For the final and most highly anticipated race of the year, 22 Cows made the venture to East Lansing, Michigan for the 2017 NIRCA National Championship, and they represented the WTC very well. On the men’s side, Matt Kuik lead the way coming in 66th with a time of 26:44. Following him to finish off the top 6 was Evan Routhier (26:52), Evan G. Kohl (27:16), Andre Hessini (27:25), Kevin Dado (27:45), and Brett Jones (27:48). As a team our men took 17th. In the Jr/Sr. race, Izak Oltman and Nathan Orf lead the way running 28:49 and 28:50, respectively. Following not too far behind was Ryan Diedrich (29:12), Nick Feyen (29:33), Jake Reiners (30:08), Jacob Hrubecky (30:10), and Max Carson (32:25). In the Freshmen/Sophomore race Peyton Cummings and Matt Land ran well running 29:55 and 31:19 respectively.

On the women’s side, Allie Levin lead the way running 23:56 for an impressive 34th place finish. Right behind Allie and rounding off the team was was Rissa Lane (24:02), Megan Buechel (24:36), Molly Baus (26:09), and Sara Kaiser (28:40). As a team the women took 20th. Kalazeh Johnson was the only cow representing WTC in the Freshmen/Sophomore race and she did a great job as well!

Thank you to everyone who came to formal. It was a great time celebrating all of the season's accomplishments! Big shout out to everyone who voted for awards and especially to these stunning cows for their accomplishments!

Female Behind the Scenes: Megan Buechel
Male Behind the Scenes: Ryan Diedrich
Female Rookie of the Year: Becca Murray
Male Rookie of the Year: Matt Land
Female Freshmen of the Year: Allie Levin
Male Freshmen of the Year: Kevin Dado
Female Social Cow: Hanna Docter
Male Social Cow: Nick Feyen
Female Leadership: Megan Buechel
Male Leadership: Kevin Boyle
Female MVP: Madi Pape
Male MVP: Evan Routhier

All the pictures from the night can be found here. Big thank you to Nolan Ferlic for taking such awesome pictures!!

The second annual Cow Mile is set for Friday December 8th at 5:00 pm. This is arguably one of the best events of the year (obviously behind Brinner though). In case you are unfamiliar with the concept of a cow mile, it consists of 4 quarter mile loops all that start with a nice 12 oz. glass of chocolate milk. Last year the inaugural men’s champion was Nathan Orf running 5:52, and the women’s was Hanna Doctor who ran 8:28. As for predictions for this years race, Nathan said that he’ll likely have to work hard for another title as “Evan Routhier is looking like a strong contender in this year's cow mile. He could easily come out on top”. Hanna is hoping we have a better turn out on the Lady Cow side as it is lots of fun! As for making predictions she had a tough time deciding but noted that “Orf churned out an incredible time last year and I'm expecting him to be a front runner. I'm looking forward to seeing Matt throw up again, too.” For all the newcomers who may be nervous, or any returning competitors looking for some pointers, Nathan and Hanna also offered up some words of advice for you all:

1- Brinner
2- Cow Casts
3- Bylaw Changes
4- NIRCA All-Regionals
5- Cities Traveled To
6- Top 10 Finishes
7- Meets attended
8- Griak Houses
9- Board Positions
10- Pounds of Pancake Mix
11- Names Mispronounced by Kevin
12- Formal Awards