Anewenter breaks Portal Fish Day Run mark

Port Washington High School alumnus Alex Anewenter did one better than win the 41st Portal Fish Day Run on Saturday.

The 2024 grad set the course record.

Anewenter finished the 5-kilometer race in 15 minutes, 54.78 seconds.

That time edged fellow Pirates alumnus Mason Raasch’s record by one second. Raasch, a 2022 Port High grad who runs for Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., set the mark in 2024 with a time of 15:55.72.

Anewenter took the lead midway through the race and never looked back.

“My strategy was keeping it easier the first mile and just sticking with the front pack, but then right before the first mile I could tell some of the front guys were slowing down. So I just made my move and after that the rest of the race was just running by myself, which was fine,” he said.

The smoke from the Canadian wildfire was not a factor, but the temperature was.

“The air quality wasn’t too bad at all during the race, which was honestly just a stroke of good luck but the heat was definitely a bit rough and made it a bit harder,” he said.

The top finishers were a who’s who of Pirates’ cross country runners.

Jason Marhal, a 2013 grad who lives in West Allis, was second in 16:11.87. Ozaukee High alumnus Aaron Nehls was third in 16:32.08.

Port High assistant track and cross country coach Blain Masterson was fourth in 16:50.77, and last year’s winner Jameson Koebel, who graduated from Port High in June, was fifth in 16:56.75. His former teammate and fellow grad John Dohrwardt was sixth in 17:39.86.

Port sophomore Beckett Schuster, a standout mountain biker, was seventh in 17:57.2.

Anewenter, who finished third in the race the two prior years, seventh in 2023 and 13th in 2022, loved to run with the Pirates.

“It was great to get a chance to run with some of the Port guys I know and that I ran with in high school, and it was also great to meet some of the guys that are running for Port now,” he said.

“I think winning the Fish Day Run is a staple for every great Port runner, and I’m glad I was able to come away with the win this year. I’ll be back competing every year I can.”

Port Washington’s Mary Zastrow, 34, won the female race in 20:45.37 and finished 20th overall.

A total of 414 runners and walkers participated in the event.

The run/walk/roll serves as a fundraiser for Portal Inc., a nonprofit agency in Grafton that serves adults and youths with developmental and intellectual disabilities.