WISCONSIN RAPIDS — The Darlington Redbirds are cross country state champions once again.
Running the course at the end of the season for the 19th time in program history, this year’s Redbird squad captured just the second girls cross country trophy, the other coming in 2016.
Darlington was led by junior Brianna Vazquez, who finished 18th overall at 19:56.7. Of the teams competing, she captured nine points.
Moments later, at 20:03.1, senior Adalee Berget crossed the finish line, scoring 10 points. In cross country, the fewer the points — based off of position finished in the race — the better the score.
Freshman Alaina McGowan (20:04.7)was next, less than two seconds behind Berget, taking 24th overall and scoring 13 points.
Impressive as the final score is, McGowan and Berget turned on their turbo-boosters at the end to make it happen. Both runners sprinted down the final 800 feet, passing more than 20 runners each.
Adding in the scores of junior Madison Welacha (26, 21:00.2) and senior Clara Solverson (34, 21:19.5), and Darlington’s 92 team points was just barely better than second place Kohler (96).
Kohler junior Maggie Behler was also the race’s champion, finishing the 5K run in just 18:22.5 on a brisk day.
Also running for Darlington was junior Austia Stauffacher (60, 22:17.4) and freshman Brenna Edgerton (67, 22:28.7).
WIAA State Division 3 Girls Team Results
Place Pts Team Splits
1. 92 Darlington (20:28.9, 102:24.2, 1:22.8)
2. 96 Kohler (20:11.2, 100:55.8, 3:11.2)
3. 122 Aquinas (20:48.3, 104:01.1, 1:43.1)
4. 133 Cochrane-Ftn City (20:34.2, 102:50.8, 3:19.4)
5. 147 Fennimore (21:01.1, 105:05.2, 1:37.4)
6. 180 Lomira (21:20.0, 106:39.6, 1:30.3)
7. 190 Boyceville (21:18.0, 106:29.8, 2:41.0)
8. 192 Cameron (21:14.8, 106:13.8, 2:37.0)
9. 193 Phillips (21:21.5, 106:47.2, 2:42.1)
10. 211 Kewaunee (21:21.0, 106:44.6, 3:43.3)
11. 244 Valders (21:45.6, 108:47.8, 2:25.4)
12. 298 St Ambrose Aca. (22:08.4, 110:41.6, 1:57.8)
13. 318 The Prairie School (22:24.4, 112:01.8, 2:44.2)
14. 332 Washburn (22:30.9, 112:34.2, 3:39.7)
15. 345 Three Lakes-Phelps (22:31.3, 112:36.3, 2:24.1)
16. 353 Stratford (22:47.9, 113:59.1, 2:29.2)
Darlington results
Pts Name Grade Time
9 Brianna Vazquez 11 19:56.7
10 Adalee Berget 12 20:03.1
13 Alaina McGowan 9 20:04.7
26 Madison Welacha 11 21:00.2
34 Clara Solverson 12 21:19.5
(60) Austia Stauffacher 11 22:17.4
(67) Brenna Edgerton 9 22:28.7
