Collection: Badger boys cross-country's banner year

To say that hopes are high for the Badger boys cross-country team is almost an understatement.

Last year, the team won the Southern Lakes Conference title and barely missed qualifying for state as a team, though Logan Wade made a trip up to Wisconsin Rapids as an individual competitor.

The Badger and Big Foot/Williams Bay cross-country teams got their seasons underway last week, and the Badger squads were able to claim victory to start the year strong.

Big Foot/Williams Bay

The Badger boys and girls cross-country teams both traveled to Waterford on Sept. 3, though the boys had a better road trip than the girls.

Boys

The Badger cross-country teams took on all six of their Southern Lakes Conference foes at once Sept. 10 in Burlington during the SLC Relays, and both the boys and girls squads from Lake Geneva ran well.

Boys

Big Foot/Williams Bay’s cross-country co-op hosted a five-team invitational Sept. 17 at Duck Pond Recreation Area. The hometown ChiefDogs did not fare well, finishing in fifth place out of five teams in the boys race, and not fielding a complete team in the girls race.

As has been the case throughout the year so far, Sydney Lueck was the only girls competitor for BFWB, and she finished in 22nd place out of 35 total runners with a time of 27:01.

Coming into this season, both the Badger boys and girls cross-country teams had high expectations. The Oct. 3 Southern Lakes Conference quadrangular in Burlington showed why those squads had their sights set so high, as both Badger squads took first place, and one Badger boy set a new school record.

Sophomore Jackson Albanese ran a time of 15:59 during the meet, which earned him first place out of the 55 runners in the competition, but also put his name at the top of the school’s record books, topping Alex Martinez’s previous record of 16:07 from 2014.

The Badger boys and girls cross-country teams both won their lone meet of the week, and a Big Foot/Williams Bay runner finished on the podium in the ChiefDogs’ race.

Badger

For the second season in a row, the Badger boys cross-country team is the cream of the crop.

The squad won its second straight Southern Lakes Conference championship meet Oct. 15 in Elkhorn, with a team score of 32 that significantly surpassed second-place Westosha Central’s 70.

For only the second time in school history — and the first time since 2013 — the Badger boys cross-country team is headed to the state meet, after a dominant performance Oct. 24 at the sectional meet at Grant Park in South Milwaukee.

The Badger team finished with a score of 23, soundly defeating second-place Kenosha Indian Trail’s score of 51. Franklin placed third at 70, missing state meet qualification, and Oak Creek was fourth with a score of 92.

Ever since the end of last season, the Badger boys cross-country team had its sights set on making it to the 2020 state championship meet. Once the team members got their wish this fall, they made the most of their opportunity, finishing with the best team finish and the best individual finish in school history during the Oct. 31 meet at Arrowhead High School in Hartland.

As a team, the Badgers placed sixth overall out of 12 teams at the meet, a significant improvement over their previous best of 14th place out of 20 teams in their only other state meet appearance in 2013.