Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Following a tough finish last season, the seventh-ranked Rosholt High School girls cross country team bounced back to place fourth at the WIAA Division 3 State Meet at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids Saturday, Oct. 27.

The Hornets tied with fifth-ranked Dodgeland for third with 147 points but ended up fourth in the tiebreaker, as top-ranked Lancaster scored 74 points to win the State Title over third-ranked Auburndale (91).

“I’m proud of these girls,” said junior Jenna Trzebiatowski. “It was pretty emotional, because we got third as freshmen, and we ran so good and we were just off the podium, and today we were hoping to get Top 3.

“And we tied for third, so that’s all you can ask for,” she said.

“I consider Saturday a tie for third, we got beat on the tiebreaker, but that was an awesome run for most of those girls,” said Rosholt girls cross country head coach Mike Trzebiatowski. “The first four definitely put their heart and soul in it, they had their season best time on there, and that’s not the easiest course to do that.”

Coming off a third-place finish in 2016, Rosholt battled injuries late last season and took 14th at state, and looked to improve with six of its seven runners from last year’s meet running again Saturday.

At the one-mile mark Saturday, Rosholt was in seventh place in the team standings, and then made a move in the second mile, as the Hornets jumped up to third (141 points) behind Lancaster (80) and Auburndale (104).

At the finish line, junior Jordan Zdroik was the first one in for the Hornets, as she was 31st overall (11th in team points), followed by senior Taylor Krogwold (32nd overall, 12th in team), junior Jenna Trzebiatowski (42nd overall, 17th in team) and sophomore Logan Krogwold (69th overall, 34th in team).

“I felt a lot better than last year, and I just knew I had to finish strong for my team,” said Zdroik. “And I thought we all did really well.”

“Last year we had some kids really banged up, Jordan and Jenna, and they were able to respond,” said coach Trzebiatowski. “I know they didn’t want to end their season the same way they ended it last year, and they knew they had the ability and they stayed focused throughout.

“Jordan was able to bounce back after having a little injury problem three weeks ago, and she put on her game face, they all did, and those first four definitely were going in the right direction,” he said. “Logan was battling some health issues for a good part of the season, but she was able to hang on tight to the first three, and that was a good finish for her as well.”

Senior Kayliah Meronk finished 113th (73rd in team) to wrap up the scoring for Rosholt, while senior Amanda Wanta (130th overall, 90th in team) and senior Kenzie Stalter (139th overall, 99th in team) closed out the lineup.

In the end, Rosholt and Dodgeland were tied for third with 147 points, but Dodgeland got third place on the tiebreaker, as its sixth runner finished 84th in team points, while the Hornets finished ahead of sixth-ranked Oostburg (151), fourth-ranked Marshall (199) and second-ranked Boscobel (214).

“That’s a nice way for those senior girls to end their careers, Taylor, Amanda, Kenzie Stalter and Kayliah, getting real close to showing that you’re in the top echelon of the field,” said coach Trzebiatowski. “Those four girls have been part of a nice, strong program since they were in junior high in sixth and seventh grade.

“We built a pretty nice team throughout the year, and I’ll miss those seniors, they’ve been at state a number of times and did well,” he said. “They leave the program with a good taste in their mouth, and that’s what you want to do, feel like you contributed and made the program even stronger.”