DARLINGTON - Seniors Christa Wamsley and Cheyenne Wolfe are pushing each other to become better runners.
The early returns for the Darlington girls cross country team are golden as Wamsley and Wolfe led the Redbirds to the Darlington Invitational championship on Saturday. Wamsley finished second with a time of 15 minutes, 40 seconds, which is a lifetime best and five seconds faster than her state time last year. Wolfe took fourth with a time of 16:35.
"Christa Wamsley and Cheyenne Wolfe have been pushing each other," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said. "They are pushing each other to make them better. It's kind of like having two wrestlers at the same weight class pushing to get better."
The Redbirds had six of the top 14 runners to edge Dodgeville-Mineral Point for the title 34-42. Mount Horeb-Barneveld took third (116) ahead of Boscobel (119) and Monroe (127). Dodgeville-Mineral Point was running without two of its top runners since they were at the Iowa County Fair.
"It would have been tough to beat them," Miehe said of Dodgeville-Mineral Point if they had their top runners. "It probably would have been a different story. It's hard to tell."
Miehe was surprised that Wamsley ran a faster time than she did at state last year in her first race.
"That's unheard of," he said. "It's an impressive time."
Darlington senior Tatum Evenstad took ninth (17:06) and senior Rebecca Mathias finished 11th (17:09). Senior Harley Douglas finished 13th (17:12) and junior Claire Cullen was 14th (17:14) just ahead of Monroe sophomore Alyssa Dale who took 15th (17:15).
"We just talked about getting out under control," Miehe said. "They just ran as a group. It's hard to beat a team that does that."
Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said because many of the girls are inexperienced, he was looking to have them run and gain more racing experience.
"We are happy with our continuing progress with the girls," Hirsbrunner said. "Fifth-place finish at the varsity level was a nice position to be in. With Dodgeville and Darlington up front, it was basically a race for third place after them."
Monroe sophomore Elise Rossing took 24th (17:30) and freshman Maddie Kallgren was 28th (17:37). Junior Nicole Witt took 35th (17:57) and sophomore Kelley Baumann was 41st (18:29).
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Emma Marion finished 49th (18:45) to lead the Vikings. The Vikings didn't have enough runners to factor into the team race.
"After our close spacing at Bruess, we let ourselves get separated a little too much this weekend," Hirsbrunner said. "Two races in one week is not an easy thing to do though and we were proud of how the girls responded and raced."
The early returns for the Darlington girls cross country team are golden as Wamsley and Wolfe led the Redbirds to the Darlington Invitational championship on Saturday. Wamsley finished second with a time of 15 minutes, 40 seconds, which is a lifetime best and five seconds faster than her state time last year. Wolfe took fourth with a time of 16:35.
"Christa Wamsley and Cheyenne Wolfe have been pushing each other," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said. "They are pushing each other to make them better. It's kind of like having two wrestlers at the same weight class pushing to get better."
The Redbirds had six of the top 14 runners to edge Dodgeville-Mineral Point for the title 34-42. Mount Horeb-Barneveld took third (116) ahead of Boscobel (119) and Monroe (127). Dodgeville-Mineral Point was running without two of its top runners since they were at the Iowa County Fair.
"It would have been tough to beat them," Miehe said of Dodgeville-Mineral Point if they had their top runners. "It probably would have been a different story. It's hard to tell."
Miehe was surprised that Wamsley ran a faster time than she did at state last year in her first race.
"That's unheard of," he said. "It's an impressive time."
Darlington senior Tatum Evenstad took ninth (17:06) and senior Rebecca Mathias finished 11th (17:09). Senior Harley Douglas finished 13th (17:12) and junior Claire Cullen was 14th (17:14) just ahead of Monroe sophomore Alyssa Dale who took 15th (17:15).
"We just talked about getting out under control," Miehe said. "They just ran as a group. It's hard to beat a team that does that."
Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said because many of the girls are inexperienced, he was looking to have them run and gain more racing experience.
"We are happy with our continuing progress with the girls," Hirsbrunner said. "Fifth-place finish at the varsity level was a nice position to be in. With Dodgeville and Darlington up front, it was basically a race for third place after them."
Monroe sophomore Elise Rossing took 24th (17:30) and freshman Maddie Kallgren was 28th (17:37). Junior Nicole Witt took 35th (17:57) and sophomore Kelley Baumann was 41st (18:29).
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Emma Marion finished 49th (18:45) to lead the Vikings. The Vikings didn't have enough runners to factor into the team race.
"After our close spacing at Bruess, we let ourselves get separated a little too much this weekend," Hirsbrunner said. "Two races in one week is not an easy thing to do though and we were proud of how the girls responded and raced."
