WATERTOWN – For some, a race during cold and rain would spell disaster. That’s not the case for Watertown-Mayer’s Will Elskamp. Although it wasn’t ideal, Elskamp powered through the weather to win the Watertown-Mayer Invitational on his home course Tuesday afternoon.
“The rain definitely made things difficult,” Elskamp said. “I like the cold. That always helps, but the rain is no good.”
While the rain took its toll on some runners, Elskamp decided to embrace it. Yes, it wasn’t fun and had some affect on his performance, but there’s no doubt Elskamp found a way to enjoy himself on his way to a win.
“It makes me doubt myself a little bit more, but in my perspective, it makes it a little more fun,” Elskamp said. “It’s a little bit more of an enjoyable time. You’ll definitely remember it for a longer time.”
It was a good boost for Elskamp and the rest of the Royals as they will run the same course next week at the Wright County Conference meet. The Royals finished with a team score of 83, which was good enough for fourth place. They’ll look to build off this race and come back even stronger next week on their home course once again.
“I think the conference meet will be good,” Elskamp said. “There are a few people that I’ve been looking out for and I’ll try to keep up with. It’ll end up being a good time.”
Individually, Elskamp still has his sights set on getting back to his personal best. His time in the rain and cold was 17 minutes and 28 seconds, which is just 12 seconds off of the time he wants to get back to for sections.
“My top time is 17 minutes and 16 seconds,” Elskamp said. “In all honestly, I want to get to that again once section time hits.”
WATERTOWN-MAYER INVITATIONAL
TEAM SCORES: 1. Glencoe-Silver Lake 34; 2. Mound Westonka 40; 3. New London-Spicer 76; 4. Watertown-Mayer 83; 5. Litchfield 125.
WATERTOWN-MAYER FINISHES
1st – Will Elskamp (17:28.73)
15th – George Janikula (20:07.25)
16th – Corey Bimberg (20:13.79)
20th – Jacob Oscarson (21:06.92)
31st – Nicholas Steurnagel (23:40.65)
Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter
Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports