Junior Gavin Pinnow of Brodhead/Juda races ahead of a group of runners during the Duck Pond Invite in Walworth on Thursday.

Senior Paige Valley of Parkview runs her first lap during the 2022 Duck Pond Invite in Walorth on Thursday. She finished 14th.

Junior Gavin Pinnow of Brodhead/Juda races ahead of a group of runners during the Duck Pond Invite in Walworth on Thursday.

Senior Paige Valley of Parkview runs her first lap during the 2022 Duck Pond Invite in Walorth on Thursday. She finished 14th.

WALWORTH, Wis.—Beloit Turner senior Lydia Seifarth admitted that she’s had a tough start to the cross country season.

A foot injury kept her out the first few weeks of the season, and the first two races she competed in this year weren’t up to par with her usual standards.

“It was really frustrating,” Seifarth said. “Especially because last year I accomplished a lot of things. I was a conference champ. My last two meets back were really difficult, and I wasn’t running the times I wanted.”

At Thursday’s 2022 Duck Pond Invite, hosted by Big Foot, Seifarth finally looked back to form. She finished in 10th place, the highest on the Trojans’ squad, with a time of 22:10.15.

“I’ve just been trying hard at practice,” Seifarth said. “I’m recovering well, and I was running in this race and I wasn’t getting as tired as I normally would. I felt very light on my feet.”

When Seifarth heard her coaches and teammates yelling that she was in 12th place, she knew she had to kick it into high gear.

“I was like ‘Let’s get a top ten medal, just get to 10th,’” she said. “And I kicked it in the chute and I got there. I’m just feeling really happy. I’m starting to feel kind of like how I was running last year, which is really exciting.”

The Trojans girls team did not have enough runners to compete as a team, but the boys team finished fourth out of nine teams. Senior Darren Niedfeldt was the top Turner runner as he snatched 13th overall with a time of 18:57.69.

Brodhead/Juda runner Gavin Pinnow is a big fan of hilly courses so, the flat terrain at Duck Pond Recreation Area provided a bit of a challenge for the junior.

“When a course is flat it’s more straight endurance,” Pinnow said. “There’s no strength to it. I like it more hilly, but I also like a good middle ground.”

Pinnow was the second Cardinal boy across the finish line as he ended 19th, finishing with a time of 19:16.49.

“I felt really good during the first bit,” he said. “I knew I needed to push stronger at the two-mile mark, but I didn’t get that push that I wanted. I passed a couple people at the end and had a good finish.”

Junior Nathan Engen was the ninth overall runner to cross the finish line, and he ran a 18:30.64.

The Cardinals boys team finished sixth.

The girls finished fourth out of six teams, and junior Kalena Riemer continued her dominating season with a ninth-place finish in 21:58.55.

Parkview head coach Shane Suehring said that the usual fall colds have left his team at less than 100%, but added that he was proud of their efforts as a team on Thursday.

“They’re working hard day in and day out at practice,” Suehring said. “Our mantra is to get better every day, and they’re definitely doing that.”

Senior Paige Valley was running in the top ten for much of the race, and she finished 14th.

“She’s very experienced,” Suehring said. “She has such a hard drive and motor, and she’s always working hard.”

Ethan Diddens was the Vikings’ top boys runner, and he grabbed 14th.

Parkview’s boys team finished in seventh while the girls were sixth.

Big Foot/Williams Bay head coach James Newman had his team practicing their home course all week.

“There were a lot of fantastic runs,” Newman said. “And the familiarity of running our home course contributed to the great performance that the team had.”

Junior Clayton Flies flew through the course, he was the Chiefs’ best finisher, crossing the finish line 17th.

Newman has been trying to recruit more girls into the program, and they have three runners on the team, up from the lone member they had last season.

Freshman Carla Casteneda was the first girl for Big Foot to finish as she took 27th.

The girls team did not place as a team, but the boys were fifth overall.

“We were really working on running as a pack,” Newman said. “And we did that pretty well today. We’re still missing a runner, but once he’s back we’re going to turn things around here.”

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