Green Bay Notre Dame girls, De Pere's Grady Lenn among local talent hoping for success at WIAA state cross country
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Notre Dame boys cross-country team won the WIAA Division 2 state championship last season.
It might be the girls' turn this year.
The Tritons enter the girls state meet Saturday at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids as the top-ranked D2 team in the state.
They finished runner-up last week at a strong New London sectional with a time of 19 minutes, 41.2 seconds. Appleton Xavier, the defending D2 state champion, won the event in 19.22.8.
The times were the two best in any of the eight sectionals.
Notre Dame is seeking its second state title in program history and the first since 2014.
It finished third at state last season behind Xavier and Dodgeville/Mineral Point.
“I think they are a really, really good team,” said longtime Notre Dame coach John Gard, whose squad is making its 13th appearance on the big stage. “I think there are four really good teams, maybe even more, but I think there are definitely four that all have a shot.
“You have got to be at your best on one day. I love this group. We will definitely do everything we possibly can.”
Along with Notre Dame and Xavier, Gard pointed out how dangerous Dodgeville/Mineral Point and Bloomer will be this weekend.
The four are among the top five in the state in D2 along with Freedom.
“I think it’s going to be really close,” Gard said. “But we have a standard that we shoot for the top spot every chance we get.”
The Tritons’ strength is in their depth, a list which includes seniors Zita Lulloff, Paige Beining, Ella Capomaccio and Camille Broullire; junior Lauren Carlton; sophomore Monika Stoik; and freshman Anna Miller.
It’s been the two youngest runners who have provided the biggest impact.
Miller and Stoik were first-team all-conference selections in the Fox River Classic, helping lead the Tritons to the league title during the Fox River Classic Conference Championships at Shorewood Park earlier this month.
Green Bay Preble junior Melana Webber won the event in 19:23.2 and was followed by Miller (19.28.2) and Stoik (19:42.9).
The Tritons knew what they had in Stoik, but the coaching staff isn’t surprised at how Miller has performed as a rookie. It’s exactly what they expected when she arrived at Notre Dame a couple of months ago.
“Her and Monika combined are a tremendous 1-2 punch,” Gard said. “Each of the top teams going to state have a similar setup where they have a really good 1-2 punch.
“This is what I say about the (Notre Dame) girls: I think they haven’t run their best race yet.”
Notre Dame boys return to state
The Tritons captured the program’s first boys state title last season by finishing more than 14 seconds faster than runner-up Lakeside Lutheran.
But they lost some big talent from that team to graduation, including their top two runners in Isaac Nowak and Joseph Stumpf.
Notre Dame probably isn’t in the same company this season as Lakeside Lutheran, West Salem, Shorewood and some of the other top D2 teams, but simply reaching this point after the notable departures is an accomplishment.
“We are very young, but I think the growth these boys have demonstrated over 10 weeks has been tremendous,” Gard said. “Many people did not think this team would make it to state, and I think these boys have grown together. We have a junior, sophomore and two freshmen on this top group. The lessons and tradition, the brotherhood and then the effort has been across the group.
“I think their growth will lead them to a tremendous run on Saturday.”
Notre Dame junior Joseph Hunt should be in the mix for an individual championship.
He finished second to Amherst senior Max Voss at sectionals, but his time of 16:04 was better than any of the top runs at the other seven sectionals.
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Redbirds sophomore Grady Lenn has had quite the encore after a big freshman campaign in which he finished seventh at state in 15:47.8.
It was the best performance in decades by any D1 local runner in their freshman year and was the second-best by any freshman runner in the state this century after Watertown’s Andrew Perkins finished sixth in 2004.
Lenn dominated the D1 sectional meet at Manitowoc this month with a run of 15:22.6 and a pace of 4:57, finishing more than 30 seconds faster than every other runner.
Only Stevens Point senior Aloysius Franzen (14.53) and Onalaska junior and defending champion Manny Putz (15:10.85) had better sectional performances.
Franzen finished third at state last season and helped lead his team to the state title.
Preble sophomore Jacob Nuthals also is among the top D1 runners in the state and helped lead the Hornets to the FRCC championship.
He was runner-up at the Manitowoc sectional with a 15:55, which was only topped in the state by Franzen, Putz, Lenn, Hudson senior Brock Bjerke (15:52.2) and Stevens Point sophomore Cooper Erickson (15:51).
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Notre Dame girls ready to run for WIAA cross country title
