Cunningham, Greenberg to represent Nicolet harriers at state

The ever-striving Nicolet cross-country program will be sending a virtual caravan of people up to the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday.

And that means coach Mike McKenna will have representation from both the girls and the boys teams along with him.

Lauren Cunningham will be making a repeat berth for the girls team while Josh Greenberg earned his first slot as a senior for the Knight boys.

"Any time we're on a van heading north, it means we did a good job," McKenna said with a chuckle.

Cunningham, who was 42nd at state last season, will run at 12:20 p.m. Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Rapids; Greenberg will compete at 2:20 p.m.

Greenberg led something of a breakthrough for the boys, as they finished a strong third in the 10-team sectional race with 128 points, while Marquette (23) and North Shore champ Whitefish Bay (55) earned the state team berths.

Greenberg was eighth in 17:36 on the muddy and slow 5,000-meter Washington Park course, earning a state slot despite a little bit of physical discomfort.

"I didn't feel so good for a while as I had a side ache," he said, "but I still knew I had a pretty good shot at getting things done because I came in seeded first among the (projected) individual qualifiers. It didn't quite work out the way I planned (he was the second of five individual qualifiers), but it all worked out.

"In looking back at the season, the first couple of races this season weren't as good as I had hoped, but things got better as the season went along. And qualifying for state just makes a person feel better any way you look at it.

"I'm going to enjoy the race and have fun with it."

The Knights earned their strong finish despite competing with only five runners. Also competing for Nicolet were Randy Grzybowski, who finished 20th (18:23), Aaron Zetley in 31st (18:39), Chris Welker in 32nd (18:42) and Greg Pigg in 40th (19:18).

For the girls, Cunningham was a solid fifth in 16:01 on the 4,000-meter course. Defending state champ Allie Fons of Franklin won in 14:32.

"I wanted to stay just behind her (Fons) and Emma-Lisa (Murphy of Whitefish Bay)," said Cunningham, "but not too far behind them.

"It was a battle today, I tell you, more mentally than physically, but we had a real good practice earlier this week and that helped.

"This season hasn't gone as well as I would have liked, but I'm glad I've been able to push through it and get to state. I'm excited about it, because I love cross country."

Cunningham's finish led the Knights to a sixth-place finish in the nine-team field with 146 points, as Hilary Miller was 21st (17:21), Christie Crossman was 36th (17:56), Grace Dykstra 44th (18:28), Kristen Maling 46th (18:47) and Allison Maling 50th (19:22).