Cross Country Season Recap
Photos submitted by Schumacher
Claire Schumacher
As the 2024 season comes to a close, the Hamilton High School cross country team has a great deal to be proud of. The Chargers have competed in a total of nine meets, two of them being the GMC Conference and Sectional meets. They are currently looking forward to the WIAA State Meet on November 2nd, 2024.
A typical cross country meet consists of four races: varsity boys, varsity girls, junior varsity boys, and junior varsity girls. All levels run a 5k, or 3.1 miles, on different courses, typically each week. The courses vary in difficulty with the majority consisting of a series of hills, multiple wooded areas, and the very long flat stretch, lined with flags and spectators, at the end of the race called the “chute.”
In cross country, an individual’s score is whatever place they finish compared to all the other runners, but team scores are calculated by adding the top five runners’ places together. The lower the points for a team, the better.
The team kicked off the season with the PT Timing Night Race at Arrowhead High School. This race takes place during the night, with Christmas lights lining the course, and music blasting for all of the runners and spectators to hear. There is also a costume competition, awarding the most spirited and dressed up team with pizza, making this race a Hamilton Charger favorite. The girls team had some impressive times and took ninth out of eleven teams. Additionally, they won the costume competition with their theme of “Hamilton for the Holidays” while the Hamilton boys took third overall.
The following week, the Hamilton Chargers made their way to Greenfield Park and competed in the Leighton Betz Invitational. The freshmen boys worked hard this preseason, and it paid off as they took home gold. Their varsity team took second, with an impressive second and third place finish by Gage Kuhlenbeck and Vaughn Ybarra. The girl’s varsity placed fifth overall—a great start to the season!
At the Matt Hadler meet, held at Rotary Park in Menomonee Falls, the junior varsity boys took an impressive first place out of nine teams that competed while the varsity team took second. The junior varsity and varsity girls had their dedication rewarded as they both took second, with Manita Mahapatra finishing fifth and Lauren DeGroot taking eighth out of 64 total runners.
On September 21st, the Chargers headed to Muskego High School to compete in the Muskego Invitational for the first time. There were a total of 21 teams competing in both boy races and 14 teams on the girl’s side. The boys varsity placed first with runners Gage Kuhlenbeck, Noah Bilstad, and Vaughn Ybarra placing first, fourth, and tenth respectively. The junior varsity girls took first, and the varsity girls team placed second. Top runners for the girls include Manita Mahapatra, Leah Gonwa, and Lauren DeGroot, who finished one after the other, taking thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth overall.
The Midwest Invitational in Janesville was a huge success for the Chargers. This meet was also a first for the Hamilton Chargers. Out of 52 teams, the Hamilton boys varsity placed third. The girls varsity team also held their own—placing sixth out of 46 of the top teams in Wisconsin. In addition to the success of the teams, many PRs, or personal records, were set on the course. Just a couple include Gage Kuhlenbeck’s 15:52.20 and Manita Mahapatra’s 19:12.40.
On the Saturday of Homecoming, the Chargers boys and girls ran in the Arrowhead Invitational at Arrowhead High School. The junior varsity girls placed fifth out of the 12 teams in attendance, and the varsity team took fourth out of nineteen teams. The junior varsity boys placed tenth out of the 20 teams that ran while varsity took fourth overall. Both boys and girls put up impressive times and used this momentum to carry them through Conference and Sectionals.
The GMC Championship meet was held at Greenfield Park on October 18th. Both junior varsity and varsity ran in this meet. The GMC conference consists of nine teams, and out of those nine teams, junior varsity boys placed third, and junior varsity girls placed fourth. On the varsity side, the boys took second in the conference, and the girls took third. For individuals, the top 24 girls and boys of both varsity races qualified for the All Conference team. For the girls, Manita Mahapatra (ninth), Lauren DeGroot (twelfth), Beckett Lauer (thirteenth), and Leah Gonwa (fifteenth) all made this team. Additionally, four boys made the All Conference team: Vaughn Ybarra (third), Gage Kuhlenbeck (fifth), Noah Bilstad (eighth), and Mason Loferski (twenty-first).
The last meet for the junior varsity team was held on October 24th at Rotary Park. This “JV State” hosts teams from around southern Wisconsin, where all junior varsity runners compete against each other one last time for the season. Many of the Chargers had personal records set at this course, just some of which include Angelika Bourke, who ran a time of 20:48.30 and led the Charger girls, Maya Ball, who set a personal best at a time of 21:30.40, and Lucia Daniel, who ran her best time of 21:35.90. The girls team took second place overall and the boys placed third.
A week after the GMC Championship, the Charger cross country team revisited Greenfield Park to compete in the WIAA D1 Sectional - Wauwatosa East. To make the WIAA State Meet, individuals had to place in the top five or to qualify as a team, place in the top two. The Chargers fought hard, and both teams placed third at sectionals. Even though they didn’t make it as a team, Manita Mahapatra, Gage Kuhlenbeck, and Noah Bilstad all qualified for state with their individual times.
The WIAA State Meet takes place this year on November 2nd at the Ridges Golf Course in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Manita Mahapatra, Gage Kuhlenbeck, and Noah Bilstad will head there this weekend to represent the Hamilton Chargers and would love your support.
The Hamilton Charger cross country team accomplished great things this year and are excited to work hard in the off-season and come back next year even stronger!
