THE MEET:  The 101st running of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Cross Country Championships and the 41st Annual Girls Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Nov. 2, at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Ticket price for the meet is $6. 
  
RACE INFORMATION:  The girls will run a 4,000-meter course, and the boys will run a 5,000-meter course. The following is a listing of the times for each race: 

Girls
11:30 a.m  Division 3
12:05 p.m. Division 2
12:40 p.m. Division 1

Boys
1:15 p.m. Division 3
1:50 p.m. Division 2
2:25 p.m. Division 1

HOW THEY GOT HERE:  There are 20 teams contending for the State championship in Division 1 for boys and girls, and 16 teams competing for the boys and girls Divisions 2 and 3 team titles. Teams competing for the titles qualified last weekend at their respective sectional meets. The top two teams in each of the 10 Division 1 sectionals and the top two teams from each of the eight Divisions 2 and 3 sectionals advanced. In addition to the qualifying teams, the first five individual finishers at their respective sectionals, who are not a member of a qualifying team, also qualified for the State meet. 

LAST YEAR-GIRLS:  Defending champion Arrowhead won its second straight Division 1 team title by scoring 41 points, 29 ahead of runner-up Neenah, which finished second for the third straight season, with 70 points. Dodgeville/Mineral Point won its third consecutive Division 2 championship with 84 points. Notre Dame placed second with 98 points. Spring Valley claimed the Division 3 team championship by compiling 108 points. Runner-up Darlington finished two points behind with 110. McKaela Christenson of Baraboo won the Division 1 individual championship, completing the 4,000-meter course with a time of 14:12.65. In Division 2, Jamie Shannon of McFarland ran to the individual title with a time of 14:38.94, and Andrea Ostenso of Ladysmith posted the best time in Division 3 to capture the individual crown with a winning time of 14:34.59. 

LAST YEAR-BOYS:  Madison West won the Division 1 team championship with 80 points, 28 places ahead of runner-up Madison La Follette with 108 points. Shorewood captured the Division 2 crown with 80 points, 11 points fewer than runner-up Freedom with 91 points. Defending champion Darlington won the Division 3 team championship for the second straight season by scoring 50 points. Boscobel finished second with 99 points. Ryan Kromer of Hudson won the individual title in Division 1 with a time of 15:27.17. Ryan McCoy of New Glarus/Monticello captured his second consecutive  Division 2 individual crown with a time of 15:28.30, and Tyson Miehe of Darlington also claimed back-to-back titles by winning the Division 3 individual championship with a time of 15:51.94.

BOYS TEAM NOTES:   This year’s Division 1 field contains teams that comprised seven of last year’s top 10 finishers, including defending champion Madison West, which attempts to defend its title with three returning runners. Stevens Point, which placed third last year, and La Crosse Logan, which placed sixth, also has three returning runners to challenge for the team title. Madison La Follette has two returning runners and Arrowhead has one after placing second and fourth, respectively, last year. Seven of the teams finishing in the top 10 in Division 2 last year return to challenge for the team title, including defending champion Shorewood, which returns three runners back from last year’s State meet. Among the leading challengers for the team title is Little Chute, which has six runners returning after last season’s sixth-place finish. Freedom and Wisconsin Lutheran each return five runners from teams that finished second and third, respectively, last year. Monroe finished fourth a season ago, and has three returning racers. Eight of the top 10 teams in Division 3 last year return for another shot at a team title, including two-time defending champion Darlington and the remainder of the teams finishing in the top five. The Redbirds are attempting to defend their crown with only two of the seven competitors returning that ran in the State Meet last year. Among the other teams that finished in the top five a year ago, Chequamegon and Marathon have the most runners returning to the meet with six after placing third and fifth, respectively, last year. McDonell Central will have five returning competitors back following last year’s fourth-place finish, and Boscobel has four runners back from last season’s squad that finished runner-up.

BOYS INDIVIDUAL NOTES:  Junior Ryan Nameth of Verona is the top returning finisher from last year’s Division 1 meet having placed third. The only other competitor from last season’s top 10 returning is senior Alec Miller of West Bend West, who placed eighth. Other possible contenders based on their sectional finishes are seniors Stephen Browne of Brookfield East, Tanner Daines of Appleton North, Taylor Floydmews of Wauwatosa West and Mitch Kwapick of Muskego and Trent Powell of River Falls; juniors Olin Hacker of Madison West, Evan Hatton of Stevens Point and Daniel LaLuzerne of Green Bay Preble; and sophomore Jacob Hebior of Westosha Central. In Division 2, senior Charlie Stahl of Shorewood is the top returning individual after racing to fourth place last season. He’ll compete with a number of experienced runners for the individual championship this year. Among them is senior Brett Harms of Whitewater, who placed fifth in 2012 and 11th in 2011.  Juniors Kyler Lueck and Eric Brown II of Wisconsin Lutheran should also be among the leaders after finishing eighth and 15th, respectively, last season. Senior Bryan Tomek of Tomahawk is also back after placing ninth a year ago. Other potential contenders based on past State experience and sectional performances are seniors Jake Hirsbrunner and Ethan Moehn of Monroe, and Joe Van Grinsven of Little Chute; juniors Ben Eidenschink of Nekoosa/Port Edwards, Sam Engel of Winneconne and Sam Hinz of Freedom; and sophomore Daniel Pederson of Spooner. Senior Tyson Miehe of Darlington is the two-time defending champion returning in Division 3. He should again be considered the favorite to repeat. Among the runners with quality State Meet performances attempting to dethrone Miehe are seven others that placed in the top 10 in 2012. They include senior Kevin Ryan of Kenosha St. Joseph, who was runner-up last year; senior Darin Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (3rd); junior Luke Versweyveld of Kenosha Christian Life/Faith Christian (4th); sophomore Dakota Kauffman of Boscobel (5th); senior Nick Zander of McDonell Central (8th); senior Andrew Studinski of Marathon (9th); and senior Sasha Maro of Mondovi (10th). Other possible challengers for the individual crown after racing to sectional titles are seniors Mitchell Bilitz of Winnebago Lutheran, Greg Greif of St. Mary Central, Jacob Ohnstad of Grantsburg and Austin Pasch of Westby.

GIRLS TEAM NOTES:  Seven of last year’s top nine teams return to the Division 1 field this year. Two time defending champion Arrowhead is back with three of its runners returning from the 2012 title team. Perhaps the leading challengers to contend for the team title are Middleton and Brookfield Central, both return six runners from last season’s fourth-place and eight-place squads, respectively. Whitefish Bay returns five runners after finishing sixth last year. Neenah and Eau Claire Memorial return three runners from the teams that finished runner-up and fifth last season, respectively. The Division 2 field features 13 of the 16 teams that qualified last year, including the top eight in the team standings. In that group is three-time defending champion Dodgeville/Mineral Point, which returns five runners from last year’s championship season. Notre Dame, Shorewood and Freedom each return three individuals from last year’s teams that finished second, third and fourth, respectively. In Division 3, Darlington is the top returning team having placed runner-up last season. It will need to ride the experience of just two runners that ran at State last year returning to compete for the title. Cedar Grove-Belgium has three runners returning from its third-place team a year ago. Westby and Lourdes Academy have four returning participants from last year’s teams that placed sixth and eighth, respectively. Colfax returns the most runners from teams that placed in the top eight last season with five after finishing seventh in 2012. 

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL NOTES:  Sophomore Aubrey Roberts of Eau Claire Memorial is the top returning individual from last year’s Division 1 meet, placing runner-up as a freshman. Senior Jackie Dubnicka of Arrowhead entered last year’s meet as the top returner after placing second in 2011. She placed third last year and is back to contend for the title. Other returning runners among the leaders last year include seniors Jessica and Jennifer Parker of Neenah, who finished fourth and 10th, respectively, last season and Elizabeth Flatley of Brookfield Central, who placed seventh the past three years; junior Annie Frisbie of River Falls, who placed ninth; sophomores Rachel Werking of Brookfield East, Katie Hietpas of Sun Prairie and Marlie Houston of Oconomowoc, who placed fifth, sixth and 11th, respectively, in 2012. Other potential challengers include seniors Natalie Schudrowitz of Wauwatosa East and Rebecca Voss of Marshfield; juniors Melissa Capra of Westosha Central and Nikki Staffen of Stoughton; and freshmen Aubrey Olivia De Cleene of De Pere. In Division 2, junior Amy Davis of Edgewood has the distinction of being the top returning placer from last year’s meet, finishing second. She is expected to be a strong contender for the individual title again this season. A number of other  top-10 finishers last year are also back to challenge for the title, including senior Anna Eisenzimmer and junior Hannah Owens of Dodgeville/Mineral Point,  who placed fourth and eight, respectively, last year. Owens also placed seventh in 2011. Sophomore Morgan Florsheim of Shorewood and senior Taylor Miller of Mauston could also contend after placing fifth and ninth, respectively, last season. Other contenders that may possibly vie for the individual championship based on sectional results are seniors Kinsey Harmon of Berlin and Lian Arzbecker of Pewaukee;  juniors Lauren Peters of Freedom, Kristy Terp of Two Rivers and Cora Bruxvoort of Bloomer; and sophomore  Ashton Keene of Pewaukee. Senior Delaney Sinnen of Random Lake is the top returning individual in Division 3 after finishing third last year and fourth in 2011. Isabel Seidel of University Lake/Trinity was on Sinnen’s heels in fourth place last season after finishing fifth in 2011. Both are considered favorites to challenge the title again this year. Other runners with experience expecting to be among the leaders are senior Natalie Miller of Three Lakes and senior Leah Johnson of Pardeeville. They finished sixth and seventh, respectively, last year. Others who could be in contention for the titles based on their State experience or their sectional performances are juniors Nora Keller of Lourdes Academy and Becca Maxwell of Westby, and freshmen Dempsey Fogarty of Colfax and Hailey BeBeau of Chequamegon.
 
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All rosters and qualifiers are available on the boys and girls cross country Tournament Information pages on the the WIAA website.

NEED RESULTS?: The most efficient way to get results will be to access the WIAA website at: www.wiaawi.org and choose the cross country home page.

FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Cross Country Meet on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaaxc. Also follow daily recaps on Facebook.