Jays shine at Smiley Invite in Wausau

The Three Lakes-Phelps cross country teams competed once again at the 69th Smiley Invitational this past weekend in Wausau, which resulted in more top finishes for junior Nolan Waltz and the varsity girls team. The Lady Jays finished in second place in Division 3 and 10th overall in D2 and D3 combined results, while Waltz finished second overall in the D2 and D3 race.
In a race where there are hundreds of entries every year, it was a great time for the Jays to perform, according to the coaching staff. This year, 170 runners were in the D2/3 race with 193 on the boys side.
“Hundreds of runners from around the state show up at the Smiley every year for the competition. It is the perfect opportunity for teams to face off against a large field of athletes and be able to toe the line with some great competition,” said Three Lakes-Phelps coach Laurie Levandoski.
The team took advantage of that opportunity with a second-place individual finish by Waltz and a second-place team finish for the girls team.
Waltz set a personal record time of 16:13, just two seconds behind D3 winner Luke Eiden of Pacelli. Those two were almost 20 seconds clear of third place in both D2 and D3 finishers.

“Today’s race was an outstanding PR for Nolan,” explained Levandoski.”It’s nice to see the top two boys in our combined race come out of D3.”
Teammate Wyatt Gebele has trimmed off time in every race this year so far, finishing the Smiley race at 27:33.
On the girls side, freshman Bekah Koch battled first-year Smiley jitters and picked off runners for an eighth-place finish in D3 and 22nd in the combined D2/3 results. She finished with a time of 21:12.7.
“Bekah had an exceptional race,” stated Levandoski. “Running in her first Smiley, Bekah handled her nerves and just kept picking off the girls in front of her.”
Sophomore Rylee Glembin finished four spots off her teammate in 12th place in D3, stopping the clock at 22:00.8.
Rounding out the top five runners were Erica Stauffer, Grace Mandli and Ayla Connor, who finished with times of 23:06, 23:53 and 24:54.
Mikayla Corbett, Maddie Hanneman and Melanie Stauffer also finished with good times of 27:49, 27:53 and 28:15.
“The girls team picked the right day to shine. This is the point in the season where things could get very exciting for our girls as we move into the second half,” stated Levandoski.
The team will stay local this week as the Bluejays host their invitational at Big Stone Golf Course this Thursday, Sept. 25, with race times starting at 4 p.m.