WIAA Alternate State Cross Country Tournament

press release: The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association alternate season State Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, May 8 at Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville, Wis. Admission is not restricted. Tickets are $9 and can only be purchased through schools with competitors in the meet.

RACES INFORMATION:  Following the direction of the WIAA Sports Medical Advisory Committee, revised guidelines are designed to continue mitigating the risk of exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both genders will run a 5,000-meter course. Team and individual race assignments are posted on the WIAA website. The following is a listing of the scheduled start times for each race: Girls Race - 10 a.m.; Boys Race - 11 a.m.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES:  The field has five teams returning that competed in the 2019 meet and 11 individuals returning after finishes in the top 21 of their respective divisions in 2019. Middleton finished fourth in Division 1 in 2019, and the Cardinals return to the alternate season State Meet with three runners returning from that squad. Madison West is back in the State field after placing ninth in Division 1. The Regents also return a trio of runners from that meet. Eau Claire Memorial placed 13th in Division 1, and the Old Abes qualify four runners that ran on that team at State. De Pere returns two runners and contributed to a 15th-place finish in Division 1, and Fond du Lac has two runners returning from their squad that placed 17th in Division 1. Individually, the top returning finisher in 2019 that has qualified for the alternate State Meet is junior Lauren Pansegrau of Middleton, who was runner-up in Division 1. Junior Genevieve Nashold of Madison West placed eighth in Division 1 in 2019, and junior Jillian Heth of Eau Claire Memorial was 16th. Sophomore Zaira Malloy-Salgado of Middleton and senior Madelynn McIntyre of Brodhead/Juda each finished 21st in their respective divisions, Malloy-Salgado in Division 1 and McIntyre in Division. 2.

BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES:   The field has four teams returning after finishes in the top 20 and four individuals that placed in the top 25 in their respective divisions in 2019. Middleton is essentially the returning champion after winning the Division 1 title in 2019. The Cardinals return three runners from that squad. Stevens Point finished runner-up behind Middleton. The Panthers return four runners from that squad. Green Bay Preble placed ninth in Division 1, and the Hornets return to the qualifying field with three runners back from that squad. New Glarus/Monticello placed 15th in Division 2 in 2019, and the co-op has all but one of its participants in that meet returning to compete in the alternate season State Meet. Individually, the top returning runner from the meet in 2019 is senior Jake Bourget of Stevens Point. He placed 14th in Division 1. Senior Karl Olson of Madison La Follette placed 23rd in Division 1, and senior Riley Siltman of Evansville placed fourth in Division 2. The only other qualifier for the alternate season State meet that finished in the top 25 is senior Bryan Bloomquist of Janesville Craig, who was 25th in Division 1.