Coach Abbey Bubolz awarded 10 athletes on her boys and girls cross country teams with season and conference honors at the recent MLHS Fall Sports Awards Night. Named MVP of the girls and boys teams, respectively, were seniors Brooklyn Luebke and Shawn Egerer, while senior Grace Zander and junior Seth Ciha were awarded Lancer Awards for their Christian leadership and service throughout the season. Sophomore Taylor Schuettpelz and freshman Braden Revak were named Most Improved. Zander was also recognized as a four-year varsity letter winner.
Due to their finishes in the Big East conference cross country meet, All-Conference designation was given to Brooklyn Luebke (1st team/Conference champion), seniors Emma Kolar and Shawn Egerer (Honorable Mention), and freshman Trisha Kiss (Honorable Mention).
Team captains, seniors Katie Ungemach, Brooklyn Luebke, and Shawn Egerer, and junior Seth Ciha, were also recognized. Brooklyn Luebke was also given the coaches' "Tough as Nails" award, and freshman Jacob Kanzenbach received the Lancer CC Shoe Legacy Award, which is given to an underclassman who embraces Lancer cross country traditions and is invested in the history and legacy of cross country at MLHS.
Coach Bubolz gave her season-ending thoughts: “Thirteen of our 24 team members were brand new to cross country this season, so we had a learning curve to get used to the sport. The season was progressing along, and things were starting to click as evidenced by our race at Mishicot on September 23rd -- flat, fast, cool and PRs across the board. Halfway through the season we had the week of sickness. Every day prior to the Reedsville meet we had fewer people at practice. But every single athlete there that day ran hard, and together they won the combined (boys and girls) small school championship at Reedsville. At the end of the season they were focused and ready for Conference and Sectionals and ran hard. We had a few PRs, not as many as they would've liked, but they placed in the spots they were supposed to and really, truly did their God-given best. The best way I can sum up the season is this: Philippians 1:18 ‘Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.’"
Coach Bubolz also reflected on the cross country career of standout senior and school record holder, Brooklyn Luebke: "All the accolades (she received) were blessings that she did not take lightly. She made it look effortless, but behind the scenes she worked and prepared like everyone else. But the things that stand out to me are her finishing her races and immediately going back on the course to cheer on her teammates, helping her main competition on the start line at State, and seeing the concern that her competition had for her well-being. This season we saw that she was human, and (she) quite literally crawled her way to State -- it is never guaranteed. But her teammates came to practice the week before State and said "we are going to run with her, we will make her go our pace." She had a pack of girls taking care of her. The mental prep it took to go onto the biggest stage was huge. By God's grace she ended her career with a race she could be proud of.” See a feature article on Brooklyn on SeehaferNews.com.
Times of note this season: Trisha Kiss' 22:08 is 5th and Emma Kolar's 22:56 is 10th on the girls 5k overall record board. (Brooklyn remains in 1st (18:55) and Grace Z. remains in 6th (22:15) on the record board as they graduate.) Jacob Kanzenbach's 18:04 puts him second all-time on the freshman boys list.