FORT ATKINSON - The Monroe boys cross country team continues to shine early in the season, winning the Badger Challenge meet.
It marks the eighth time Monroe has won the Badger Challenge in the 13 years of the meet. The Cheesemakers set 16 personal records during the meet led by Monroe senior Ethan Moehn who finished first in the junior-senior race with a time of 15 minutes, 59 seconds.
The meet includes 14 teams and the races are broken down into freshman-sophomore and junior-senior races, but the meet is scored with the top-five times from each team.
"Breaking 16 is a whole new level," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "Not many high school runners will ever hit this mark. Ethan becomes the 11th person in Monroe history to achieve this running a 5k."
Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished second with a PR of 16:21 and senior Noah Tostrud was fourth running a PR of 16:39.
"The two of them (Moehn and Jake Hirsbrunner) looked so smooth throughout the entire race," Hirsbrunner said. "They never pushed hard or started to labor. I couldn't believe their times when the race was over, judging by how efficiently they ran."
The Cheesemakers beat the field by more than 3 minutes and finished 7 minutes faster than last year. Monroe freshman Nick Baumann took 14th overall (17:32) and senior Trevor Blum was 16th (17:35).
"As a team we took care of business," Hirsbrunner said. "The guys knew they were the favorites. That doesn't always work in your favor, but after about 400 meters into the race, the tone was set by our top runners."
The Monroe girls cross country team finished fifth. Monroe freshman Jordan Hirsbrunner finished seventh in the freshman-sophomore race and 23rd overall (16:44). Monroe's Alyssa Dale took 31st (16:51), sophomore teammate Kayla Einbeck finished 39th (17:04) and freshman Ciera Kaderly was 40th (17:04).
"We were really looking to try and hit the top half of the 14 schools," Hirsbrunner said. "Last year we were eighth. This year we are very pleased with our fifth-place finish."
There were just 31 seconds that separated the Cheesemakers' No. 1 and No. 5 runners.
"If we can move that entire group up a little, we can finish in the upper half of our Badger South meet," Hirsbrunner said. "We have really improved as a team with our starts and our first halves of the races. Now we are going to have to bear down and learn how to close these races out. We need to change gears a little better in the final 400 meters."
Rock Valley Classic
EDGERTON - Brodhead-Juda senior Dylan Johnson finished second place in the senior race at the Rock Valley Classic Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Johnson took second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds. Teammate Rodrigo Yescas finished 10th (19:28) and Justin Krumwiede was 11th (19:38).
In the junior race, CJ Hack took 12th (19:46). Brodhead-Juda's Peter Speckman finished sixth in the sophomore race (18:20) and Jakob Harper was 11th (20:34). Brodhead-Juda's Nate Ciabatti finished fifth in the freshmen race (19:02).
In the girls competition, Brodhead-Juda's Morganne Goecks finished seventh in the senior race (17:54) and Taylor Covert took eighth (18:01). Meg Duffield finished 13th (18:44) for the Cardinals.
Taylor Bluemel took second in the sophomore race (17:00) and Ashley Douglas was 20th in the freshmen race (20:55).
It marks the eighth time Monroe has won the Badger Challenge in the 13 years of the meet. The Cheesemakers set 16 personal records during the meet led by Monroe senior Ethan Moehn who finished first in the junior-senior race with a time of 15 minutes, 59 seconds.
The meet includes 14 teams and the races are broken down into freshman-sophomore and junior-senior races, but the meet is scored with the top-five times from each team.
"Breaking 16 is a whole new level," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "Not many high school runners will ever hit this mark. Ethan becomes the 11th person in Monroe history to achieve this running a 5k."
Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished second with a PR of 16:21 and senior Noah Tostrud was fourth running a PR of 16:39.
"The two of them (Moehn and Jake Hirsbrunner) looked so smooth throughout the entire race," Hirsbrunner said. "They never pushed hard or started to labor. I couldn't believe their times when the race was over, judging by how efficiently they ran."
The Cheesemakers beat the field by more than 3 minutes and finished 7 minutes faster than last year. Monroe freshman Nick Baumann took 14th overall (17:32) and senior Trevor Blum was 16th (17:35).
"As a team we took care of business," Hirsbrunner said. "The guys knew they were the favorites. That doesn't always work in your favor, but after about 400 meters into the race, the tone was set by our top runners."
The Monroe girls cross country team finished fifth. Monroe freshman Jordan Hirsbrunner finished seventh in the freshman-sophomore race and 23rd overall (16:44). Monroe's Alyssa Dale took 31st (16:51), sophomore teammate Kayla Einbeck finished 39th (17:04) and freshman Ciera Kaderly was 40th (17:04).
"We were really looking to try and hit the top half of the 14 schools," Hirsbrunner said. "Last year we were eighth. This year we are very pleased with our fifth-place finish."
There were just 31 seconds that separated the Cheesemakers' No. 1 and No. 5 runners.
"If we can move that entire group up a little, we can finish in the upper half of our Badger South meet," Hirsbrunner said. "We have really improved as a team with our starts and our first halves of the races. Now we are going to have to bear down and learn how to close these races out. We need to change gears a little better in the final 400 meters."
Rock Valley Classic
EDGERTON - Brodhead-Juda senior Dylan Johnson finished second place in the senior race at the Rock Valley Classic Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Johnson took second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds. Teammate Rodrigo Yescas finished 10th (19:28) and Justin Krumwiede was 11th (19:38).
In the junior race, CJ Hack took 12th (19:46). Brodhead-Juda's Peter Speckman finished sixth in the sophomore race (18:20) and Jakob Harper was 11th (20:34). Brodhead-Juda's Nate Ciabatti finished fifth in the freshmen race (19:02).
In the girls competition, Brodhead-Juda's Morganne Goecks finished seventh in the senior race (17:54) and Taylor Covert took eighth (18:01). Meg Duffield finished 13th (18:44) for the Cardinals.
Taylor Bluemel took second in the sophomore race (17:00) and Ashley Douglas was 20th in the freshmen race (20:55).
