JANESVILLE - In a cross country meet resembling a state field, the 77th annual Midwest Invite proved to bring out the best in several local runners and teams.
The Darlington boys cross country team, ranked No. 1 in Division 3 and three-time defending state champions, finished fifth place out of 41 teams in the meet at the Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville Saturday. Darlington finished with 246 points, which was behind fourth-place Mac Arthur (206) and third place Middleton (145). Madison La Follette, ranked No. 2 in Division 1, won the invite 41-126 over No. 4 ranked Hartland Arrowhead (126). Monroe finished 27th as a team (720) in the varsity race, but took second place in the freshmen-sophomore race (106), which was just five points behind champion Madison Memorial (101).
Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner opted to run some of the top varsity runners in the freshmen-sophomore race.
"We went after the frosh-soph race," Hirsbrunner said. "We thought we compete or at least be in the top three."
Verona senior Ryan Nameth was the overall champion of the varsity race with a time of 15 minutes, 22.40 seconds out of 256 total runners. The top two local runners were Darlington junior Jaden Komprood, who finished seventh (16:26.30), and Darlington senior Thomas Schultz who took 13th (16:37.10).
Monroe sophomore Nick Baumann, in his first all-out race this season, finished second place in the freshmen-sophomore race (17:19.6), which would have been good enough for 51nd in the varsity race. Monroe sophomore Parker Ingold took ninth (17:59.6) and freshman Dylan Scace was 17th (18:09.8).
"He (Baumann) ran an incredible race to get himself into contention," Hirsbrunner said. "He took the lead with about 600 meters to go and nearly hung on. Pretty incredible feat considering five weeks ago we thought he was lost for the season with an injury. He's such a tough competitor and has a heart the size of a basketball."
Other top runners in the varsity race were Albany senior Aaron Johnson took 19th (16:48.50). Darlington junior Sean Barbee took 59th (17:25.70) and the top runner for the Cheesemakers was senior Jeremy Miller who finished 68th overall (17:32.70). Albany junior Tyler Dahl took 70th (17:35.40, but the Comets didn't have enough runners to score as a team.
The top five for the Redbirds was rounded out by junior Blake Cwynar who took 85th (17:43.30) and sophomore Connor Hackett who was 89th (17:50.30).
Monroe senior Justin Batz finished 155th (18:33.20) and senior Thang Lu took 164th (18:40.90), which was a 3-second personal record. Monroe's Derek Christiansen took 166th (18:42.90) and senior Cody Faust was 191st (19:05.10).
In the girls' varsity race, Darlington took 22nd (580). Dodgeville-Mineral Point won the invite 125-132 over Middleton. Darlington senior Johanna Meister finished 72nd (21:35) and freshman Emma Christ took 109th (22:16). Paige Schilling finished 116th (22:27) and Erin Wolf was 136th (23:09). Jaci Moseley rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking 147th (23:37).
Monroe senior Elise Rossing finished 76th in the varsity race (21:23.80) and senior Alyssa Dale was 86th (21:42.20). Junior teammate Kayla Einbeck took 12st (22:19.10) and senior Ramsey Benkert was 132nd (22:35.70). The Cheesemakers had six run the varsity race, but two didn't finish due to injuries so they didn't score as a team.
"Elise Rossing ran a gutty race to be our No. 1," Hirsbrunner said of the varsity race.
The Monroe girls cross country team ran in the freshmen-sophomore race and finished seventh (198) out of 17 teams. Madison Memorial ran away with the freshmen-sophomore title 36-83 over Madison West. Monroe sophomore Ciara Kaderly won the freshmen-sophomore race with a time of 20:12. Fellow sophomore Jordan Hirsbrunner took 37th (22:33) and freshman Rachel Meier was 39th with a PR of 22:34. Sophomore Josie Eberle took 50th (23:00) and Stephanie Sanft ran a PR of 23:57.
"We tried to work the freshmen-sophomore race with the girls as well," Hirsbrunner said. "Unfortunately we have some girls that are a little banged up yet and didn't recover very well from the hard week of workouts. This past week of practice is our toughest of the year. We look at it as putting hay in the barn now so we can benefit from it at the end of October."
The Darlington boys cross country team, ranked No. 1 in Division 3 and three-time defending state champions, finished fifth place out of 41 teams in the meet at the Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville Saturday. Darlington finished with 246 points, which was behind fourth-place Mac Arthur (206) and third place Middleton (145). Madison La Follette, ranked No. 2 in Division 1, won the invite 41-126 over No. 4 ranked Hartland Arrowhead (126). Monroe finished 27th as a team (720) in the varsity race, but took second place in the freshmen-sophomore race (106), which was just five points behind champion Madison Memorial (101).
Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner opted to run some of the top varsity runners in the freshmen-sophomore race.
"We went after the frosh-soph race," Hirsbrunner said. "We thought we compete or at least be in the top three."
Verona senior Ryan Nameth was the overall champion of the varsity race with a time of 15 minutes, 22.40 seconds out of 256 total runners. The top two local runners were Darlington junior Jaden Komprood, who finished seventh (16:26.30), and Darlington senior Thomas Schultz who took 13th (16:37.10).
Monroe sophomore Nick Baumann, in his first all-out race this season, finished second place in the freshmen-sophomore race (17:19.6), which would have been good enough for 51nd in the varsity race. Monroe sophomore Parker Ingold took ninth (17:59.6) and freshman Dylan Scace was 17th (18:09.8).
"He (Baumann) ran an incredible race to get himself into contention," Hirsbrunner said. "He took the lead with about 600 meters to go and nearly hung on. Pretty incredible feat considering five weeks ago we thought he was lost for the season with an injury. He's such a tough competitor and has a heart the size of a basketball."
Other top runners in the varsity race were Albany senior Aaron Johnson took 19th (16:48.50). Darlington junior Sean Barbee took 59th (17:25.70) and the top runner for the Cheesemakers was senior Jeremy Miller who finished 68th overall (17:32.70). Albany junior Tyler Dahl took 70th (17:35.40, but the Comets didn't have enough runners to score as a team.
The top five for the Redbirds was rounded out by junior Blake Cwynar who took 85th (17:43.30) and sophomore Connor Hackett who was 89th (17:50.30).
Monroe senior Justin Batz finished 155th (18:33.20) and senior Thang Lu took 164th (18:40.90), which was a 3-second personal record. Monroe's Derek Christiansen took 166th (18:42.90) and senior Cody Faust was 191st (19:05.10).
In the girls' varsity race, Darlington took 22nd (580). Dodgeville-Mineral Point won the invite 125-132 over Middleton. Darlington senior Johanna Meister finished 72nd (21:35) and freshman Emma Christ took 109th (22:16). Paige Schilling finished 116th (22:27) and Erin Wolf was 136th (23:09). Jaci Moseley rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking 147th (23:37).
Monroe senior Elise Rossing finished 76th in the varsity race (21:23.80) and senior Alyssa Dale was 86th (21:42.20). Junior teammate Kayla Einbeck took 12st (22:19.10) and senior Ramsey Benkert was 132nd (22:35.70). The Cheesemakers had six run the varsity race, but two didn't finish due to injuries so they didn't score as a team.
"Elise Rossing ran a gutty race to be our No. 1," Hirsbrunner said of the varsity race.
The Monroe girls cross country team ran in the freshmen-sophomore race and finished seventh (198) out of 17 teams. Madison Memorial ran away with the freshmen-sophomore title 36-83 over Madison West. Monroe sophomore Ciara Kaderly won the freshmen-sophomore race with a time of 20:12. Fellow sophomore Jordan Hirsbrunner took 37th (22:33) and freshman Rachel Meier was 39th with a PR of 22:34. Sophomore Josie Eberle took 50th (23:00) and Stephanie Sanft ran a PR of 23:57.
"We tried to work the freshmen-sophomore race with the girls as well," Hirsbrunner said. "Unfortunately we have some girls that are a little banged up yet and didn't recover very well from the hard week of workouts. This past week of practice is our toughest of the year. We look at it as putting hay in the barn now so we can benefit from it at the end of October."
