DARLINGTON - The first week of the cross country season seems like Christmas to Albany freshman Emma Guenther.
Guenther finished eighth place at the Darlington Invitational Saturday with a time of 16 minutes, 18 seconds.
"It felt great," Guenther said. "There is a lot of competition here. I wasn't sure how well I would do in my first year. I have surprised myself. I was just trying to work on the hills and keep going because I'm not the best on the hills."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point, which has been to state 18 straight years, had four runners in the top 10, to run away with the team title 28-76 over Mount Horeb. Darlington took fourth (100) and Pecatonica-Argyle finished seventh (224). Both Monroe and Albany didn't have enough runners to score as a team. The Cheesemakers had just four run and three finished the race.
"Anyone that had any tweaks, we didn't want them to run," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We didn't take any risks. If anyone was hurting a little, we held them out. This isn't the time of the year to mess with that."
The trio that did finish turned in some solid performances. Monroe sophomore Ciara Kaderly finished 10th (16:37.6) and freshman Rachel Meier was 19th (17:23.2) in her first varsity race. Junior teammate Kayla Einbeck took 27th (17:49.8).
Kaderly is well aware that she had more left after finishing the race.
"I could have gone faster," Kaderly said. "I could have gone faster in the middle of the race. I'm really good with sprinting to the finish. I had some energy left. I will take that into mind next time."
Hirsbrunner was excited by Meier's first varsity race.
"Rachel Meier continued on her strong way by finishing the meet as the second fastest freshman in the entire field," Hirsbrunner said. "We plugged in where our other girls would have been if they ran and we would have been up near the top three in the meet."
Darlington senior Johanna Meister finished 14th (17:01.3), just ahead of Albany junior Sydnee Woyak who took 15th (17:04). Darlington sophomore Paige Shilling took 16th (17:16.9), freshman teammate Emma Crist took 24th (17:37.4) and freshman Erin Wolf finished 29th (17:55.9).
"Those two freshmen responded well in their first big meet," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said.
Miehe was confident in the performances of Meister and Schilling and there room to improve.
"She (Meister) is an experienced runner," he said. "When it comes down to it, hopefully she (Meister) will take that sophomore (Schilling) with her."
Miehe wasn't concerned with a fourth-place finish behind Dodgeville-Mineral Point, Mount Horeb and SWAL rival Boscobel.
"I knew those three would be tough," he said. "It was good to be in that mix. We just have to improve on that."
Pecatonica-Argyle junior Samantha Erickson finished 34th (18:15.1) and junior teammate Hannah James took 49th (19:09.9). Sophomore Josie Penniston took 61st (19:52.5), senior Jozey Thoman finished 65th (20:43.8) and sophomore Adriana Johnson was 74th.
Guenther finished eighth place at the Darlington Invitational Saturday with a time of 16 minutes, 18 seconds.
"It felt great," Guenther said. "There is a lot of competition here. I wasn't sure how well I would do in my first year. I have surprised myself. I was just trying to work on the hills and keep going because I'm not the best on the hills."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point, which has been to state 18 straight years, had four runners in the top 10, to run away with the team title 28-76 over Mount Horeb. Darlington took fourth (100) and Pecatonica-Argyle finished seventh (224). Both Monroe and Albany didn't have enough runners to score as a team. The Cheesemakers had just four run and three finished the race.
"Anyone that had any tweaks, we didn't want them to run," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We didn't take any risks. If anyone was hurting a little, we held them out. This isn't the time of the year to mess with that."
The trio that did finish turned in some solid performances. Monroe sophomore Ciara Kaderly finished 10th (16:37.6) and freshman Rachel Meier was 19th (17:23.2) in her first varsity race. Junior teammate Kayla Einbeck took 27th (17:49.8).
Kaderly is well aware that she had more left after finishing the race.
"I could have gone faster," Kaderly said. "I could have gone faster in the middle of the race. I'm really good with sprinting to the finish. I had some energy left. I will take that into mind next time."
Hirsbrunner was excited by Meier's first varsity race.
"Rachel Meier continued on her strong way by finishing the meet as the second fastest freshman in the entire field," Hirsbrunner said. "We plugged in where our other girls would have been if they ran and we would have been up near the top three in the meet."
Darlington senior Johanna Meister finished 14th (17:01.3), just ahead of Albany junior Sydnee Woyak who took 15th (17:04). Darlington sophomore Paige Shilling took 16th (17:16.9), freshman teammate Emma Crist took 24th (17:37.4) and freshman Erin Wolf finished 29th (17:55.9).
"Those two freshmen responded well in their first big meet," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said.
Miehe was confident in the performances of Meister and Schilling and there room to improve.
"She (Meister) is an experienced runner," he said. "When it comes down to it, hopefully she (Meister) will take that sophomore (Schilling) with her."
Miehe wasn't concerned with a fourth-place finish behind Dodgeville-Mineral Point, Mount Horeb and SWAL rival Boscobel.
"I knew those three would be tough," he said. "It was good to be in that mix. We just have to improve on that."
Pecatonica-Argyle junior Samantha Erickson finished 34th (18:15.1) and junior teammate Hannah James took 49th (19:09.9). Sophomore Josie Penniston took 61st (19:52.5), senior Jozey Thoman finished 65th (20:43.8) and sophomore Adriana Johnson was 74th.
