Reflections on Campbellsport Cross Country

Campbellsport Cross Country

After the absolute thrill of experiencing a second Campbellsport High School state championship in cross country this weekend, my mind drifted back to the “beginning,” the day

Superintendent Leo Lang, in 1969, called me into his office and asked, “How would you like to begin a cross country program at Campbellsport?”

Little did I know this decision would alter my life in the most unexpected ways, as it would change the nature of sports itself at Campbellsport High School.

Because as a young kid growing up, I ran everywhere—to school, back home, to the swimming pool and back home, to my dad’s store, where I worked, on my paper route, when I wasn’t on my bike, in high school sports (I was relatively successful in track and field, qualifying for State three different years in the mile and the 440), I quickly said yes.

Mr. Lang found a replacement for me directing the one-act play, which was an assigned duty that occurred at the same time, September and October. I was happy to shed that activity, where I felt I was a duck out of water.

Then I began the task of finding runners for a brand new sport. I looked to the track team for boys who were distance runners and middle-distance runners. I borrowed the track uniforms and sweat suits. I arranged a schedule.

Other schools had already started practice, and I didn’t even have five guys to start a new sport as of that date. 

I found boys like Steve Knickel, who still looked physically fit enough to run a mile. I found Gary Rose and Rick Halbur. There was also a small freshman named Glenn Stommel, who was a diamond in the rough. There were the Anders boys, and there was Jim Konen.

We looked like a bunch of misfits looking for identity; we went to our first meet with me driving the van.

We took our lumps a bit that year, because Campbellsport was in its final year in the old Scenic Moraine Conference, which included much bigger schools, like Slinger, Grafton, and Germantown. 

Miraculously, we won all our dual meets, which was a main part of the schedule in those days, and even more miraculously finished in the middle of the pack at the Conference Meet. 

Our first season ended with Glenn Stommel raising eyebrows in the area with his high finishes everywhere.

In our second season, we caught a huge break, with conference realignment both bringing us closer to home in terms of travel, and similar-sized towns, like Lomira and North Fond du Lac, Horicon, Dodgeland, and Oakfield. Lomira would be our chief rival. We also competed in a couple of invitationals, including Albany, near Madison. I continued to recruit runners.

When I began the program, I had two goals: The first was to learn as much about the sport as I could. My only experience with the sport was to have watched two college cross country meets at UW-Oshkosh. I had to learn how to train cross country runners, which was different than track and field. It was entirely distance running, just one race, at that time only 2.1 to 2.3 miles in length, but still it was double the length of anything I had run.

Secondly, my goal was to recruit, recruit, recruit. My goal was to have more runners on our team than other schools did, because the blue chippers would then appear from the masses. It had already worked with Glenn Stommel. 

Learn more. Recruit. Learn more. Recruit. Rinse and repeat.

In the Flyway Conference Meet, Campbellsport’s depth and faster runners prevailed, with Glenn Stommel beating Lomira’s top runner, and the Cougars (not the Bells anymore) winning the first-ever Flyway Conference championship in any sport. 

We had six of the top ten runners in the conference. Glenn was conference champ. The boys then went on to not only win the regional in our second year of existence, but qualify for State. 

We then placed eighth in State, in only our second year. People like Rocky Martiny, Jim Bub, and John Lang graced that team.

Our third year, 1971, was even more successful, as we won or placed very high in invitationals, won the Flyway, had seven of the top ten runners in the conference, won the regionals, won the sectionals, and placed fourth in the State, medium school division. 

Joining Stommel were guys like Al Floeter, Dave Seibel, Larry Martiny, Joe Flasch, John Konen, Steve Lichtensteiger, and Andy Floyd. And the team had mainly sophomores and juniors on the roster. Stommel finished “All-State,” #6 overall.

Like this year 2026, expectations were high in 1972. The difference was that the 1972 team had 10 runners who were extremely competitive in a school with 700 students. In addition, we had several other jayvee runners. CHS is now 300 students smaller, which also reflected in the small, but extremely competitive team that won the 2026 State Title last weekend.

In 1972, the team went 73-1, finishing second just once, to perennial powerhouse Menomonee Falls North in the star-studded Fond du Lac Invitational. That one hurt, because #1 runner Glenn Stommel was injured, with just a few weeks left in the season. 

However, the team recovered, and Stommel got back to 90% for the tournament. We easily won the Flyway again, placing six of the top ten, without Stommel. Al Floeter won the Flyway title. 

We won the Regional, won the Sectional, and put everything together at State, finishing our top four runners within eleven seconds of each other. 

Those boys included Stommel, Floeter, Rocky Martiny, Joe Flasch, Dave Seibel, Larry Martiny, and John Konen. Steve Lichtensteiger and Butch Floyd were our top subs, but we could enter only seven for the State Meet.

In 1973, Floeter, Flasch, Seibel, and Larry Martiny would return, along with Jake Batzler, the Del Ponte boys, and the next generation. It would be another Flyway title, Regional, and Sectional, and fourth at State once again.

Glenn Stommel, Rocky and Larry Martiny, and Al Floeter are Hall of Famers now, as of this writing. They have been attending Cougar Invitationals regularly, cheering on the “kids of today.”

Congratulations to my long-time friend and coach Mike Kulibert, as well as Mackenzie Garcia, and the State Champion CHS boys cross country team !!

This was a magic year, with ups and downs for the team, their parents, and the Cougar faithful. Now you know what it was like decades ago.