Pacelli High School junior Thomas Basala finished 41st at
the WIAA Division 3 State Meet at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids
Saturday, Oct. 29.

Basala qualified for state as an individual for the second
year in a row, as he finished 15th as a sophomore in 17:15.11 last year.

At state Saturday, he finished with a time of 17:41.30 to
place 41st.

“I felt pretty good the first mile, I just lost my rhythm,”
said Basala. “I didn’t feel too good, tried to rebound back, but some days it’s
there and some days it isn’t.

“(Rosholt’s) Adam (Rzentkowski) got fourth, he’s a great
runner and had a great race, and I tried going with him after the mile, but it
just wasn’t there today,” he said. “It’s a tough course, but I’ll be coming
back for track ready to go. I’ll just use it for fuel.”

“He got out good, and the pack kind of took off and he just
didn’t have it today,” said Pacelli cross country head coach Eugene
Trzebiatowski. “You have good days, and you have bad days, and it’s one to just
chalk up as a bad day and learn from it.

“Last year he came here and he had a super day, but it’s
very hard to have sensational days every day,” he said. “I’m very pleased with
him though, it’s a battle just to get here.”

The State Meet ended a season that saw Basala win the
Individual Title at the Central Wisconsin Conference Meet at Bonduel in
16:29 Oct. 13 and finish third at the Edgar Sectional in 16:50 Oct. 21 to advance to state.

“I started off a little rough, had a couple of rough patches
throughout the season with some medical stuff, but ran well at conference, then
qualified for state,” said Basala. “I’d say overall it was a pretty good
season.

“I was hoping to do a little bit better, but I know I still
have another year thankfully, so I’ll be back,” he said.

“He had some allergy problems in the middle part of the
year, but he rose to the occasion at the Conference Meet and looked really
well,” said Trzebiatowski. “Today he struggled a little bit, but he’s got to be
happy with his accomplishments for the year.

“It’s pretty special to get down here at the State Meet, and
I said it to him the other day, ‘there’s about 1,000 kids trying to get down to
state, and you’re one of the 40 individuals that was fortunate enough to make
it down here,’” he said. “You’ve got to look at the season as a whole, and I’m
very proud of him.”