Craig freshman Martinson wins cross country race; Middleton sweeps team race
Apr. 12—Janesville Craig co-cross country coach Brandon Miles calls Noah Martinson a student of the sport.
On Saturday, the freshman Martinson aced a test.
Martinson covered the 5,000-meter course at Optimist Park in 17 minutes, 7 seconds to win the boys varsity race hosted by Craig and including Middleton and Janesville Parker.
"He trained year-round since eighth grade, and he's worked really hard," Miles said of Martinson. "He really loves the sport and found out early on that it's his thing."
Martinson edged Craig senior Bryan Bloomquist—a three-time state qualifier—by seven seconds.
Their 1-2 finish wasn't quite enough for the Cougars, who scored 34 points to finish second, three points behind Middleton. Parker scored 96.
"Middleton is a solid team. I was really happy to be within three points of them," Miles said. "Our boys ran pretty well. We talked about kicking this week. We got outkicked a couple times Wednesday, and i thought they did better."
In the girls race, Middleton swept the competition with 15 points, while Craig had 52 and Parker was incomplete. Rylee Coleman had the Cougars' top time of 22:41.
"The Middleton girls are arguably the best team in the state," Miles said. "
"We've got a young team, and they probably learned a few lessons from that Middleton team."
Craig closes out the regular season by hosting Milton, Parker and Beloit at Optimist Park on Tuesday, with the varsity girls race at 4 p.m. and the varsity boys at 5.
Saturday, at Optimist ParkGIRLS TEAM SCORESMiddleton 15, Janesville Craig 52, Janesville Parker inc.
TOP GIRLS TIMESLauren Pansegrau (M) 17:14, Zaira Malloy-Salgado (M) 19:24, Bella Chirafisi (M) 20:02, 14. Rylee Coleman (C) 22:41.
BOYS TEAM SCORESMiddleton 31, Janesville Craig 34, Janesville Parker 96
TOP BOYS TIMESNoah Martinson (C) 17:07, Bryan Bloomquist (C) 17:14, Ethan Hladucky (M) 17:35, Alex Marione (M) 17:41, Aidan Schuh (P) 17:45, Gabe Coleman (C) 17:56.
