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Zach Vircks named to WCCCA Hall of Fame

By Joseph Back
Posted 1/17/24

A Stanley-Boyd native has just made the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association (WCCCA) Hall of Fame—as an athlete. Zach Vircks, a Stanley-Boyd Class of 2003 graduate, was inducted to the …

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Zach Vircks named to WCCCA Hall of Fame

Posted
By Joseph Back
  • A Stanley-Boyd native has just made the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association (WCCCA) Hall of Fame—as an athlete.
    Zach Vircks, a Stanley-Boyd Class of 2003 graduate, was inducted to the WCCCA Class of 2024 Hall of Fame on Jan. 5 at the Embassy Suites in Brookfield Wisconsin, during the organization’s Hall of Fame Banquet and Awards ceremony.
    The WCCCA is an organization that seeks to advance the sport of cross country in the state of Wisconsin, encouraging participation at all levels. Vircks was nominated for the Hall of Fame by a WCCCA committee of current and retired coaches some years back, then stayed on the list when not chosen immediately that year. The son of Richard and Deb Vircks, Zach was inducted to the with four other names, three athletes and one coach.
    Also inducted with Vircks was Gabby Levac, Dave Mahlik, Ryan Nameth, and Jason Wilkinson. Mahlik was a Division 2 cross country coach at Valders High School from 1986 - 1998, with Levac, Nameth, and Wilkinson athletes for their schools.
    As for Vircks, his high school cross country career at Stanley-Boyd included being the Cloverbelt Conference Individual Champion for three years running from 2000-2002. Vircks was also the Division 2 Sectional Champion for those are three years and the WIAA State Champion in Division 2 for two of those years. Winning at state his junior year with a time of 16:09, Vircks finished his senior year of cross country at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, coming away with a finish time of 15:47, or fourteen seconds from the state record.
    Named WIAA Scholar Athlete his senior year in 2003, Vircks was also First Team All-State for his final three years of high school, as well as being named to Academic All State.
    Zach’s high school cross country coach Gary Krueger shared more on Zach’s work ethic and dedication that led to the award.
    “Zach was not only an extraordinary runner and had a stellar career, he was also an outstanding individual and team leader. He led by example. No one ever out worked Zach. He was a very dedicated runner and ran each race to the best of his ability. This allowed Zach to set numerous course records throughout his running career at Stanley-Boyd,” Krueger said.
    “He was an inspiration to his teammates and helped make all of them better runners. During Zach’s cross-country career, Stanley-Boyd’s boys team qualified for the D-2 State Meet two times and placed 6th in 2001 and 2nd in 2002. This award is well deserved. During his high school career Zach was the top runner in the area and one of the best runners in the state.” Krueger said Vircks was originally nominated some years back but that he didn’t know by who.
    “I don’t know who nominated Zach,” he said.“I feel very honored to have been Zach’s coach and congratulate him on getting the recognition he so deserves. I couldn’t be more proud.”

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