Waltz ends career as state champion;

Three Lakes senior Nolan Waltz has worked for a state cross country title for his whole career, and he finally got it in his fourth trip to the state championships at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids last Saturday. He has a championship time of 15:58, which was the only sub-16-minute time in the D3 field. Three Lakes sophomore Bekah Koch and Northland Pines freshman Ryleigh Thompson rounded out the area athletes who competed at the meet.

Waltz advanced to Wisconsin Rapids for a fourth-straight season and made the most of it after finishing runner-up in 2025. Once the gun went off for the D3 race, Waltz stayed near the front of the pack.

By the end of mile one, the Three Lakes senior sat in second behind Assumption’s Michael Dolan by two-tenths or a second. At this point, the top 10-to-12 runners were all bunched up. Waltz kept his own pace and dropped to fourth place by the conclusion of mile two, but that’s where he made his final push over the last mile or so. He ended up gaining three spots and winning the race by just over four seconds.

Three Lakes-Phelps Head Coach Laurie Levandoski had high praise for her senior runner and was excited he was able to cap off his high school cross country career with a state title.

“Nolan hasn’t been training for this race for months; he’s been training for this race for years,” she said. “By the time he was 200 meters from the finish, the race belonged to Nolan. He finished his senior year as a state champion. It has been an absolute honor to have spent this time with Nolan, and we’re excited to see where his running future goes.”

In the girls’ races, Pines’ Thompson competed against 148 of the best D2 runners after having a nice regular season and sectional race in her first varsity season. Thompson finished by gaining six spots within the final mile to claim a top-20 finishing position in 20th at 19:31. The freshman wrapped up her first mile in 27th place with a time of 5:58 and gained one spot after the second mile. She made one final push like Waltz did and passed six runners to wrap her first state experience with a stellar performance.

Ryleigh started the race strong and kept up with the lead pack. She finished passing several runners in the last half mile to finish in 20th place,” Northland Pines Head Coach Patrick Gauthier said after the event. “Ryleigh has worked hard all season to earn the right to run in state. Her effort and attitude pushed her through to the end.”

Thompson was two seconds off her personal record time.

Koch ran this course last year with her Three Lakes-Phelps teammates after advancing as a team in 2025. She ran as an individual this season and finished 88th in D3 action at 21:57.5.

She completed her first mile in a time of 6:42 and gained seven total spots throughout the duration of the race. Koch was about a half a second out of 87th and about a full second out of 86th.

“Going to the start line without your team can be an intimidating process, but Bekah has a lot of racing maturity,” Levandoski mentioned. She kept her focus and made us proud as she crossed the finish line. We were very pleased with her race.”

As a seasoned runner competing in Nordic skiing, track and dry-land mushing, which involves harnessing herself to a dog for cross-country racing, Koch has gained valuable experience over the last two seasons at the state meet as she looks ahead to her junior cross-country season next fall.