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Oct 30, 2023

In Wisconsin, It Was A Wild Battle To The Line Between Putz And Franzen

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Manny Putz said he ran "obnoxiously" last year en route to his first state title in Wisconsin.

A year wiser, the Onalaska High School junior ran considerably different on Saturday in the WIAA Division I final in Wisconsin Rapids.

As he squared off against Stevens Point's Aloysius Franzen, one of the state's top frontmen, Putz made a move with 1K to go and then claimed the title in 15:05.80, a full 21 seconds faster than his effort last year.

"My strategy was, I was just assuming everyone was just wanting me to lead. So that's what I was running out, pace wise. Everyone was running fast. So I just ran with everyone."

The time was third-fastest on the Ridges Golf Course in meet history, only behind Chris Solinsky's 14:54 from 2002 and Olin Hacker's performance of 14:59.10 from 2014.

Putz has been on a mission this year after suffering achilles tendinitis over his indoor and outdoor seasons -- that injury ultimately made him MIA over the 2023 track seasons.

But cross training did Putz wonders.

Since he's stepped back on the grass in August, he's been nearly unbeatable, logging seven wins -- his only setback came at Roy Griak, where he finished sixth.

Franzen, meanwhile, wasn't far off. Stevens Point's No. 1 followed in second in 15:09 and ultimately front-loaded a team that scored 36 points on a 15:44 average. The Wisconsin power finished all five of its scorers in the first 15 places.

PLACE	ATHLETE		TEAM	MARK	POINTS
1	Manny Putz	11	Onalaska	15:05.80
2	Aloysius Franzen	12	Stevens Point	15:09.70	1
3	Grady Lenn	10	De Pere	15:17.00	2
4	Zach Temple	12	Madison West	15:40.90	3
5	Jacob Nuthals	10	Green Bay Preble	15:42.30	4
6	Ethan Olds	11	Stevens Point	15:44.80	5
7	Brock Bjerke	12	Hudson	15:45.90	6
8	Cooper Erickson	10	Stevens Point	15:47.20	7
9	Diego Serraino	12	Muskego	15:54.20	8
10	James Lennington	11	Oconomowoc	15:55.00	9