Waunakee hosted Monona Grove and Sauk Prairie on a sunny, beautiful day at Gov. Nelson State Park on Sept. 23.
Both the Warrior boys and girls came away with a split, each defeating MG and falling to Sauk.
The Warrior boys knocked off MG 18-45, while falling to Sauk, 17-39. Sauk also beat MG 15-48.
Waunakee did pretty much what was expected, coach Tom Slater said, considering the Eagles had many runners back from the championship season in the Badger North last year.
Many runners improved on their times from the event last year, which was a good sign, the coach said.
Roland Will was the first Warrior in, finishing in fourth place in 17:55. His brother, Glenn, was next in seventh place in a time of 18:24. Seniors Eric Kulcyk (9) and Jacob Schneider (10) came in third and fourth, respectively, with times of 19:03 and 19:05. And rounding out the scoring five for Waunakee was Paul Insolera in 19:20 in 12th place.
On the girls side, Waunakee defeated MG 17-45 but fell to the Eagles, 25-31. Sauk took down MG, 16-46.
It was a little bit tighter than last year, Slater said, and if the team improves in its middle, it could challenge the Eagles down the line possibly.
Abby Lackey won the event in a time of 16:26. Sarah Heinemann was the third competitor across the line, becoming the second Warrior in as she finished in 17:17. Natalie Wilke took seventh, crossing the line in 17:51. Michelle Murray, who recently returned from injury, was the fourth Warrior to finish. She crossed in 18:45, good for 10th place. Finishing in 19:28 was Anna Hetzer, who finished up the Waunakee scoring by placing 12th.
Slater said the key to getting past Sauk for his girls is getting those third, fourth, fifth and beyond runners to run ahead of their counterparts. Despite grabbing first and third, the Eagles took second, fourth, fifth and sixth, he said.
In the thick of the season now, it's incredibly important to remain healthy as the conference meet creeps closer, Slater said.
Waunakee has a bit of a competition lull as they are not back in action until Oct. 4 when they travel to Stoughton for an invite.
The invite is scheduled to have 15 teams on the boys' side and 13 on the girls', so Slater hopes the competition will spur his teams to continue improving.
"It will be good competition, and hopefully it will bring about some good times for our kids," he said.
