Slinger runner willing to go the distance
When you're as driven as Cael Grotenhuis, it's impossible to care too much.
The Slinger senior has a resume in the classroom that combined with his running ability has made him worthy of recruitment by the Ivy League. He also has such potential as runner that he has a scholarship offer from one of the nation's powerhouse programs.
Grotenhuis describes himself as a Type A personality and the more you hear about his work ethic and determination the more it makes sense.
“If I'm going to go after something,” Grotenhuis said, “I'm going to go after it to the fullest extent possible.”
Dedicated to training. Rarely deterred for too long. Never satisfied.
If you're looking for the mentality of a great runner, that is a good start. Grotenhuis used some of each to become one of the state's top distance runners, a three-time state cross country qualifier who was the state runner-up in Division 1 last season.
He loves to run. He'd have to make it so far.
“It was year-round preparation, a very detailed training plan that started right after his freshman year,” Slinger coach Terry Krall said. “He kept setting goals for workouts and just never let any obstacles get in his way.”
Boys cross country runners rarely burst on to the scene. Most often they work their way up the ranks. That was the case with Grotenhuis who improved each year, going from 17th to eighth to first in the North Shore Conference from freshman to junior year and rising from 115th to 47th to second at the Division 1 state meet during that same stretch.
He enters his senior year with scholarship offers from perennial national title contender Northern Arizona and Pennsylvania.
“Mentally I was in a way stronger place than I had ever been before,” Grotenshuis said of last season. “In my junior year at the state meet I was less nervous than I was for my first cross country race freshman year … That tells you how much I grew.”
A growth spurt then big gains
The jump he made last season was a case of going from good to great and it hinged on his health. As a sophomore, he grew 8 inches going from 5-foot-6 to his current height of 6-2 and had problems with his growth plates that prevented him from training as much as he would have liked.
Between sophomore and junior year, however, that was no longer an issue.
He was able to put in more miles. It didn't take long for him to realize what a difference it made.
At the second meet of the year, West Allis Hale's Leighton Betz invitational, Grotenhius finished directly ahead of Nicolet's Nicholas Holmes and Hale's Josh Truchon, runners who finished ninth and 21st, respectively, as the state meet the previous year.
“I just wanted to beat one of them, so I wanted to place top two in that race and from the start of that race, I felt really, really strong and I took the lead with about a (kilometer) to go,” Grotenhuis said. “That was the moment I knew I was in craziest shape of my life and that I could go out there and challenge for the win at the state meet.”
Grotenhuis won his next six races heading into the state meet by at least 10 seconds. At state his time of 15 minutes 42.5 seconds was about 51 seconds faster than what he ran at state the year before.
The only thing that would have made it better was winning the title. He led the state final until about threetenths of a mile remained. Hortonville's Jake Krause won the race by about 8 seconds.
Inspired by second-place showing
That finish stoked his fire during the offseason.
“I think second place was the biggest blessing I could have ever had,” Grotenhuis said. “Second place puts you in a position where you're having success and you're succeeding, but you're still hungry and right after that race I felt hungry.“
He poured that added edge into his training for track season where he was a returning 3,200-meter state qualifier who ran anything from that race down to the 800. When track season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Grotenhuis turned his focus back to cross country.
In addition to being a three-time state qualifier, Slinger has qualified for state the past three years. Five of the team's seven runners are back and there is an expectation inside the program to not only getting back to state but once there to challenge like they never have before.
Grotenhuis hopes for a top-three finish.
“I see the drive to do that every single day when I'm at practice with those guys,” Grotenhuis said. “That's something super-special we're looking forward to this fall. … For me that's doing my part, leading by example, showing up every day to put in my best and that sets an example for many others on the team.”