PRESCOTT — Prescott and Ellsworth kicked off their cross country seasons at a high-difficulty race in Prescott. Prescott finished fourth of six teams in the girls’ race and fourth of seven teams in the boys’ race. Ellsworth did not have enough runners to qualify in the girls race, but landed in fifth in the boys race.

Prescott

Prescott was led by a fourth-place finish in the girls race by Kyra Dix. Dix posted a time of 22:32.40 and set the tone for the Cardinals.

“Kyra’s a sophomore newcomer to the team, but she had a really successful track season as a freshman,” Head Coach Tim Philips said. “Ran a time that was a top-20 time for Prescott girls in history.”

The next five finishers for Prescott were Katelyn Huppert in 17th, Amber Van Loon in 19th, Kyla Gotzinger in 23rd, Emma Schmitz in 25th and Nora Boles in 26th.

For the boys it was Nolan Leask leading the way in 12th with a 20:29.80 time, followed by Quinn Justen in 13th, Shia Parmeter in 17th, Aidan Anthony in 22nd and Caden Peterson in 25th.

Justen and Parmeter were the two runners in the boys that stood out to Philips for having great races for themselves to set the tone for the season.

Philips said the team still has to work on its conditioning moving forward, but it was a solid opener for the team overall.

“As a team, unfortunately, we didn’t come into the season as prepared as I would have liked,” Philips said. “When that happens then, your first few meets are gonna be tough.”

As Prescott was the host, they knew the course was going to be a difficult one for the runners, but it served as a chance to see what they are made of early in the season.

“I like to think of it as really a nice early season test,” Philips said. “As we get in better shape and as we go around and race other courses we’re better prepared.”

Philips was also happy to get the work that comes with hosting a meet done right at the start of the season.

Ellsworth

The Ellsworth girls had three runners, with Andrea Esterby finishing 50th, Morgan Halverson 54th and Mary Lundstrom 56th.

The boys team saw a strong top finish from Noah Matzek, landing in sixth with a time of 19:27.70. Ben Baker placed 10th, Jacob Michels 26th, Gavin Klos 36th and Kennan McEathron 49th to round out the top five finishers.

Head Coach Marcie Jahnke said they approached the first race with the idea of letting the runners go out there and see what they can do. Now, with the knowledge of what the first race was like, they can help each runner build strategy on how they should race moving forward.

“Managing our second mile and our third mile, talk a little bit more about getting good position and how to attack that particular course,” Jahnke said. “We are not quite in the shape that we want to be. This was just kind of a good measure to find out where we’re at.”

Jahnke liked what the boys team brought to the table and is optimistic moving forward and there is also a hope that more runners will join the girls’ team to complete the squad.

Jahnke said this is Matzek’s second year in cross country, but he has shown the passion and drive to be a key piece for the team. Jahnke said last year at the Prescott event, Matzek used too much energy early, but is getting down the energy conservation factor.

Prescott and Ellsworth head out for their next event at Saint Croix Central where they will be joined by fellow Pierce County teams Spring Valley and Elmwood/Plum City along with many others.

Jahnke said many of the runners may not be in the necessary shape to post their top performance at a course like Prescott, but it also shows which runners have the drive to fight through it.

“It is a pretty aggressive course to start with,” Jahnke said. “It really just gives us a good look of what they’re willing to fight for.”