State Bound: Freshman XC Runner Chelsea Gale Leads Her Team

Chelsea+%28third+from+the+right%29+and+the+rest+of+the+girls+XC+team+pose+after+their+regional+race+on+Saturday%2C+October+21st+in+Wilmot+Wisconsin.

Photo credit: Ferguson Family

Chelsea (third from the right) and the rest of the girls XC team pose after their regional race on Saturday, October 21st in Wilmot Wisconsin.

34 degrees, cold, wet, muddy and lightly snowing are less than desirable conditions to run in, but the Prairie Ridge cross country girls pulled through with an epic race last Saturday at their sectional meet as they finished 13th out of the 18 teams.

The girls ran conference, qualified for regionals and qualified for sectionals. All the girls ran extremely well in their races and proved tough despite the weather conditions. Running through the rain during conference and the cold during sectionals, the girls fought hard and all ran incredible races. Congratulations to all seven girls including, Chelsea Gale, Chloe Gale, Delaney Minutillo, Kate Ferguson, Emily Zanzola, Katie Nowakowski and Katie Harth.

Chelsea Gale, PR freshman, placed first at both conference and regionals, and snagged third at sectionals. She’ll be moving on to run at the state meet on Saturday, November 4th.

Running state is an incredible accomplishment for any runner but especially for a freshman. The Northwest Herald ran a story this week about Chelsea and her family of runners.

Chelsea had hoped for finishing in the top ten at sectionals. “I knew if I could get that I could likely qualify for state. I didn’t expect to get third at all, but I’m very glad I did.¨

Chelsea remains humble and hopes to simply enjoy her time running at state. Overall, she’s happy with her sectional run and the season. “My whole race went pretty smooth and I was able to stay with the front pack and run faster than I have all season. This whole season has been very exciting and I’m thrilled to go to state.¨

Congratulations to all the girls, and good luck to Chelsea.