Not their best, but good enough

It wasn’t their best day, but just good enough got the Ozaukee High School boys’ cross country team to state.

The Warriors scored 84 points and finished second in the Sheboygan Lutheran Division 3 Sectional on Saturday, barely beating Manitowoc Lutheran’s 88. The top two teams advance.

“Making it to state was really exciting, especially knowing how much work everyone put in to get there. It was great seeing the team reach our goal, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we do at state,” sophomore Wyatt Borchardt said.

“I agree with Wyatt that getting to state is a great feeling after all the effort our team put in throughout the season. It’s exciting to have the chance to compete at that level and see what we can do,” Nicholas Schubert said.

Schubert was third on the 5,000-meter course in 17:04.9. Borchardt was sixth in 17:27 and Sterling Schanen was seventh in 17:27.1. Hugh Steffen was 19th (18th among runners on full teams) in 18:07.3, and Evan Caswell was 53rd (50th) in 19:17.7.

“Senior Leadership with Nick Schubert and Hugh Steffen was big for us this meet. Nick earned his third trip to the cross country state meet. He’s been a valuable piece to our team over the past four years and has been close to being on state teams before in 2023 and 2025 — both teams took third place. It’s been a goal over his career to qualify as a team and his third-place individual finish definitely helped us get there this year,” coach Andrew Pfeuffer said.

“Hugh has also been incredible this season. He’s had his ups and downs as a runner and he has figured it out. Hugh has been our most consistent runner not only on a week-to-week basis but he’s an efficiency monster with his mile splits. We weren’t sure if he was going to come back out this season but we are extremely glad he did. He’s been an X-factor for our team and a major reason we were able to qualify for state again.”

Sheboygan Lutheran won the 18-team meet with 62 points.

Pfeuffer said he hopes for a better showing at state in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, Oct. 31.

“It wasn’t our best day overall as a team but we still found a way to advance to the state meet,” he said. “We know we have more in us as a team and we are ready to come back next week at the state meet stronger.”

Schubert and Borchardt have qualified for state as individuals before and can help the newcomers navigate the route. 

“Since we’ve run the course before, we can help the other guys prepare and share what we learned from it. We’re going to keep putting in the work, stay focused and make the most of this opportunity,” Schubert said.

Borchardt said, “Knowing the course definitely helps because we can give our teammates tips and help them know what to expect. We’re just going to keep working hard, support each other, and try to finish the season on a great note.”