By: Kent Miehe
A mild fall evening turned into a hot night of exciting races at the Fennimore Golden Eagle Relays in Fennimore, WI. Hickory Grove Golf Course played host for another classic matchup of the top cross country competition in the southwest corner of the state. The Southwest Wisconsin Activities League (SWAL) and the Southwest Conference (SWC) were well represented on a night where races were split into waves to accommodate safety protocols due to COVID-19, a trend that has been normalized during this 2020 season. In a familiar wave format, the seventh and sixth runners from each team were grouped together in their own respective races, followed by the fourth and fifth runners, the second and third racers, and lastly with the premier race of the night with every team's number one runners going head-to-head.
Girls
On the girls' side, Kayci Martensen, a junior from Southwestern/Benton/Cuba City, led wire-to-wire, quickly separating well before the mile and never looking back. The defending Division 2 state champion cruised to take the win in a season-best time of 18:42. The race for second in this race included many interesting changes throughout, all by freshmen racers. In the end, Lancaster freshman Mallory Olmstead outkicked Darlington freshman Raquel Reuter for the second spot in the race. Hanna Martensen, another freshman from Southwestern/Benton/Cuba City, took control in the 2nd and 3rd runner's race from the gun and ran an impressive 20:03 to finish second overall in the individual standings. Lancaster, the defending SWC champions, ran away with the team title, outdistancing Lake Mills in total time by almost 3 minutes. They were led by Olmstead (3rd overall) with a time of 20:25 and junior Bridee Burks (8th overall) in 20:51.
Boys
For the boys, the last race of the day wrapped up the relays with another exciting finish. Iowa-Grant senior Nick Connolly, the defending SWAL champion, held a slight lead over Darlington sophomore George West and Dodgeville/Mineral Point senior Will Aurit during the first stages of the race. Connolly's strength and experience eventually took over, breaking the race open after two miles and taking the individual crown in 16:56. George West was able to hold off Will Aurit down the stretch, finishing second in 17:24 to Aurit's 17:30. The team battle was even closer, with Darlington edging out the defending SWAL champion Boscobel by a mere two seconds in team time to take the team championship. Along with West, Darlington junior Rhett Reuter assisted in the team title, finishing fourth overall in 17:37.