WISCONSIN RAPIDS - Monroe High School junior Nick Baumann entered the state meet for the third straight year looking to make a statement.
He did just that despite a rainy and mushy course at the WIAA Division 2 state boys cross country meet Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Baumann finished 16th out of 150 runners in a time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds in the 5,000-meter race. Sophomore teammate Dylan Scace placed 102nd (18:10.89).
In the girls race, Monroe junior Jordan Hirsbrunner finished 88th (21:10.55).
"We are very proud of the three individuals who represented Monroe High School at the state meet," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The weather was not very good, and it made it tough to prepare to run hard. The corners were very treacherous and the downhills were dangerous. However, the kids love adverse conditions and they did the best they could.
"One of the things working against our kids is we based our season on the conference meet this year. We based our training to try to peak for that race. We wanted to win the boys side for conference, and Jordan wanted to land an all-conference spot. The good side is we hit our goals. The bad side is it was very hard to hang on for two more weeks."
Baumann was making his third appearance at state.
"Nick was experienced on this course and at this high level race," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "He got out smart, made moves when he needed to and started to grind guys down for the final 1,000 meters."
Baumann finished second out of runners from the Monroe sectional and beat one of the runners who finished ahead of him at the sectional. The boys Division 2 race was the fifth race of the day, and the rain took its toll on the course.
"As the day went on, each race was tougher and tougher," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The course was turning into mush with 150-plus runners in each race with spikes on."
Scace, running at state for the first time, was plagued by a side cramp at the 1,000-meter mark.
"He never recovered," Hirsbrunner said. "He battled hard and still managed to run 18:10. Dylan is such a tough racer and competitor. You could see he had some abdominal discomfort, and it plagued him the remaining 4,000 meters, but he never gave up and never gave in."
Hirsbrunner said Scace had a breakout season. He ran a personal-best 16:38 earlier in the season, which is the eighth fastest time by a sophomore in the history of Monroe's program.
"He has shown he can be a lead runner, and the future has so much in store for him," Hirsbrunner said.
Hirsbrunner had Baumann and Scace switch to one-half inch spikes, the longest legal spike length, to try to ensure footing. Baumann's personal-best time of 16:33 this year lands him as the 19th fastest all-time junior in the history of Monroe.
It also was Jordan Hirsbrunner's first state berth. She was the fifth individual qualifier from the Monroe sectional and moved up ahead of one of the other sectional qualifiers at state.
"She got out a little slower than she wanted and spent the entire race trying to make up ground," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "This is not an easy thing to do at a race with this caliber of runners, but with the conditions she never backed down and continued to catch girls throughout the race."
Jordan Hirsbrunner's time of 20:02 at the sectional was the fastest 5,000-meter time by a junior in the history of the program.
"She showed that she can handle the 5,000-meter distance and run at the highest level high school girls cross country has," Dave Hirsbrunner said.
Several other area runners at state for the first time had memorable debuts. Brodhead-Juda senior Taylor Bluemel was the top area runner in the Division 2 girls state meet. Bluemel finished 25th with a time of 20:11.32. Sophomore teammate Cora Purdue took 33rd (20:22.89), and sophomore Madee Harding was 48th (20:37.39). The Cardinals had the most state qualifiers in the history of their program.
"She (Bluemel) ran extremely well," Brodhead-Juda coach Curt Gratz said. "One of her reach goals at the beginning of the season was top 10. This was her realistic goal - top 30. Coming in it was hard to know where her time would be with the weather conditions. It threw out her time goal."
Both Purdue and Harding also had successful first trips to state in cross country.
"They are both fierce competitors," Gratz said of Purdue and Harding. "They are like sisters. I'm happy with their performance for their first time at state."
Both Purdue and Harding already have discussed goals for next season.
"They both talked on the ride home about trying to place next year at state," Gratz said of the pair's medal aspirations. "They will have to stay focused. They don't just give you the trip to state because you have been there. It's hard work that gets you there and hard work that keeps you there."
He did just that despite a rainy and mushy course at the WIAA Division 2 state boys cross country meet Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. Baumann finished 16th out of 150 runners in a time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds in the 5,000-meter race. Sophomore teammate Dylan Scace placed 102nd (18:10.89).
In the girls race, Monroe junior Jordan Hirsbrunner finished 88th (21:10.55).
"We are very proud of the three individuals who represented Monroe High School at the state meet," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The weather was not very good, and it made it tough to prepare to run hard. The corners were very treacherous and the downhills were dangerous. However, the kids love adverse conditions and they did the best they could.
"One of the things working against our kids is we based our season on the conference meet this year. We based our training to try to peak for that race. We wanted to win the boys side for conference, and Jordan wanted to land an all-conference spot. The good side is we hit our goals. The bad side is it was very hard to hang on for two more weeks."
Baumann was making his third appearance at state.
"Nick was experienced on this course and at this high level race," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "He got out smart, made moves when he needed to and started to grind guys down for the final 1,000 meters."
Baumann finished second out of runners from the Monroe sectional and beat one of the runners who finished ahead of him at the sectional. The boys Division 2 race was the fifth race of the day, and the rain took its toll on the course.
"As the day went on, each race was tougher and tougher," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The course was turning into mush with 150-plus runners in each race with spikes on."
Scace, running at state for the first time, was plagued by a side cramp at the 1,000-meter mark.
"He never recovered," Hirsbrunner said. "He battled hard and still managed to run 18:10. Dylan is such a tough racer and competitor. You could see he had some abdominal discomfort, and it plagued him the remaining 4,000 meters, but he never gave up and never gave in."
Hirsbrunner said Scace had a breakout season. He ran a personal-best 16:38 earlier in the season, which is the eighth fastest time by a sophomore in the history of Monroe's program.
"He has shown he can be a lead runner, and the future has so much in store for him," Hirsbrunner said.
Hirsbrunner had Baumann and Scace switch to one-half inch spikes, the longest legal spike length, to try to ensure footing. Baumann's personal-best time of 16:33 this year lands him as the 19th fastest all-time junior in the history of Monroe.
It also was Jordan Hirsbrunner's first state berth. She was the fifth individual qualifier from the Monroe sectional and moved up ahead of one of the other sectional qualifiers at state.
"She got out a little slower than she wanted and spent the entire race trying to make up ground," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "This is not an easy thing to do at a race with this caliber of runners, but with the conditions she never backed down and continued to catch girls throughout the race."
Jordan Hirsbrunner's time of 20:02 at the sectional was the fastest 5,000-meter time by a junior in the history of the program.
"She showed that she can handle the 5,000-meter distance and run at the highest level high school girls cross country has," Dave Hirsbrunner said.
Several other area runners at state for the first time had memorable debuts. Brodhead-Juda senior Taylor Bluemel was the top area runner in the Division 2 girls state meet. Bluemel finished 25th with a time of 20:11.32. Sophomore teammate Cora Purdue took 33rd (20:22.89), and sophomore Madee Harding was 48th (20:37.39). The Cardinals had the most state qualifiers in the history of their program.
"She (Bluemel) ran extremely well," Brodhead-Juda coach Curt Gratz said. "One of her reach goals at the beginning of the season was top 10. This was her realistic goal - top 30. Coming in it was hard to know where her time would be with the weather conditions. It threw out her time goal."
Both Purdue and Harding also had successful first trips to state in cross country.
"They are both fierce competitors," Gratz said of Purdue and Harding. "They are like sisters. I'm happy with their performance for their first time at state."
Both Purdue and Harding already have discussed goals for next season.
"They both talked on the ride home about trying to place next year at state," Gratz said of the pair's medal aspirations. "They will have to stay focused. They don't just give you the trip to state because you have been there. It's hard work that gets you there and hard work that keeps you there."
