Ellsworth boys finish third at Black River Falls meet

The Ellsworth boys cross-country team made some strides Tuesday at the Black River Falls Invitational.

The Panthers finished third in the 19-team field that featured all of their sectional opponents. Ellsworth finished behind third-ranked Nekoosa/Port Edwards and fifth-ranked Aquinas, but beat 14th-ranked Viroqua. The Panthers will meet all three teams in its sectional meet.

“Those are the teams we need to compete against,” Ellsworth head coach Jon Dodge said.

Ellsworth senior Matt Priest finished fourth overall in 17:13.12. Senior Ike Taplin finished 21st in 18:19.9, senior Jaylen Pavloski took 25th in 18:27.8, Sam Mahaffey finished 27th in 18:29.09 and Tyler Marson finished 41st in 19:08.14.

Priest beat Prescott’s Cole Hauenstein for the first time this season. Both runners figure to challenge for the conference title.

Girls finish eighth

The Ellsworth girls team placed eighth out of 19 teams on the 4-kilometer course.

Kennedy Kowalchyk led the Panthers with a 25th-place finish in 18:18.71. Cassie Lofgren placed 27th in 18:25.63 and Becca Matzek finished 36th in 18:48.24. Kelsey Betthauser finished 63rd in 19:47.15 and Payton Bjorkman took 70th in 20:01.98

Ellsworth heads to the Arcadia Invitational Saturday before its conference meet next Thursday in Amery.

Tags: sports, prep, cross-country, ellsworth