On November 1, 2025, the Menomonie boys cross country ran at the Division 1 State Championship in Wisconsin Rapids. The race included 20 schools and 190 runners in total, with 7 runners representing Menomonie. The other BRC team to race at the meet being Hudson HS.

The Mustangs finished in 8th place out of the 20 schools with Luke Ray securing the highest finish for the Mustangs. He finished the race with a time of 16:31 and got 37th place. Not too far behind Owen Pelzel and Logan Topper finished together with Owen coming in 60th with a time of 16:49 and Logan coming in 67th with a time of 16:52. Making up the middle of the pack, Evan Olson and Noah Winder finished 90th and 108th with a time of 17:02 and 17:16 respectively. Continuing and showing the Mustangs strong team spirit, Cole Christenson and Ben Seguin had similar finishes with Cole coming in 177th at 18:22 and Ben finishing in 182nd at a time of 18:36. 

• Luke Ray, Senior, 37th place, 16:31
• Owen Pelzel, Junior, 60th place, 16:49
• Logan Topper, Sophomore, 67th place, 16:52
• Evan Olson, Junior, 90th place, 17:02
• Noah Winder, Junior, 108th place, 17:16
• Cole Christenson, Senior, 177th place, 18:22
• Ben Seguin, Senior, 182nd place, 18:36

After the race, 2 athletes from Menomonie, Noah Winder and Luke Ray, had something to say. Noah Winder commented on the result of the race, saying, “Our mentality going to the race was that we were prepared and ready, we knew that we worked the entire season to get to this point, and we knew that all the training and the miles we had put in throughout the winter, spring, summer and fall were with us, and that we just needed to lay it all out and put everything we had into the race, finishing with no regrets.”

Reflecting on the race and the whole season, Luke Ray said, “The cross country was a resounding success, with everybody improving and getting PRs throughout the season. We won our first BRC championship since 2004, and we also won our Section.”

He continued saying, “We didn’t run as well as we had hoped at State, but it was still a solid performance as we placed in the top eight as a team. Arguably, this was the most successful cross country season in Menomonie’s history!”

The Menomonie Boys Cross Country head coach, Adam Topper, is already thinking about next year, “With four of our top seven coming back next year, the team has a goal to win another Conference championship, get back to the State meet for a third year in a row, and to improve again on their place at the State meet.”

After the race, the end of the season awards were presented. Luke Ray was awarded the MVP of the Boys 25’ Cross Country Season, with an incredible PR of 16:00.1 minutes. Noah Winder was another Nominee, with an impressive PR of 16:13.4 minutes. Karter Livingston was honored by being the Rookie of the Year, with a PR of 18:14.0. Mathew Snavely and Brody Salzman were rewarded with other nominees for rookie of the year, having similar PR’s of 18:29.9 and 18:33.2, respectively. 

Five Mustang athletes were nominated to the Big Rivers Conference team. Luke Ray, Noah Winder and Owen Pelzel were rewarded with 1st team of the BRC, Logan Topper with 2nd team of the BRC and Evan Olson with an honorable mention.