Dominating the running events en route to a Division 3 girls state track and field championship, the Deerfield girls track team are hoping the success on the track continues to the grass.
The Deerfield/Cambridge cross country team, which features many runners from that team, has begun practicing for the upcoming season.
“After a couple of weeks into June, they turned the page and worked on training,” Deerfield/Cambridge head coach Matt Polzin said of the girls team. “They have some pretty big goals for the fall.”
The girls team features junior Emme Drobac, a two-year state qualifier. As a freshman, Drobac took ninth at state and finished fifth as a sophomore at state.
Along with Drobac, senior McKenna Michel returns after qualifying for state as a sophomore in 2022, finishing 25th overall. Drobac and Michel finished 1-2 at the Capitol Conference Championships last year.
Along with the two state cross country runners, senior Piper Ryan, a first-team all-conference runner, senior Brianna Ament and sophomore Madi Ledbury all return after running at state track.
While Deerfield/Cambridge graduated runners Mara Brown, Kylee Lonigro and Ella Arenz, the team also brought back junior Arden Nickerson, who ran cross country as a freshman.
“With those six, we have a pretty good group of girls that have all had a lot of success during cross country and track,” Polzin said.
With the abundance of runners, the girls team is hoping to win the conference championship. New Glarus/Monticello has won the conference for the last three seasons.
“On paper, I think (New Glarus/Monticello) graduated enough last year to where we should be able to be on par with them a little more,” Polzin said.
On the boys’ side, Polzin anticipates Deerfield/Cambridge to take advantage of new opportunities and openings.
The boys team looks to replace Martin Kimmel, a four-time state qualifier, Cody Curtis, a first team all-conference runner last year and Rob Thompson, who also ran at conference.
“What we’ve been preaching to this crew is there are opportunities to be on varsity that maybe weren’t there in other years,” Polzin said.
The boys team returns one all-conference runner in senior James Leonard. Leonard took 13th overall at the conference championship, earning second team all-conference.
“Last year, he was able to improve quite a bit, and sneak on to the second team all-conference, which was a big accomplishment for him from where he had come from,” Polzin said. “Probably Emme, McKenna and him were above the rest in putting in a lot of miles (this summer).”
Senior Evan Roidt and sophomore Max Helminiak both return to the varsity team as well. Like Leonard, Polzin also complimented the improvement both Roidt and Helminiak made from last year.
With the improvement made from each of the top-three runners, Polzin expects the boys team to be competitive in conference.
“Last year, there wasn’t an overly strong boys team, and I don’t know if that will change this year,” Polzin said. "It could be one of those things where we are in the mix.”
The Cambridge/Deerfield cross country team opens the season at the Shorewood Invitational at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29 at Lincoln Park.
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