PLATTEVILLE - The Monroe boys cross country team had four of the top 12 runners, but finished second in the large schools Platteville Invitational on Saturday.
Dodgeville-Mineral Point, which also had five of the top 14 runners, edged the Cheesemakers 40-46 for the title. The difference was Dodgeville-Mineral Point's No. 5 runner finished 25th. Dodgeville-Mineral Point was the WIAA Division 2 state runner-up last year.
"Our top four finished in the top 12 of the entire meet. Then our gap was just too big to win the meet," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said.
Monroe sophomore Ethan Moehn took seventh overall, finishing the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16 minutes, 45 seconds. Monroe senior Joel Henry finished sixth (16:54) followed by senior Joel Henry, 10th (16:54), Luke Peterson, 11th (16:57) and junior Steve Christiansen, 12th (16:57). Monroe's A.J. Cifuentes took 39th th (17:52).
"As a team, we raced a little better this weekend than last," Hirsbrunner said. "We are starting to lower our mileage and increase our speed. We looked a little crisper, but we are still far from where we want to be. Our arch rival (Dodgeville) won the battle today. We know they are the biggest obstacle standing in our path for a trip to state.
Brodhead-Juda finished ninth as a team with 239 points. Brodhead-Juda senior Tate Harnack took 16th in the large schools (17:36) to lead the Cardinals. Dylan Johnson finished 40th (18:44) and Dillon Larson was 49th (18:54).
Darlington ran away and outdistanced Albany 30-82 for the small schools title. The Redbirds had all five of their runners in the top 11.
Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe won the race with a time of 15:39, which was six seconds ahead of New Glarus-Monticello's Ryan McCoy (15:45). Tyson's older brother Kent took third (16:42) and Michael Sinclair was fifth (17:03). Brady McDaniel took 10th (17:24) and Destin Komprood was 11th (17:24).
Albany senior Reece Whitehead finished fourth (16:53) and Jose Ramirez was eighth (17:12) to lead the Comets.
New Glarus-Monticello finished fourth as a team and were led by McCoy who was the runner-up. New Glarus-Monticello's Evan Schultz finished 15th (17:44) and Young-Chul Vetterli was 24th (18:10). Riley Miller took 27th 18:13) and Alexander Yeiser was 28th (18:29). Pecatonica-Argyle took 10th out of 11 teams. Pecatonica-Argyle senior Wyatt Massey finished ninth (17:22) and Cameron Colson took 30th (18:35) to lead the Vikings.
There is just two weeks until the Badger South Conference meet at Milton Oct. 15. The Cheesemakers will then host the sectional and will see Dodgeville-Mineral Point again.
"It's going to be a pretty big battle," Hirsbrunner said. "We know their team well. Our guys understand exactly who they need to run with and where they need to position themselves in order to give us a chance to take them down."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point, which also had five of the top 14 runners, edged the Cheesemakers 40-46 for the title. The difference was Dodgeville-Mineral Point's No. 5 runner finished 25th. Dodgeville-Mineral Point was the WIAA Division 2 state runner-up last year.
"Our top four finished in the top 12 of the entire meet. Then our gap was just too big to win the meet," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said.
Monroe sophomore Ethan Moehn took seventh overall, finishing the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16 minutes, 45 seconds. Monroe senior Joel Henry finished sixth (16:54) followed by senior Joel Henry, 10th (16:54), Luke Peterson, 11th (16:57) and junior Steve Christiansen, 12th (16:57). Monroe's A.J. Cifuentes took 39th th (17:52).
"As a team, we raced a little better this weekend than last," Hirsbrunner said. "We are starting to lower our mileage and increase our speed. We looked a little crisper, but we are still far from where we want to be. Our arch rival (Dodgeville) won the battle today. We know they are the biggest obstacle standing in our path for a trip to state.
Brodhead-Juda finished ninth as a team with 239 points. Brodhead-Juda senior Tate Harnack took 16th in the large schools (17:36) to lead the Cardinals. Dylan Johnson finished 40th (18:44) and Dillon Larson was 49th (18:54).
Darlington ran away and outdistanced Albany 30-82 for the small schools title. The Redbirds had all five of their runners in the top 11.
Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe won the race with a time of 15:39, which was six seconds ahead of New Glarus-Monticello's Ryan McCoy (15:45). Tyson's older brother Kent took third (16:42) and Michael Sinclair was fifth (17:03). Brady McDaniel took 10th (17:24) and Destin Komprood was 11th (17:24).
Albany senior Reece Whitehead finished fourth (16:53) and Jose Ramirez was eighth (17:12) to lead the Comets.
New Glarus-Monticello finished fourth as a team and were led by McCoy who was the runner-up. New Glarus-Monticello's Evan Schultz finished 15th (17:44) and Young-Chul Vetterli was 24th (18:10). Riley Miller took 27th 18:13) and Alexander Yeiser was 28th (18:29). Pecatonica-Argyle took 10th out of 11 teams. Pecatonica-Argyle senior Wyatt Massey finished ninth (17:22) and Cameron Colson took 30th (18:35) to lead the Vikings.
There is just two weeks until the Badger South Conference meet at Milton Oct. 15. The Cheesemakers will then host the sectional and will see Dodgeville-Mineral Point again.
"It's going to be a pretty big battle," Hirsbrunner said. "We know their team well. Our guys understand exactly who they need to run with and where they need to position themselves in order to give us a chance to take them down."
