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MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK (WIAA Cross Country): Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional
Iowa–Grant boys win D3 sectional title
Iowa–Grant boys XC team
Members of the WIAA Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional champion Iowa–Grant boys cross country team are (from left) Jason Bartolo-Garcia, Angel Vazquez-Bartolo, Ubaldo Bartolo-Marin, Noah Lange, Bret Connolly, C.J. Straka and Will Fulton.

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 22–29)
WIAA CROSS COUNTRY: Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional

By Jason Nihles, Boscobel Dial / The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times

Iowa–Grant boys wins Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional title
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — The Iowa–Grant boys team ran its best most complete race of the season Saturday to win the WIAA Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional and qualify for this week’s State Championships.

Senior Bret Connolly won the boys’ individual sectional championship with a winning time of 16:53.6 to top the field of 134 runners and help his Panthers (88) chase down SWAL champion Boscobel (109) by 21 team points for the sectional crown.

Fennimore finished a distant third at 162 and missed out on one of the two team berths to the state meet, which will be held Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. 

“It was an incredible team effort to overtake Boscobel, who has such a strong pack of young runners,” said IG head coach Jake Winkler. “Bret had a historic race, finishing first overall, and Noah (Lange) continued his remarkably consistent season placing 12th. 

“Jason Bartolo-Garcia ran a personal best of 18:12 to come in as our third runner, and with one of the biggest races I have had the honor to coach, Angel Vazquez-Bartolo ran 18:19, dropping 34 seconds off his previous best time, and about four minutes off his first race of the year. 

“Will Fulton came up huge for us, as well running a season-best of 18:20 to round out our top five. Ubaldo Bartolo-Marin was our sixth Saturday, and he has been fantastic all year for us. He’s a key part of this returning group for next year. C.J. Straka has been battling a lower leg injury for most of the season, and has continued running gutsy races and being an incredible senior leader for the underclassmen.”

Lange (12th, 17:49.9), Bartolo-Garcia (23rd, 18:12.8), Vazquez-Bartolo (26th, 18:19.6), Fulton (29th, 18:20.5), Bartolo-Marin (46th, 18:49.4) and Straka (83rd, 20:23.7) rounded out the IG boys’ lineup Saturday.

“This course was on a golf course, and it ran mostly down and back on the fairways, so it was really fun to spectate because you could just work your way across the course, and every time I saw the boys they were looking better and better,” said Winkler. “Winning sectionals was one of our season goals this year, and it is a testament to these boys work ethic and perseverance that we were able to do that. “

This will be the second trip to state as a team for Connolly, Lange, Fulton and Straka, who were part of the 2022 team that finished third at the state meet.  

“Bret showed incredible poise to fight off multiple challenges from the field to finish as sectional champion,” said Winkler. “We knew coming off the conference meet  that he had a chance to win this race, but he had a tough pack with him pushing him.  He’s one of the most determined runners I’ve gotten to coach. He has put in the work to establish himself as one of the best to ever do it at Iowa–Grant.

“I’m so proud of the great runners we have at Iowa–Grant that are committed to continuing to building our program. I’m excited to see what these guys can do at the state meet. We’ve got runners with state meet experience along with some scrappy young guys that I know have even more to give. I can’t wait for Saturday!”

The Division 3 boys state championship race is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

The season ended Saturday for the Iowa–Grant girls team, which finished 12th out of 13 complete teams with 305 points.

Sophomore Abby Droessler (22:49.6) led the IG girls with a 37th place finish out of 106 runners.

“Abby has a great attitude, and really took on a leadership role for the girls team, despite it being her first year,” said Winkler.

Freshman Brelyn Rothamer (58th, 24:40.0) and seniors Faith Kite (88th, 27:13.8), Sadie Hoge (91st, 27:46.1) and Arleth Gaytan (96th, 28:00.1) rounded out the Panthers’ lineup.

“Braelyn raced tough. It’s going to be awesome seeing how she progresses over the next three years. Our goal in the off season is to get some more girls out to help fill out the roster. I know that we’ve got talented runners and athletes at IG that help turn our girls program into a contender,” added Winkler. “This was the last meet for our senior girls Faith, Sadie and Arleth. They improved so much over the season. It was awesome to see them embrace the sport.”

WIAA Division 3 Prairie du Chien Sectional
(from Saturday, Oct. 27 @ Prairie du Chien)
(Girls, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Westby 42, 2.Darlington 75, 3.Fennimore 109, 4.Kickapoo/La Farge 124, 5.Brookwood 141, 6.Southwestern/Benton 160, 7.Wauzeka/Steuben  205, 8.North Crawford 208, 9.Prairie du Chien 215, 10.River Ridge 220, 11.Cuba City 292, 12.Iowa–Grant 305, 13.Argyle/Pecatonica 306, Shullsburg/Belmont inc.
Top individuals: 1.Katie Field (Royall/Wonewoc) 19:11.0, 2.Adalee Berget (Darlington) 19:14.3, 3.Elizabeth Curtis (Westby) 19:20.1, 4.Natalie Horsfall (Fennimore) 19:56.1, 5.Kylee Mumm (Fennimore) 19:56.4.
Individual state qualifiers: 1.Katie Field (Royall/Wonewoc) 19:11.0, 4.Natalie Horsfall (Fennimore) 19:56.1, 5.Kylee Mumm (Fennimore) 19:56.4, 7.Maci Reichmann (Southwestern/Benton) 20:12.5, 7.Samantha Markee (Brookwood) 20:18.9.
Iowa–Grant (305): 37.(33).Abby Droessler 22:49.6, 58.(50).Braelyn Rothamer 24:40.0, 88.(71).Faith Kite 27:13.8, 91.(73).Sadie Hoge 27:46.1, 96.(75).Arleth Gaytan 28:00.1. 
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team standings: 1.Iowa–Grant 88, 2.Boscobel 109, 3.Fennimore 162, 4.Prairie du Chien 169, 5.Riverdale 175, 6.Kickapoo/La Farge 185, 7.Westby 193, 8.Brookwood 202, 9.Cuba City 204, 10.Wauzeka–Stuben 269, 11.Argyle/Pecatonica 275, 12.Lancaster 300, 13.Darlington 313, 14.River RIdge 363, 15.Seneca 364, 16.Southwestern/Benton 398, 17.De Soto 403, 18.North Crawford 418, 19.Hillsboro 433, Shullsburg/Belmont inc.
Top individuals: 1.Bret Connolly (IG) 16:53.6, 2.Noah Wood (Cuba City) 17:02.3, 3.Brett Wagner (Wauzeka–Steuben) 17:06.2, 4.Cooper Powell (Brookwood) 17:08.3, 5.Josh Richardson (Southwestern/Benton) 17:09.2.
Individual state qualifiers: 2.Wood (Cuba City) 17:02.3, 3.Wagner (Wauzeka–Steuben) 17:06.2, 4.Powell (Brookwood) 17:08.3, 5.Richardson (Southwestern/Benton) 17:09.2, 6.Marshall Harris (Lancaster) 17:12.8.
Iowa–Grant (88): 1.Connolly 16:53.6, 12.Noah Lange 17:49.9, 23.(22).Jason Bartolo-Garcia 18:12.8, 26.(25).Angel Vazquez-Bartolo 18:19.6, 29.(28).Will Fulton 18:20.5, 46.(45).Ubaldo-Marin 18:49.4, 83.(80).C.J. Straka 20:23.7.