Prep report: Solon Springs/Northwood second at WIAA cross country

Oct. 28—Solon Springs/Northwood put individuals and its team on the championship podium for the first time in school history, earning a second-place team finish in the Division 3 Wisconsin state cross country championship on Saturday, Oct. 28 at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

The Eagles finished five points behind state champion Kohler, which had 109.

Senior Charlie Vater of Iola-Scandanavia was a clear state individual champion, running the 5 kilometers in 15 minutes, 49.7 seconds.

Junior Isaac Dickenson was the eighth boy across the line, finishing in 16:25.3, while senior teammate Dylan Taggart was easily within the top 20 in 17th (16:51.4).

In the Division 2 race, Northwestern junior Morgan Martens, competing as an individual, notched a 26th-place finish. He came in at 16:49.3, just under a minute behind individual champion Noah Kuhn of Edgewood.

Northwestern earned a spot in the top half of the Division 2 girls team competition, ending up eighth in the 16-team field.

Xavier won the title with 75 points. The Tigers had 207.

Senior Jenna Hursh was the first Northwestern runner to finish, taking 21st in 19:47.7, about two minutes behind state champion Nora Gremban of Northland Pines.

Ashlyn Sutherland, a junior, got into the top 50, taking 48th in 20:17.

In Division 1, Superior junior Tayler McMeekin finished 60th in 19:54.4, with Ella Anschutz of Muskego winning the race in 18:00.3.

Carter Drill scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to help top-seeded North Branch pull away from Grand Rapids 28-0 at home in a section semifinal on Saturday.

The Vikings' eighth-straight win of the season sets up a meeting with Hermantown in the section final on Friday. North Branch topped Hermantown 28-21 on Sept. 15 in Hermantown.

Jacion Owens kept Esko moving with his arm and his legs on Saturday, Oct. 28, as Esko cruised past Pierz 56-8 at home and into a section final against Pequot Lakes on Thursday night.

Owen connected with Sam Haugen for three touchdown passes in the first half, of 39, 30 and 23 yards. Owens tacked on a 25-yard touchdown run as Esko took a 28-0 lead into halftime.

Esko opted for the ground route in the second half, with three rushing touchdowns (including Owens' second of the game), and capped it off on a Graham Hartlieb kickoff return touchdown after the Pioneers broke up the Esko shutout.

Two Harbors got even closer in its playoff rematch with Pequot Lakes, one of only two teams to get the better of the Agates in the regular season, but it wasn't close enough, as the Patriots came away 21-15 victors in overtime.

The section final between the teams will be Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Malosky Stadium.

Moose Lake/Willow River wasn't going to allow its state football streak to end on Saturday, as the Rebels eliminated Mesabi East 28-14 in a section semifinal in Willow River.

Jaxsyn Schmidt scored three rushing touchdowns for the Rebels, who have played in every state football tournament contested since 2006.

The Giants, whose only loss this season came to the Rebels, 34-16 on Sept. 22 in Aurora, keps pace with the Rebels for a while, as they matched Schmidt rushing touchdowns of 4 and 25 yards with pass touchdowns from Landon Luke to Cooper Sickel of 5 and 20 yards in length to make it a 14-14 game in the middle of the second quarter.

Schmidt added his last TD run, from 45 yards, before the end of the half, and a 25-yard end-zone connection from Rebels quarterback Adam Neumann to Luke Dewey in the third quarter provided the necessary insurance for MLWR to earn a rematch with Barnum in the 7AA section final on Thursday night in Esko.

Schmidt finished with 141 rushing yards on 26 carries despite sitting out some of the latter portion of the game. As a team, the Rebels ran for 392.

Luke passed for 196 yards on 19-of-31 attempts for the Giants (8-2).

The Cherry Tigers set up another shot at defending state champion Mountain Iron-Buhl for the Section 7-IX Player championship after routing Littlefork-Big Falls 52-12 at home in Iron on Saturday afternoon.

Isaac Asuma caught three touchdown passes (88, 7 and 15 yards) from Noah Sundquist and returned a fumble to the house. Sundquist had five TD passes for the game.

The Tigers will meet Mountain Iron-Buhl, a 40-0 winner over Cook County in the other semifinal, in a section final on Friday night at Mesabi East High School.