BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
HOWARD – For the second meet in a row, Bay Port cross country runner Ryan Thieme ran to a winning time.
The junior finished in 16:43 at the Bay Port Pirate Invitational Sept. 13 at Meadowbrook Park to win the boys’ race by 21 seconds.
De Pere’s Andrew Lopez finished third.
The Redbirds placed second as a team behind Appleton North, while the Pirates slotted in third.
On the girls’ side of things, De Pere and North tied with 56 points, but the Lightning won the tiebreaker overall based on the performance of their sixth runner.
The Redbirds got three top-10 finishes in Aisa Longnecker (5), Kylie Trousil (7) and Jordan Meulemans (8).
Rachel Hoffman was the top runner for Bay Port with a ninth-place finish.
The Pirates finished sixth as a team.
A highlight for the fans was watching the runners gallop up the sledding hill in the park affectionately known as “Big Bertha.”
The runners had to ascend Bertha twice in the 3.1-mile race.
There were 79 competitors in the boys’ varsity race and 76 in the girls.
“We have about 110 kids out for the team,” said De Pere head coach James Boyd. “Even though we have a lot of numbers, we are also pretty competitive, too.”
In addition to its second-place finish at the Pirate Invite, the De Pere girls won the Southwest and De Pere meets earlier in the season.
It’s always fun for the Bay Port runners to compete on its home course in front of hundreds of screaming fans.
“Everything is going great right now,” said Bay Port head coach Mike Jameson. “We are building our team and improving every day. It’s a long season, but the big meets are coming up. Ryan looks very good and is training hard. We have a few guys that might need a little rest.”
Bay Port Pirate Cross Country Invitational Results Sept. 13
Bay Port boys: 1, Ryan Thieme – 16:43; 10, Andrew Aderhold – 17:40; 14, Andrew Abfall – 17:54; 17, Anthony Adriansen – 18:04; 26, Caleb Rentmeester – 18:48; 29, Tyler Guetschow – 19:05; 30, Lewis Anderson – 19:09.
Bay Port girls: 9, Rachel Hoffman – 20:29; 24, Lindsay Herber – 22:06; 26, Nicole Vandervest – 22:21; 34, Natalie Shulstad – 22:39; 37, Celeste North – 22:47; 46, Tea Bruss – 23:23; 53, Shae Gustafson – 23:58.
De Pere boys: 3, Andrew Lopez – 17:04; 7, Aaron Milkie – 17:27; 8, Max Streichert – 17:29; 11, Daniel Ericksrud – 17:46; 20, Wesley Ericksen – 18:19; 25, Tyler Blum – 18:47; 27, William Soquet – 19:00.
De Pere girls: 5, Aisa Longnecker – 20:03; 7, Kylie Trousil – 20:19; 8, Jordan Meulemans – 20:22; 15, Alexis Trousil – 21:27; 21, Elena Miller – 21:59; 23, Grace Sukowaty – 22:06; 30, Ella Ericksen – 22:28.