On Saturday, Sept. 3, the Sequoit girls and boys cross country teams made their way to UW-Parkside to participate in their first big invitational of the season. This meet featured over 18 schools coming from both Illinois and Wisconsin.
The girls cross country team had high expectations coming into this invitational meet and they were able to meet them. Sophomore Rosie Gonzales finished in the top 20, making it the first time she has ever done so in a big invitational.
“It makes me excited to think that all my hard work paid off from the summer so far this season.” Gonzales said.
A strong showing from the rest of the girls varsity made it possible for the Sequoits to place fourth overall as a team. This was the first time that the Sequoits have placed this well at UW-Parkside and both the athletes and coaches were pleased with the performances.
The boys cross country team also had success over the weekend at UW-Parkside. There were over 90 runners participating in the boy’s varsity 5,000-meter race and the boys cross country team was able to place very well. Junior Tyler Wolfe placed 44 overall and right behind him, sophomore Brady Kobb placed 55.
Junior Carter Webb had a breakthrough performance running his way to 18th place out of the 95 talented runners. This helped the Sequoits receive ninth place out of the 14 teams that participated in this invitational. Along with Webb, sophomore Tony Sculuca was one that helped the boy team place so well. Sculuca finished third for the Antioch Sequoits and placed 54th overall. Sculuca was surprised by his impressive run and was pleased with his placement.
“I did pretty well. I got third for our team which is better than my placement in most meets,” Sculuca said.
The rest of the varsity team was not far behind Webb and Sculuca and many of these athletes saw improvement from the dual that the Sequoits participated in against the Richmond-Burton Rockets earlier this week. Although both courses the Sequoits saw this week were tough, UW-Parkside gave the Sequoits something they were not prepared for. Webb and a few other teammates suffered bee stings during their races making it very painful for them to run. However, they overcame the pain and finished strong, ensuring an excellent performance for the Sequoits.
After the great showing the Sequoits had at UW-Parkside, they hope to continue this throughout their season. The cross country team takes on one of their biggest meets this Saturday, Sept. 10, at Detweiler Park. At this meet in Peoria, IL, the cross country team will see over 100 different teams and hope to continue their streak of success.
