PECATONICA — Freshman Loretta Tisch broke the school’s 5,000-meter record, earning the first SWAL All-Conference selection in seven years. But entering the cross country season, she had no idea the feat would be possible. 

Loretta, a dual-sport athlete in the fall, joined cross country this season, following in the footsteps of her older siblings Anna, Joe — a two-time state track qualifier — and David — a member of the school’s record-holding 3,200-meter relay team with Joe. Her primary focus, though, was on volleyball. 

It wasn’t until Pecatonica’s second race of the year that Loretta realized her potential. She ran a 23:49 at Wauzeka, just 34 seconds slower than the school record set by Josie Penniston. Elise Sigg holds the 4,000-meter record at 14:54 in 2008, but the WIAA has since adjusted the distance by 1,000 meters.

“One of my first races I was like 20 seconds away from the school record,” Loretta Tisch said. “Then I decided to take it more seriously and get better.”   

Loretta, along with her sister Anna, began to work with head coach Jason Klocek after volleyball practice in order to get better. Once done with volleyball at 5:30 p.m., the sisters met with Klocek to run at the park from 7 to 8 p.m. The girls worked on 800s, 200s and miles. 

“We went down to the park and kept it pretty simple,” Klocek said. “It was dark there, well, it was dark everywhere by the time we were doing this. We tried to make the best out of it.” 

About halfway through the season, Loretta began to feel the workouts taking effect. 

“While I was running, I felt better and wasn’t getting as tired easily,” Loretta said. 

All of the hard work and extra preparation set Loretta up for success in the SWAL conference meet at Fennimore. Heading into the race, Loretta wasn’t sure she’d be able to break the record, though. 

“In the beginning of the race, I didn’t think I would break it because it was a tough course with a lot of hills,” Loretta said. “I thought, ‘oh, it’s okay, I can get it the next meet.’”  

When Loretta crossed the finish line at 21:33 (15th), she needed help being carried off the course. Klocek was more worried about Loretta than her time, that he didn’t pay attention to the clock. 

“At the meets, I’m just trying to get these guys going,” Klocek said. “They had the timer at the finish, but she was being carried away by somebody else so I helped her. They [Loretta and Anna] had to go to a volleyball game later. I didn’t even really look at the times. I saw she finished 15th and made All-Conference and was pretty happy with that.” 

It wasn’t until later, when Anna brought it to his attention, that Klocek realized Loretta had broken the record. 

“Wednesday of the following week, we were working out and Anna said, ‘Hey coach, she ran a 21:33,’” Klocek said. “I said ‘No way.’ I thought it was a 22:33, but she did it. We celebrated out at the park while we were practicing.” 

Loretta shattered Penniston’s record of 22:15 by 42 seconds. With her time of 21:33, Loretta made the SWAL All-Conference team — the first Viking to do so since Penniston.  

“That was really nice that he was always there,” Loretta said of Klocek’s flexibility for workouts. “If we hadn’t done those practices after volleyball, I wouldn’t have broken the record.” 

As a team, Pecatonica finished tied for fifth in the SWAL with Riverdale — the best finish for the Vikings since joining the conference.  

Just over a week later in the Albany sectional, Pecatonica finished eighth — the highest finish in over 10 years. Not only did Loretta — and Anna — improve, but they pushed their teammates to do better, too. 

“Once they [Loretta and Anna] started to do the workouts and came to the meets prepared, the rest of the girls saw that and fed off that,” Klocek said. “They got better, and we got better as a team as the season progressed. We were cutting three or four minutes off our times, so they elevated everybody else to be better at their game. I think that’s huge and a big stepping stone for the program.”  

From her first race in Wauzeka to the sectional, Anna trimmed over two minutes off her time. Freshman Mazie Theorin went from a 31:55.9 in her first race to a 26:06.1 in her last and Maddie Webster from 31:00.5 to 26:29.2. 

Once Loretta dedicated herself to cross country, the results didn’t surprise anyone, especially Anna. As a two-time state track qualifier herself, Anna knows what it takes to be successful and sees those qualities in her sister.  

“She’s really good at running,” Anna said. “She might even have a better mentality than me because she pushes herself in the longer races.”  

In the spring, Loretta plans to go out for track, and Klocek is excited to see her success from cross country carry over. 

“She can run just about anything that she wants,” Klocek said. “Same with Anna. Both of them can do well at whatever we decide.”