Rogers shines at state meet

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Wildcat senior Colin Rogers approaches the finish line at the WIAA State Cross Country Championships Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids. Rogers finished 30th out of 190 runners in the Division 1 race. Dave Newman photo

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Colin Rogers saved his best race for last. The lone Wildcat representative at the 2008 WIAA State Cross Country Championships, Rogers, a senior running in his first state meet, was part of the fastest field in meet history and finished 30th out of 190 runners with a time of 16 minutes, 25.6 seconds on the 5,000 meter course at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.

“It was an amazing race,” Wildcat coach Pat Lorentz said. “I think perhaps this was Colin’s best race all season.”

The field for this year’s race was extremely competitive with the top seven runners all finishing with times under 16 minutes, a first for a Wisconsin state meet. Rogers was the first Big Rivers Conference runner to cross the finish line, over 35 seconds ahead of Tyler Heinz of Eau Claire Memorial and Luke Wusterbath of Hudson, both of whom finished ahead of Rogers at the sectional meet a week earlier.

“Colin had a game plan before the race to go out under control the first mile and finish strong,” Lorentz said. “I have seen some runners crack under big meet pressure, but Colin really did a great job of sticking to his plan and wasn’t intimidated by the strength of the field.”

Senior Derek Storkel of Tomah finished first with a time of 15:26.1, the fastest time at a Division 1 state meet since current University of Wisconsin star Chris Solinsky of Stevens Point won in 14:54 in 2002.

“Though other River Falls men have placed better at the state meet, Colin’s time of 16:25 is the fastest time run by a River Falls male at state to my knowledge,” Lorentz said.

Stevens Point won the boys team title while Whitefish Bay won the girls championship. Gabby Levac of Arrowhead won the girls individual title.

Lorentz said Rogers is being pursued by a number of local colleges to run cross country in the fall of 2009, including Hamline University, UW-Stevens Point, UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire, all of which have nationally ranked programs.

“Wherever Colin goes, I look forward to watching him continue to develop as an athlete,” Lorentz said. “Any college would be lucky to have him on their squad.”

Rogers was the only senior to spend the majority of the 2008 season on the Wildcat boys varsity team, something Lorentz said he has mixed feelings about.

“On one hand, it’s great to know that almost the entire varsity squad will be back next year,” he said. “But on the other hand, Colin is the last person you want to say goodbye to. We will all miss him.”

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