knew we were fortunate to get to state so finishing above a few teams was a good accomplishment."
Amherst's Tim Olson also had a good race, finishing 26th in Division 3 in 17:15.