Herrling wins Jefferson Invite

Samantha Herrling is rounding into form. And that’s bad news for cross country runners across the state. Herrling, a sophomore at Wisconsin Heights, won the Jefferson Invite on Saturday. The event included five teams and 38 runners and Herrling topped them all. Herrling finished the 5,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 27.8 seconds. Peyton Weiss of Milwaukee King was a distant second at 21:56. Herrling, who was second at the WIAA Division 3 state meet as a freshman in 2019, appears to be peaking with the season winding down. “Samantha Herrling had her top finish this season,” Heights coach Ivy Hasheider said. “She started the race strong and was able to hold her position until the end.” Vanguards junior Greine Simmert was the only other Heights’ runner to compete, and she finished in 17th place (25:11.2). “Greine Simmert had a season best and an amazing kick at the end of the race,” Hasheider said. Heights also didn’t have enough boys to factor in the team standings. But the Vanguards had a handful of strong individual performances. Junior Weston Parman was eighth (19:11.3), sophomore Andrew Pietrzykowski was 21st (22:03.7), freshman Trevor Baryenbruch was 24th (22:41.2) and freshman Jacob Swanson Carter was 36th (25:47.0). “I’m impressed with our performance at Jefferson,” Hasheider said. “The team ran a solid race. They paced themselves well and ran with confidence.”