Altoona Girls Edge Boyceville to Win Home Cross Country Invitational

The Railroaders scored 73 points to beat Boyceville by two at their home meet, headlining a weekend of area cross country, football, volleyball, soccer and golf results.

Altoona's girls cross country team won its own invitational Saturday at Tower Ridge County Park, totaling 73 points to finish two ahead of runner-up Boyceville at 75.

Five Railroaders landed in the top 25, led by Elodie Larson in seventh and Alaina Lebeis in eighth. Lily Ganske took 12th, Ella Hoage 21st and Brooke Grooves 25th. Elk Mound placed fifth in the team standings and Eau Claire Regis sixth, while Regis' Ellie Doubler was third individually and Elk Mound's Emma Ottosen sixth.

Ellsworth swept the boys competition, taking the team title with 47 points as Adolfo Mendez won the individual race. Elk Mound followed in third at 71, ahead of Eau Claire Regis (84), Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (112) and Altoona (127). Regis' Benjamin Hoeft ran 17:25 for third, teammates Mark Patchin and Andrew Hoeft placed seventh and 15th, and Elk Mound's Jack Stroh clocked 17:32, 10 seconds ahead of Altoona's Dean Kretz.

On the soccer field, Altoona defeated Medford 3-0 behind two goals from Max Hibray. He scored unassisted in the 13th minute and converted a Tavian Gilbert-Rasso pass in the 43rd, after Connor Gower's unassisted goal in the 25th. Will Steffes made six saves in the shutout.

Chippewa Falls McDonell went 5-0 to win the Bloomer volleyball tournament, with victories over Ladysmith, St. Croix Central, Turtle Lake and Northwestern among its results, while Fall Creek finished 3-2. Taylan Hanson supplied 37 kills for McDonell, Erin Siegenthaler distributed 112 assists, and Rylie Christianson added 12 aces to go with 19 kills. Fall Creek's Jaelyn Martzke recorded her 1,000th career assist during the tournament.

Friday's football schedule opened with Chippewa Falls beating Superior 31-9 behind 122 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Talen Shilts. Durand-Arkansaw beat Pittsville 55-0 as Luke Weber went 6-for-6 for 139 yards and three touchdowns, Cadott downed Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 36-12, Bloomer defeated Barron 31-12, and Stanley-Boyd got past Neillsville/Granton 37-23.

Marshfield held off Eau Claire North 29-22, Altoona beat Amery 33-13 and Menomonie topped Wisconsin Rapids 34-21. Whitehall defeated Augusta 50-24, Boyceville beat Colfax 46-14, Pepin/Alma got past Eleva-Strum 50-8, New Richmond shut out Rice Lake 35-0, Elmwood/Plum City edged Osseo-Fairchild 20-15, and Gilman defeated Thorp 56-0. Bloomer's Logan VanRemmen rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, and Cadott's Aiydan Sonnentag ran for 150 yards and three scores.

In Thursday's Division 1 girls golf regional in Superior, Prescott led the team qualifiers at 341, with Spooner (345), Hudson (346) and Superior (348) also advancing while New Richmond (353), River Falls (356), Chippewa Falls (368), Menomonie (384), Rice Lake (385) and Eau Claire North (390) missed the cut. New Richmond's Samantha Halle and Hudson's Ava Swavely posted the low rounds at 73, with Spooner's Avery Voeltz and Prescott's Macy Reiter tied at 77. At the Division 2 regional on Turtleback Golf Course, Colfax/Elk Mound finished first at 372 to qualify with Bloomer (403) and Osseo-Fairchild (416), as Stanley-Boyd (429) missed out; Clara Kongshaug's 71 was the day's best score, and Altoona's Sydney Steffes and Arabella Lacey earned individual sectional spots.

Thursday's volleyball action saw Eau Claire North defeat Menomonie 22-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-18, 15-3. Chippewa Falls McDonell swept Elk Mound 25-11, 25-21, 25-10 as Erin Siegenthaler reached 3,000 career assists, Chippewa Falls swept Rice Lake 25-21, 25-20, 25-19, and Stanley-Boyd defeated Bloomer.