Your 2024 WEM-JWP Girls’ Cross Country Conference Champions. Front row: Hailey Heinz, MaKenzie Westphal, Madalyn Miller, and Lydia Coulsey. Back row: Jaelyn Wilmes, Ellie Schlie, Abby Crosby, Emma Huelsnitz, Anne Adams, Lydia Huelsnitz, Kwynn Krause, Madeline Hoehn, and Onikia Herme.
Maple River was the only team that stood in the way of WEM-JWP claiming the conference championship last season. With them out of the conference and the Grizzlies hosting the meet at Prairie Ridge Golf Course on Tuesday, October 15, it set up the perfect opportunity for them to take the title.
And they did it.
Freshman MaKenzie Westphal reclaimed her title of Conference Player of the Year, taking first place with a time of 20:27.4. It was the second time in Westphal’s career that she took first in the conference championship, as she did so as a 7th-grader in 2022. Last season, she took third to Maple River’s Sophie Stenzel and NRHEG’s Julieann Wobbrock, who Westphal beat for the Player of the Year title this season by less than seven seconds.
Blooming Prairie, who were the runner-ups, did threaten the girls for a moment, as they had a top-five finisher and two more in the top ten. However, four more WEM-JWP runners sealed it as they tricked in within about 15 seconds of each other. Madalyn Miller and Onikia Herme finished nearly side by side, with Miller in 12th with a 24:00.6 time and Herme finishing 13th with a 21:01.4 finish.
Seconds later, Emma Huelsnitz came through, taking 14th with 24:07.8. If the team has a most improved award, she should get it, as she has come a long way in the past two seasons. Lydia Coulsey rounded up the five runners needed to score as a team with a 15th-place finish at 24:16.1. Madeline Hoehn also finished in the top 20 with a 19th-place run at 24:56.4.
Other finishers were Ellie Schlie at 25:38.7, Kwynn Krause at 25:43, Abby Crosby at 25:59.3, Jaelyn Wilmes at 26:17.4, and Lydia Huelsnitz at 34:56.5.
While Westphal earned Conference Player of the Year, Miller earned Second Team All-Conference, while Herme, E. Huelsnitz, Coulsey, and Hoehn earned Honorable Mentions.
While the boys couldn’t claim first-place finishes, it was a surprising return for sophomore Wyatt Jans, who was absent for most of the Grizzlies’ meets this season. He nearly finished in first, but took second at 18:15.7 and earned First Team All-Conference. Teagan Mulder, who took seventh with 19:07.1, earned Second Team All-Conference. Wesley Heinz’s 18th-place run at 20:39.3 earned him an Honorable Mention.
Other finishers were Alexander Kleve in 21st at 20:49, Jaxon Hilley in 29th with 22:22.8, Maddox Moreno in 35th with 23:53.1, and Parker Smith in 37th with a 24:31.8 time. Auston Holicky clocked in at 25:49.4 while Charlie Denis had a 26:00.8 time.
The boys went toe-to-toe with Blooming Prairie for second but were a few points short. The Blossoms had 60 to WEM-JWP’s 64. Randolph’s boys took the conference championship with 43 points.
The Grizzlies only had one runner in the junior high races. Hailey Heinz finished third out of five girls’ runners with 13:23.
It was a fantastic meet for both Grizzly teams. They had a week to prepare for the Section 2A championships at Baylor Park near Norwood Young America on Thursday, October 24.
