Grota, Kurek second at Chief K Invite

Southern Door’s Ben Grota. File photo.

Eagle Boys, Clipper Girls Finish third

A runner from a Door County school in both the boys and girls cross-country race finished runner-up Thursday afternoon at the Chief Kahquados Invitational hosted by Gibraltar High School.

In the boys 5,000-meter varsity race, Southern Door junior Ben Grota was 8.67 seconds off the winning pace of Reedsville senior Hunter Taddy after finishing second in 18:06.67.

Grota’s teammate, junior Lucas Conard, finished 11th in 19:12.07 as the only other boys runner to finish in the top 20 from a county school with Southern Door, Gibraltar and Sturgeon Bay participating.

Gibraltar senior Logan Mittermann placed 24th in 20:33.56 to edge out Eagles junior Brayden Vogel finishing 25th in 20:34.19.

In the boys team standings, Mauston had the top score of 42, followed by Luxemburg-Casco (47), Southern Door (105), Reedsville (106), Oconto (149), Crivitz (161), Denmark (163) and Manitowoc Roncalli (173) as the only schools with at least five finishers.

Six Door County Girls in Top 20

In the girls race, Manitowoc Roncalli senior Libby Schmidt was more than 50 seconds ahead of the rest of the field when she won in 20:17.92.

Sturgeon Bay senior Julia Kurek finished second in 21:10.3, while Southern Door sophomore Emma Bousley placed third in 21:42.75.

Other girls runners from county schools to finish in the top 20 included Eagles freshman Elise Jackson (13th in 24:13.19), Clippers senior Jade Tomberlin (17th in 24:46.39), Clippers senior Mikayla LaLuzerne (18th in 24:46.98) and Vikings senior Helen McCormack (19th in 24:49.89).

Reedsville recorded the top girls team score of 42, followed by Luxemburg-Casco (47), Sturgeon Bay (78), Southern Door (89), Mauston (119), Denmark (148) and Oconto (167).