MIDDLETON - If Cullen Sampson were a couple inches shorter and an inch or two broader in the shoulders, he could have been mistaken for Brett DeNure in the first event of Tuesday's Badger South Conference Meet.
The Cheesemaker junior replaced his classmate in the final leg of the event-opening 4x800-meter relay. After a clumsy exchange with Cody Plenge left Sampson behind a couple of strides, he finally reclaimed the lead from McFarland's Isaac Siegman and fended him off over the final 100 meters.
"I just stuck behind him and tried to run my race and stay with him," Sampson said. "Back here you've gotta dig in and finish. It's just all about heart. You've gotta just dig in, pick up your knees and go."
Monroe's time of 8 minutes, 23.63 seconds was just nine-hundredths faster than the Spartans'. Afterward, senior Kyle Klein mauled the dogged Sampson. Klein barked his teammates on incessantly after his opening split.
"Kyle's a great motivator and has always been there as a great senior leader," Sampson said.
The Cheesemakers finished the meet in fourth out of the seven squads. After a 4-2 regular-season conference dual mark, Monroe finishes third behind Verona and Monona Grove and ahead of McFarland.
Sampson's heroic 2:02 split, a personal record, earned one of two Cheesemaker conference titles as DeNure won the 400 dash in 51.30. Just 50 minutes later he ran a 2:02.22 time in the 800, good for third before finishing his night in the 4x400 relay just 52 minutes later.
"He had a tough triple in there," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "He's not happy with his night and he never is. That's what makes him so darn good."
Freshman Caleb Ahrens placed fourth in the 110 hurdles (17.17) and showed few ill effects of some lingering shin splints.
"It's good now," Ahrens said. "Hopefully it stays good."
Freshman Jeff Hill had the same vault as the top two athletes in the pole vault at 12 feet, 3 inches, but had more misses and, thus, took third.
"He just missed out because of misses and he's always wanting more out there," Hirsbrunner said. "He wanted 12-6 so badly."
The distance relay has become what Hirsbrunner calls Monroe's "signature event" and he was disappointed it nearly didn't come through due to a disturbing trend.
"Our exchanges haven't been very good this year and a bad one can cost a lot of precious time," Hirsbrunner said. "We take a lot of pride in our exchanges and do a ton of work in that area but they didn't time it right and it cost them the lead."
After tinkering with some combinations at the last second Tuesday, Hirsh plans to load up in the appropriate areas Tuesday when the team travels to Clinton for regionals.
The Cheesemaker junior replaced his classmate in the final leg of the event-opening 4x800-meter relay. After a clumsy exchange with Cody Plenge left Sampson behind a couple of strides, he finally reclaimed the lead from McFarland's Isaac Siegman and fended him off over the final 100 meters.
"I just stuck behind him and tried to run my race and stay with him," Sampson said. "Back here you've gotta dig in and finish. It's just all about heart. You've gotta just dig in, pick up your knees and go."
Monroe's time of 8 minutes, 23.63 seconds was just nine-hundredths faster than the Spartans'. Afterward, senior Kyle Klein mauled the dogged Sampson. Klein barked his teammates on incessantly after his opening split.
"Kyle's a great motivator and has always been there as a great senior leader," Sampson said.
The Cheesemakers finished the meet in fourth out of the seven squads. After a 4-2 regular-season conference dual mark, Monroe finishes third behind Verona and Monona Grove and ahead of McFarland.
Sampson's heroic 2:02 split, a personal record, earned one of two Cheesemaker conference titles as DeNure won the 400 dash in 51.30. Just 50 minutes later he ran a 2:02.22 time in the 800, good for third before finishing his night in the 4x400 relay just 52 minutes later.
"He had a tough triple in there," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "He's not happy with his night and he never is. That's what makes him so darn good."
Freshman Caleb Ahrens placed fourth in the 110 hurdles (17.17) and showed few ill effects of some lingering shin splints.
"It's good now," Ahrens said. "Hopefully it stays good."
Freshman Jeff Hill had the same vault as the top two athletes in the pole vault at 12 feet, 3 inches, but had more misses and, thus, took third.
"He just missed out because of misses and he's always wanting more out there," Hirsbrunner said. "He wanted 12-6 so badly."
The distance relay has become what Hirsbrunner calls Monroe's "signature event" and he was disappointed it nearly didn't come through due to a disturbing trend.
"Our exchanges haven't been very good this year and a bad one can cost a lot of precious time," Hirsbrunner said. "We take a lot of pride in our exchanges and do a ton of work in that area but they didn't time it right and it cost them the lead."
After tinkering with some combinations at the last second Tuesday, Hirsh plans to load up in the appropriate areas Tuesday when the team travels to Clinton for regionals.
