Kayla Wagner of B-W rounded a corner in the WIAA Division 2 cross country meet at Ridges Golf Club at Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday. Wagner finished in seventh place with a time of 15:15.8 over the difficult 4,000 meter course.B-W's premier cross country runner Kayla Wagner finished in seventh place of the 151 runners in Division 2 in the WIAA State Cross Country meet at Ridges Golf Course at Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.
Wagner was in fifth place until the very end of the 4,000 meter course when she was overtaken by two runners who she was unaware were so close to her and unable to hear the shouts of spectators because of the tremendous roar of the crowd.
Wagner finished in 15:14.8 for her seventh place finish. Both the fifth place finisher, Emily Bachhuber of Shorewood, and Kelsey Bernet of New Glarus/Monticello, had their times listed at 15:14.7.
"Kayla had a superb race," said her coach, Jennifer Cimino. "The course is really tough-probably the toughest she races on because of the hills and long stretches of sand. It's really tough to run through sand like that."
Although Kayla finished in seventh, "it was an extremely close race," said Coach Cimino. "From the human eye it was a tie and the only way to tell the difference was with the chip."
Coach Cimino said that throughout most of the race Kayla battled back and forth with her chief competitor over the regular season, Breanna Tinney of Osceola. They changed fourth and fifth places several times in the race.
Although Kayla's best time of the season was a 14:59, the course Saturday was more difficult and she beat her time in the last couple of races.
The seventh place finish is a great achievement, said Coach Cimino. "Considering the number of spectators, for a first time athlete to have that big of an event and not have your emotions overwhelmed is a big accomplishment. I'm really proud of her. I think she did awesome."
Winning the Division 2 race was Ashley Buetler of New Glarus/Monticello with a time of 14:11.3. Tinney finished in fourth with a time of 15:09.5.
