Written by Jacob Glinski, Staff Writer
Indian Trail High School & Academy boy’s varsity cross country team has a chance to cap off its most successful season in school history.
Boasting their best team record as well as the best overall team time, the runners are entering what’s known as championship season, the ve-week span of championship races, with the opportunity to bring home first place titles from each one.
The team has already established their first championship title, winning the Kenosha County Championship meet. Led by sophomore Keegan Meier’s third place finish, the team totaled an impressive 30 total points, well ahead of Kenosha Tremper’s 80.
But the real challenge will be the state meet: On Nov. 2, the 20 best teams in the state will be in Wisconsin Rapids for the 2019 WIAA State Championship. IT’s eight boys are anxious not only to make it to this elite meet, but to finish within the top 15 teams.
Coming off of a successful 2018 season —the school’s first state-qualifying season — seniors on the team are hoping to have a better outcome than last year’s state meet effort, a 20th place finish.
According to Athletic.net and Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll, the boys’ team started the season ranked 15th in the state after week one and has reached as high as the No. 13 rank in Wisconsin, coming after the second week’s meet in Green eld, where the boys ran one of the fastest combined time in the recent years.
Varsity runner and senior Mason Scoggin and sophomore Nick Klinkhammer stated that they look forward to the goal of ve runners on the team being under 17 minutes. The feat would set them up for a potential top 10 finish in state.
On a broader scale, Middleton and Neenah high schools have consistently been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 statewide throughout the season thus far. The rankings are also influenced by the teams’ last year performances, in which Neenah won the State Championship with 122 points, edging out Middleton by only 9 points.
IT credits their successes to the strong sense of team as well as offseason commitment. Klink- hammer said the summer conditioning sessions played a big role in preparing himself both mentally and physically for the challenges faced in the regular season.