Hale Cross Country: A Strong Tradition
At A Glance:
28 State Qualifying Teams
2 State Champion Teams, 3 State Runner Up Teams
1 Individual State Champion
1 Gatorade Athlete of the Year
28 State Qualifying Teams
2 State Champion Teams, 3 State Runner Up Teams
1 Individual State Champion
1 Gatorade Athlete of the Year
2024 Team Accolades
Another historic year for Hale Cross Country as the team wins their sectional and goes on to finish 13th at the WIAA Division 1 State Championships. This was the 28th team appearance at the state meet and the team's highest finish there since 2012 where they finished 11th. The team was consistent all season long, winning two other invitationals and finishing within the top 4 at every meet during the season. Their 4th place finish at conference was also the highest since the 2012 team.
The team finished the season with a win/loss record of 118 - 23. For the second straight year, the team had three men earn all conference honors. The team earned academic all state honors by having a top 5 GPA cumulative average greater than 3.4 for athletes that competed at state! Ethan Plier, John Gruichich, Koda Bruner and Joseph Ventura have also earned individual academic all state honors for maintaining GPA's above 3.5.
All Conference Team
Kai Bruner (Second Team)
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
Ethan Plier (Third Team)
Sectional Champions
28th State Qualifying Team - 13th Place Finish at State Meet
Academic All State Team! (Team earned - cumulative >3.4 of top 5 GPA's from state team, we had 3.77!)
Academic All State Individuals (3.5 or higher and ran at State)
Ethan Plier
John Gruichich
Koda Bruner
Joseph Ventura
2023 Team Accolades
The team finished third at this year's sectional and had two other top three team finishes, including a championship at the Rocket (Druckery) Invitational. It was the first time winning that invitational since the year 2000! The team also saw four different men win a race this season. Elijah Sayeg won the first invitational at Brookfield with a season best time of 16:31. Kai Bruner won the next week in the emerging varsity race at our home meet, while his brother, Koda, followed up at Grant Park with a victory of his own in the emerging varsity race. Two weeks later, Eric Harvey was a champion in the emerging varsity race at the Laser Invitational.
The team had an overall win/loss record of 89-31. Three men earned all conference - Elijah Sayeg (2nd Team), John Gruichich (3rd Team), and Ethan Plier (3rd Team). At sectionals, two men qualified for and competed in their first state meet! Elijah Sayeg finished 94th while John Gruichich was close behind in 107th. The season saw huge improvements as a team and a strong core returns next fall.
All Conference Team
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
John Gruichich (Third Team)
Ethan Plier (Third Team)
State Qualifiers
Elijah Sayeg
John Gruichich
Academic All State
John Gruichich
2023 Results Workbook
Online Race Results
2022 Team Accolades
This youthful group saw just five returners from the previous year, and just one of those five had more than one year of XC experience! An exciting time for Hale to build a special team. The message was about patience and taking the next logical step. The team showed some awesome performances including a 2nd place team finish at Palmyra, a 3rd place team finish at Grant Park, and a 3rd place team finish at Muskego. This team didn't let youth be an excuse for not being able to compete and they showed that with their high placings.
The team had Ethan Plier join the top 10 all time freshmen list which has a lot of history to it! Elijah Sayeg earned 2nd team all conference honors as a sophomore, the first Hale underclassmen to earn All Conference since 2018. Kai Bruner took an individual title at the last meet of the season at Grant Park, running a personal best along with it. Our fourteen new athletes to the team improved an average of 3 minutes from their first race to their personal best race! Kai and Eli saw the biggest one year improvements, both dropping over two minutes. The team returns it's top seven and looks to get a couple other guys healthy as they make an effort to return to the state meet in 2023.
All Conference Team
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
2022 Results
2021 Team Accolades
Following the graduation of the top 4 from sectionals the year before, opportunity arose for a new scoring 5 and top 7 to emerge in 2021. The team kicked off the season with a victory at the Palmyra Invitational where just 5 men toed the line. Those 5 would go on to be the top 5 scorers at every meet this fall, with the order of finish changing for all but Alex White who was consistently the team's low scorer. The team had its best races in the championship season. For the first time in nearly a decade, the team had three all conference runners with Alex White (first team), Collin Raschka (2nd team) and Jack Hutter (3rd team). The following week, the entire squad had their best race at sectionals, finishing 4th in a very competitive field and knocking off state ranked Waukesha North along with other previously ranked teams. Alex White qualified for state individually by running the 10th fastest 5k time in school history and went on to finish 81st overall at the state meet.
Next year's squad will once again be opportunity for the entire team to step up and into scoring roles. Parker Szura returns as senior captain next fall along with junior Dylen Eiler. After those two, the entire roster will be new scorers! Our freshmen squad will definitely be looked to contribute and are already working consistently this winter to make big jumps. We have some incoming freshmen next year who look to be ready to contribute right away as well! The team can be very strong next year and return back to state with some belief and consistency. This 2021 season's WI state champion team of Onalaska developed over the year with many new pieces, what type of team will our young athletes look to create next year? It only takes five to score, but the entire team is needed to make the five.
All Conference Team
Alex White (First Team)
Collin Rashka (Second Team)
Jack Hutter (Third Team)
State Qualifiers
Alex White
2021 Team Book
2021 Results Google Doc
2020 Team Accolades
The 2020 team came into an unpredictable season impacted by the pandemic. The cancellation of the spring season was a big disappointment, but many of the returners took advantage of the setback and put in a great block of off season training. Our four seniors Brennan Kompas, Joseph Hertel, Joshua Truchon and Matthew Kees led the team pretty consistently all year. The team won our home Mini Betz Invitational then came on strong again at the unique formatting of the subsectional, placing 3rd place in a very close race and just missing qualifying as a team. 6 of our 7 men raced to career bests at this post season meet. Joseph and Joshua advanced from there on to sectionals.
History was made a week later, as Joshua Truchon capped off an undefeated season and became Hale's first XC individual state champion! The season may have looked a little different, but Joshua asserted himself as one of the top runner's in the nation.
The team has the potential to be great this spring and next fall with a good group of returning runners. Four freshmen joined our all time freshmen list, and our scoring average at JV Conference was 18:15, showing the depth and opportunity that could be created if the guys choose to commit together in the off season and believe in it!
2020 Team Book PDF
2020 Results PDF
2020 Results Google Doc
Online Meet Results
All Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Place (GMC Record)
Joseph Hertel - 3rd Team
All State Team
Joshua Truchon - State Champion
2019 Team Accolades
Our 2019 season saw the men finish 15th place at the WIAA state meet, along with a 4th place podium finish by junior captain Joshua Truchon. At conference, Joshua also earned 1st team all conference honors behind his school record breaking time of 15:32. He won 6 invitationals this year. Liam Kelley earned 2nd team all conference and finished the season with the best race of his career.
We began the journey at our 2nd annual team camp which concluded summer training. Through each day, the focus was on building selflessness and love. The men have grown a lot and will continue to work on putting the team behind every pursuit. The team will return many of it's top performers from this season and will look to newcomers and others to step up and put in a big year of training. No limits.
Check out our recaps and be sure to look at the updated all time lists!
2019 Team Book
Season Results
All-Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team
Liam Kelley - 2nd Team
All-State Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team All-State
Academic All-State Team (Individuals 3.5 or higher G.P.A. and compete at state meet)
Joshua Truchon
Joseph Hertel
We had 13 men (not including freshmen) with a cumulative G.P.A. over 3.5, with 4 of them being over 4.0! The average G.P.A. of these 13 men is 3.9!
2018 Team Accolades
The 2018 boys cross country team showed the power behind being good teammates and believing in one another. Led by only one senior, the young group of boys made the trip back to the Wisconsin Rapids, qualifying for the state meet for the 26th time in school history! Hale CC has the most all-time state appearances of any program at Hale, and ranks in the top 10 of all schools in the state with cross country state trips. This was the first time since 2012 the team made it to state, and they are working hard together to keep improving and showing there are no limits.
The team also earned Academic All-State for achieving a career cumulative 3.4 G.P.A. or higher and competing at the state meet. This is the 4th time the team has earned this honor in 4 trips since the inception of the award.
All-Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team
Liam Kelley - 2nd Team
All-State Team
Joshua Truchon - 2nd Team All-State
Academic All-State Team (Individuals 3.5 or higher G.P.A, all 3 have achieved cumulative G.P.A.'s ABOVE 4.0!)
Ethan Fisher
Joshua Truchon
Brennan Kompas
Enjoy our 2018 team book below!
2018 Team Book PDF
2018 Team Results PDF
2018 Online Results PDF
2018 Season Honor Roll and Improvements
Team Results Files
Another historic year for Hale Cross Country as the team wins their sectional and goes on to finish 13th at the WIAA Division 1 State Championships. This was the 28th team appearance at the state meet and the team's highest finish there since 2012 where they finished 11th. The team was consistent all season long, winning two other invitationals and finishing within the top 4 at every meet during the season. Their 4th place finish at conference was also the highest since the 2012 team.
The team finished the season with a win/loss record of 118 - 23. For the second straight year, the team had three men earn all conference honors. The team earned academic all state honors by having a top 5 GPA cumulative average greater than 3.4 for athletes that competed at state! Ethan Plier, John Gruichich, Koda Bruner and Joseph Ventura have also earned individual academic all state honors for maintaining GPA's above 3.5.
All Conference Team
Kai Bruner (Second Team)
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
Ethan Plier (Third Team)
Sectional Champions
28th State Qualifying Team - 13th Place Finish at State Meet
Academic All State Team! (Team earned - cumulative >3.4 of top 5 GPA's from state team, we had 3.77!)
Academic All State Individuals (3.5 or higher and ran at State)
Ethan Plier
John Gruichich
Koda Bruner
Joseph Ventura
2023 Team Accolades
The team finished third at this year's sectional and had two other top three team finishes, including a championship at the Rocket (Druckery) Invitational. It was the first time winning that invitational since the year 2000! The team also saw four different men win a race this season. Elijah Sayeg won the first invitational at Brookfield with a season best time of 16:31. Kai Bruner won the next week in the emerging varsity race at our home meet, while his brother, Koda, followed up at Grant Park with a victory of his own in the emerging varsity race. Two weeks later, Eric Harvey was a champion in the emerging varsity race at the Laser Invitational.
The team had an overall win/loss record of 89-31. Three men earned all conference - Elijah Sayeg (2nd Team), John Gruichich (3rd Team), and Ethan Plier (3rd Team). At sectionals, two men qualified for and competed in their first state meet! Elijah Sayeg finished 94th while John Gruichich was close behind in 107th. The season saw huge improvements as a team and a strong core returns next fall.
All Conference Team
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
John Gruichich (Third Team)
Ethan Plier (Third Team)
State Qualifiers
Elijah Sayeg
John Gruichich
Academic All State
John Gruichich
2023 Results Workbook
Online Race Results
2022 Team Accolades
This youthful group saw just five returners from the previous year, and just one of those five had more than one year of XC experience! An exciting time for Hale to build a special team. The message was about patience and taking the next logical step. The team showed some awesome performances including a 2nd place team finish at Palmyra, a 3rd place team finish at Grant Park, and a 3rd place team finish at Muskego. This team didn't let youth be an excuse for not being able to compete and they showed that with their high placings.
The team had Ethan Plier join the top 10 all time freshmen list which has a lot of history to it! Elijah Sayeg earned 2nd team all conference honors as a sophomore, the first Hale underclassmen to earn All Conference since 2018. Kai Bruner took an individual title at the last meet of the season at Grant Park, running a personal best along with it. Our fourteen new athletes to the team improved an average of 3 minutes from their first race to their personal best race! Kai and Eli saw the biggest one year improvements, both dropping over two minutes. The team returns it's top seven and looks to get a couple other guys healthy as they make an effort to return to the state meet in 2023.
All Conference Team
Elijah Sayeg (Second Team)
2022 Results
2021 Team Accolades
Following the graduation of the top 4 from sectionals the year before, opportunity arose for a new scoring 5 and top 7 to emerge in 2021. The team kicked off the season with a victory at the Palmyra Invitational where just 5 men toed the line. Those 5 would go on to be the top 5 scorers at every meet this fall, with the order of finish changing for all but Alex White who was consistently the team's low scorer. The team had its best races in the championship season. For the first time in nearly a decade, the team had three all conference runners with Alex White (first team), Collin Raschka (2nd team) and Jack Hutter (3rd team). The following week, the entire squad had their best race at sectionals, finishing 4th in a very competitive field and knocking off state ranked Waukesha North along with other previously ranked teams. Alex White qualified for state individually by running the 10th fastest 5k time in school history and went on to finish 81st overall at the state meet.
Next year's squad will once again be opportunity for the entire team to step up and into scoring roles. Parker Szura returns as senior captain next fall along with junior Dylen Eiler. After those two, the entire roster will be new scorers! Our freshmen squad will definitely be looked to contribute and are already working consistently this winter to make big jumps. We have some incoming freshmen next year who look to be ready to contribute right away as well! The team can be very strong next year and return back to state with some belief and consistency. This 2021 season's WI state champion team of Onalaska developed over the year with many new pieces, what type of team will our young athletes look to create next year? It only takes five to score, but the entire team is needed to make the five.
All Conference Team
Alex White (First Team)
Collin Rashka (Second Team)
Jack Hutter (Third Team)
State Qualifiers
Alex White
2021 Team Book
2021 Results Google Doc
2020 Team Accolades
The 2020 team came into an unpredictable season impacted by the pandemic. The cancellation of the spring season was a big disappointment, but many of the returners took advantage of the setback and put in a great block of off season training. Our four seniors Brennan Kompas, Joseph Hertel, Joshua Truchon and Matthew Kees led the team pretty consistently all year. The team won our home Mini Betz Invitational then came on strong again at the unique formatting of the subsectional, placing 3rd place in a very close race and just missing qualifying as a team. 6 of our 7 men raced to career bests at this post season meet. Joseph and Joshua advanced from there on to sectionals.
History was made a week later, as Joshua Truchon capped off an undefeated season and became Hale's first XC individual state champion! The season may have looked a little different, but Joshua asserted himself as one of the top runner's in the nation.
The team has the potential to be great this spring and next fall with a good group of returning runners. Four freshmen joined our all time freshmen list, and our scoring average at JV Conference was 18:15, showing the depth and opportunity that could be created if the guys choose to commit together in the off season and believe in it!
2020 Team Book PDF
2020 Results PDF
2020 Results Google Doc
Online Meet Results
All Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Place (GMC Record)
Joseph Hertel - 3rd Team
All State Team
Joshua Truchon - State Champion
2019 Team Accolades
Our 2019 season saw the men finish 15th place at the WIAA state meet, along with a 4th place podium finish by junior captain Joshua Truchon. At conference, Joshua also earned 1st team all conference honors behind his school record breaking time of 15:32. He won 6 invitationals this year. Liam Kelley earned 2nd team all conference and finished the season with the best race of his career.
We began the journey at our 2nd annual team camp which concluded summer training. Through each day, the focus was on building selflessness and love. The men have grown a lot and will continue to work on putting the team behind every pursuit. The team will return many of it's top performers from this season and will look to newcomers and others to step up and put in a big year of training. No limits.
Check out our recaps and be sure to look at the updated all time lists!
2019 Team Book
Season Results
All-Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team
Liam Kelley - 2nd Team
All-State Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team All-State
Academic All-State Team (Individuals 3.5 or higher G.P.A. and compete at state meet)
Joshua Truchon
Joseph Hertel
We had 13 men (not including freshmen) with a cumulative G.P.A. over 3.5, with 4 of them being over 4.0! The average G.P.A. of these 13 men is 3.9!
2018 Team Accolades
The 2018 boys cross country team showed the power behind being good teammates and believing in one another. Led by only one senior, the young group of boys made the trip back to the Wisconsin Rapids, qualifying for the state meet for the 26th time in school history! Hale CC has the most all-time state appearances of any program at Hale, and ranks in the top 10 of all schools in the state with cross country state trips. This was the first time since 2012 the team made it to state, and they are working hard together to keep improving and showing there are no limits.
The team also earned Academic All-State for achieving a career cumulative 3.4 G.P.A. or higher and competing at the state meet. This is the 4th time the team has earned this honor in 4 trips since the inception of the award.
All-Conference Team
Joshua Truchon - 1st Team
Liam Kelley - 2nd Team
All-State Team
Joshua Truchon - 2nd Team All-State
Academic All-State Team (Individuals 3.5 or higher G.P.A, all 3 have achieved cumulative G.P.A.'s ABOVE 4.0!)
Ethan Fisher
Joshua Truchon
Brennan Kompas
Enjoy our 2018 team book below!
2018 Team Book PDF
2018 Team Results PDF
2018 Online Results PDF
2018 Season Honor Roll and Improvements
Team Results Files
All Time Fastest Freshmen
All Time Fastest Sophomores
All Time Fastest Juniors
All Time Any Grade
State Qualifying Teams and Individuals
State All Time under 18 (From List I have)
Collegiate XC Runners
Greenfield Park All Time
All Time Fastest Sophomores
All Time Fastest Juniors
All Time Any Grade
State Qualifying Teams and Individuals
State All Time under 18 (From List I have)
Collegiate XC Runners
Greenfield Park All Time
2024 Sectional Champions
2020 WIAA State Champion - Joshua Truchon
2019 State Team
2018 State Team
Team captain, Joshua Truchon, caps a fantastic junior season with 4th place finish at state.
26 men at our 2019 CWES Camp!
Our first overnight CWES Camp in 2018
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We our proud to wear the Hale Jersey for our past, present and future. We have celebrated 6 state trophies and are working for more! The strong tradition dates back to the beginning of the program, and has been consistently strong since due in large part to hall of fame coaches Leighton Betz and Ron Kurtz who put in years of their time to the program!
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Hall of Fame Coach, Ron Kurtz, has meant a lot to this program. He has not only created great high school athletes, but he has inspired and motivated kids to run in college as well. He dedicated everything to making everyone their best, and although no longer coaching at Hale, is still is involved in the coaching community and following our team!