Stewart: Port Washington runners emerge from humble beginnings to reach state

They finished in flurries

First it was seniors Alexis Reichardt, Payton Hurley and Emma Meyer crossing the finish line in second, third and fourth place. Later it was junior Brett Grisar, senior Miles Stimac and junior Isaiah Holland doing the same thing in the boys race.

Port Washington sometimes gets overshadowed in the North Shore Conference, but Saturday the day belonged to the Pirates.

The Port Washington girls won the Division 2 sectional title with 37 points. The boys were also sectional champion, posting a slightly better point total (34).

The state berths for both teams were the first since 2010. And all things considered, it makes sense that they both finished third in Division 2 that year.

“This year a dream finally came true,” Reichardt said.

She could have been speaking for both teams in that regard.

That Port Washington will have boys and girls teams represented at the state meet Saturday at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids is a turn of events that you should like for a couple of reasons.

First, who doesn’t like cheering for the little guy? 

There are a small handful of schools around the area who win big in a number of sports. Port Washington is far from that exclusive company. It was just a couple of years ago that the school wanted out of the North Shore Conference because as one of the smaller schools in the league, it was difficult to compete.

And for all the purists out there, a big part of the high school sports experience is goal setting and then putting in the work to meet those standards. Both Port teams have athletes who exemplify that.

Cross country, especially on the girls side, produces a few freshmen who almost every year make a big splash. The more relevant story, however, is the one about the team that puts in the work and finally gets its reward.

“They earned this,” Port girls coach Joe Adamak said. “It wasn’t like they came on as phenoms. Through hard work, you can get good at this sport.”

His team’s seniors emerged from humble beginnings. As freshmen, they struggled to complete workouts initially. By the end of the year, they were respectable but not enough to make an impact in the North Shore race.  With Reichardt and Hurley running on the varsity, the Pirates were last that season.

They climbed from there. The team was fifth in 2015, the year Meyer, a former volleyball player, joined the team. Port was second both this season and last. At the sectional last season the squad finished third, one spot out away from a state berth, but that was as a Division 1 school. This year they dropped to Division 2.

“It’s so crazy how much our mental state has changed as a team,” Meyer said. “I feel when I joined it sophomore year our confidence level was nowhere near (where it is now).”

On the boys side, the journey to state for Stimac and fellow senior Fraser Toal didn’t immediately go as planned. Both played soccer their freshman year, but Toal was looking for a change as a sophomore and Stimac was looking for something to do after getting cut.

The two found a home in a no-cut sport that can draw people in with its pasta parties and sense of community.

“Me and Miles kind of stuck together. We’d just talk throughout the races for our first year,” Fraser said. “I never thought I’d get here.”

Stimac expressed a similar sentiment. He and the Pirates put in the work.and they got their reward

“I guess you train every day and you get here,” he said.

Mark Stewart can be reached at mstewart@journalsentinel.com or on Twitter at MarkStewartMJS.