In the long and storied history of Middleton’s girls cross country program, no one had ever broken the 18-minute barrier in a 5,000-meter race.
That all changed, though, last Thursday.
Cardinals sophomore standout Lauren Pansegrau set a new school record with a time of 17:57 and won the Hartland Arrowhead Invite. Pansegrau’s big day helped Middleton finish second at the 20-team invite.
“Lauren simply took charge from the start and never looked back,” said Middleton coach Brian Finnel, who is filling in while Alexa Richardson is on maternity leave.
Samantha Valentine set the school record of 18:03 back in 2015. Pansegrau topped that and rolled over one of the top fields she’ll face all season.
Pansegrau won by 1 minute, 8 seconds over runner-up Bridget Flannery of Whitefish Bay.
“She won by well over a minute, a rarity given the size of this meet,” Finnel said.
Pansegrau wasn’t the only one to have a big day.