Wildcats Run in Lightning Invitational

The cross country team had a good day at the Lightning Invitational on the hilly course at Lake Country Lutheran in Hartland Saturday morning. The USM girls’ team placed fifth at the meet and the USM boys’ team placed seventh in the competition.

Living Word Lutheran won the girls’ meet with a point total of 34 compiled by its top five runners. Sheboygan Lutheran took second with 45 points followed by Milwaukee Lutheran with 91 points, Lake Country Lutheran with 92 points, USM with 123 points, Christian Life with 162 points, and Williams Bay with 175 points.

Runner Molly Seidel won the girls’ race. Seidel completed the 4K course in 14:26.30. Seidel was the only runner from ULS and she did not gain any points for her school. The next runner to cross the finish line was Becca Gosselin who gained one point as a first place finisher for Living Word Lutheran with a time of 16:12.85. Sheboygan Lutheran gained points for the next two finishes. Tess Leibham finished third at 16:38.28 and Ashley Scheele took fourth place with a time of 16:39.43.

USM's top runner, Emma Kulick, finished in sixth place with a time of 16:55.54. Megan Waples took ninth place for the Wildcats with a time of 17:28.43. USM's Jenny Brostrom finished with a time of 18:53.19 good for 30th place. Emily Burton finished in 39th place for USM with a time of 20:09.59. Dominique Tlomak took 44th place with a time of 22:30.03.

The Invitational's host team, Lake Country Lutheran, won the boys’ meet with a total of 55 points. Milwaukee Lutheran was second with 60 points followed by Sheboygan Lutheran with 74 points, Racine St. Catherine's with 86 points, Living Word Lutheran with 112 points, Christian Life with 145 points, USM with 171 points and Williams Bay with 193 points.

Taylor Schleusner of Lake Country Lutheran won the 5K boys race with a time of 17:27.60. Racine St. Catherine's had the next two finishers. John Brennan took second place with a time of 17:36.82 and Chris Reinhold was third at 17:40.82.

USM's top finisher in the boys’ race was Eric Hilgendorf, who finished 11th with a time of 18:10.57. Tommy Camilleri finished in 33rd place with a time of 20:18.06.  Griffin Damron took 40th place for USM at 21:05.84; Ben Sampson finished in 43rd place with a time of 21:27.29; and Jeffrey Melvin took 45th place with a time of 21:34.16.

The USM cross country runners return to Lake Country Lutheran for their next competition, the Midwest Classic Conference meet on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m.