Schmidts make state meet a family affair

Once Brynlee Schmidt took care of business, she wanted to see if the trip to Wisconsin Rapids would be a family affair.

The Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ cross country record-holder won the Division 3 Sheboygan Lutheran Sectional on Saturday, qualifying for state for the third time in as many tries. She took the lead at the mile mark and never let it go.

“Going into the race it was one of my goals to get first, so I made sure to position myself in the top group early and move up from there,” Schmidt said. “When I crossed the finish line, I was excited and I was looking forward to see if Lydia qualified.”

Lydia, Schmidt’s younger sister, made the cut for the first time, taking sixth of 125 runners.

Brynlee finished the 5,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 33.1 seconds, 18 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. Lydia’s time was 20:20.8.

“It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I have learned where hard work can take you,” Lydia said.

“When Brynlee told me at the end of track season that we would be going to state together in cross country, I laughed. I never knew what I was capable of until now, and having her as my No. 1 example and believing in me before I did means a lot to me. I would not have started running without her. Brynlee pushed me by showing me what is possible, and we always will support each other’s accomplishments. To have a running partner as a sister is definitely a blessing.”

Coach Brandon Langer was impressed with both of his lead girls. Lydia had a breakthrough race in the Big East Conference Meet with a personal record by a minute.

“Lydia has really improved as the season has progressed, particularly over the last month.  She is a competitor and has put in the work. I could see her confidence starting to grow,” he said.

The sectional was the third meet win for Brynlee, who hadn’t won a race until this season.

“She raced smart and pulled away after the mile, particularly after the hill. We had worked on putting in a surge after hills during practice this week, and it really paid off for all the girls,” Langer said.

The Rockets were ninth with 217 points. They were missing their No. 3 runner Ava Gregory to illness. Hannah Langer was 59th in 23:52.6. Aubrey Nett was 71st in 24:24.9 and Mikayla Rowden, who filled in for Gregory, was 80th in a personal-record 25:29.2.

The state meet is Saturday, Oct. 25, at Wisconsin Rapids. Brynlee finished 48th last year and 47th in 2024.

Young Ozaukee squad takes fifth

Ozaukee coach Andrew Pfeuffer said the girls’ team could have finished anywhere from second to seventh, depending on how everyone ran.

The Warriors scored 141 points and took fifth.

Senior Madison Glaeser was 16th in 21:28.6 despite tripping and falling at the mile mark.

“That is a testament to her drive and character,” Pfeuffer said.

Brooklynn Lauters was 18th in 21:35.6. Jillian Knehans was 24th in 21:41.5. Quinn Zimdars was 40th in 23:00.6, and Eva VanMinsel was 43rd in 23:08.1.

“We were obviously hoping to finish higher but with our young core and this being their first sectional meet for many of them, I thought they gave it a good shot,” Pfeuffer said.

“I don’t think many people had our girls’ team on their radar to be contenders at the start the year. But they did a great job putting our team back on the map this season.”

Glaeser and VanMinsel are the only seniors in the Warriors’ top seven.

“They worked hard for four years, put in a lot of miles and gave it everything they had for our team,” Pfeuffer said.

Valders won the 16-team meet with 89 points. Brillion had 99. Lourdes Academy had 129, and Southern Door had 133.