On Saturday, October 29th, 2016 the WIAA Wisconsin State cross country meet was held in Wisconsin Rapids where both Arrowhead’s boys’ and girls’ teams came in second on the podium.

The boys’ team took second place by seven  points behind the Madison West champions and the girls’ also took second, beating out fellow Classic 8 Conference competitor Kettle Moraine by 13 points for the Runner-Up title.

“The weather and conditions were pretty nice, it was a little bit cool, no rain, and it was partly cloudy so the sun wasn’t blaring in our faces. It was probably about sixty degrees outside,” senior Sam Evert said.

Evert placed 100th at State on Saturday in his first cross country state appearance.

Evert said, “Our top three guys performed about what we expected. Two of our guys had been fresh off of injuries and came back in that day. One of them was dealing with [an] iron deficiency, so he didn’t do so well. If those injuries were out of the picture and they were at full strength coming into the race, we would have for sure been the State champions.”

“I got into this state of mind where I was so zoned in and so focused that I was almost emotionless up to the start, which I think effected my race in a bad way because I never had that moment where I felt excitement; it was just the constant feeling of being uptight. I was intent on us winning that I felt hyperfocused with every second of the race.”

In regards to the experience off of Wisconsin Rapids’ course, Evert said, “It was a lot of fun. It was just kind of cool to be out there and being close with the team and since we had eleven of us out there, seven running and four alternates, that was really cool to have a bigger team make the journey than in years past where we’ve only taken nine guys.”

Flashback to this past summer: the Arrowhead Boys’ Cross Country Team’s top 13 runners returned and headed to Camp Lakota in Wautoma, WI for a four day training camp. There, the athletes ran 35 minutes in the mornings and did a workout in the evenings. Not only was there physical benefits from the camp, but also emotional boosts.
“The top two teams in the state last year are losing either three or four of their top seven lineups. With those factors in mind, that places us in a better spot. Top five in the state for sure, but I know we can do better than that. The people in this room make up some of the greatest talent we’ve had,” head Coach Mulrooney said in a team meeting at the camp in late July.
“Two years ago, we placed third at the state meet. And on the way home, we felt more disappointed than excited. To not walk away with at least the runner up trophy was not a good feeling. Since I’m now a senior, this is my last chance be on a trophy winning team and I think, looking around this room, this is the best chance for us,” team co-captain and Arrowhead’s top runner Cole Sandvold said.
Luckily for Sandvold, he walked away his last year with a trophy for Arrowhead. Following up the second place victory last Saturday, Sandvold said, “I was satisfied with the results, I was pleased to make the podium. Going into the race, I was not very nervous. Even though this was the most important race of my life, I had run at state three times before and knew what to expect.”
Reflecting on his career as a runner for Arrowhead, he said, “My best career moment was standing on the podium receiving my medal.”

Sandvold placed 10th overall and first for Arrowhead with a 5K time of 16:05.35.
As for the girls’ team, who were also state runner-ups, were lead by senior Megan Olshanski. Regarding the results of the race, she said, “I was very satisfied with the results. We beat a few of the teams here who beat us most of the season so that was really cool that it turned out that way.”
Concerning this particular race, her last as an CC Warhawk, she said, “It was a great final race for me because I was dealing with iron deficiency at Conference and Sectionals, so those races weren’t very good for me, but I’m happy that I had a good performance at state and I’m looking forward to track this spring and running in college.”

Olshanski finished 22nd overall and was first for Arrowhead.