MONROE — The annual Richard Glendenning Invitational at Monroe High School kicked off the 2021 spring track and field season — a welcome endeavor after the COVID-19 canceled 2020 season.

“More exciting than any performance on the track or in the field events was the fact that kids were competing again after nearly two years,” Monroe boys coach Scott Mosher said. “In a typical year we have two full weeks of practice to gauge where kids are at, but this year we just had six practices. Plus, we weren’t able to see many of the kids out for football until the day before. So we weren’t sure what we would see, but were thrilled with the performances.”

Monroe hosted Albany, Belmont, Black Hawk, Monticello, Pecatonica-Argyle and Sugar River at the meet, through many of the teams didn’t have enough competitors to lineup for each event.

The Cheesemakers won both the boys and girls team titles running away. In the girls scoring, Monroe (243) was first, followed by Albany (87), Sugar River (80), Belmont (59.5), Black Hawk (54.5), Pec-Argyle (50) and Monticello (14). On the boys side, it went Monroe (260), Pec-Argyle (83), Sugar River (68), Belmont (48), Albany (25), Monticello (7) and Black Hawk (6).

Monroe girls coach Eric Jubeck was impressed with several of his athletes, including some underclassmen new to varsity competition.

“We have so many new athletes with all freshman and sophomores not competing in high school track and field,” Jubeck said. “They stepped in nicely to provide depth and gave us an idea of what we have as a team. Should be a fun season and we feel blessed to have an almost regular season with a conference championship event as well as state.”

A couple of runners that impressed their coach was Aleigh Zettle and Bre Lambert. 

“It was Aleigh Zettle’s first meet. Her times in the 100 (13.41 seconds) and 200 (27.58) are a great start for her — if she can make improvements over the next several weeks, it’ll be fun to see where she is at in early June,” Jubeck said. “No one worked harder in the offseason to prepare for track than Bre (Lambert). Her 400 time (1:02.52) was spot on, and she knows where she can improve in the race to get close to sub-60.”

Jubeck also liked what he saw from sophomore Taylor Jacobson and Brenna Aebly in the hurdles. Jacobson only competed in the 100-hurdles — but won — and Aebly was second in both the 100- and 300-hurdles. 

Riley Hartwig won the shot put by 3 feet and finished second in the discus. “(Riley) is ready for a big senior year,” Jubeck said.

The distance events are Monroe’s biggest strengths. “Distance depth easily the most talented distance crew in Monroe in many years — both with depth and high-end talent,” Jubeck said. “It will be a joy to watch this group develop as we put cross country in our rear-view mirror and can focus on track.”

Jubeck said that despite the youth and extended layoff of competition, his squad exceeded expectations for the first meet.

“It showed that we have both the top end track and field talent to score points in bigger meets as well as the depth needed to be successful to round out our squad. We exceeded our expectations to start the season. The athletes proved they are ready to challenge for a Badger Conference championship as well as attempt to earn their fourth straight regional championship,” Jubeck said.

Albany’s Tony Brewer was glad to have his athletes back out.

“We’ve got a starting point,” Brewer said. “For each kid, some of them are going to find out that they are not quite in shape, and we expect that. It’s a matter of getting out and getting marks down in whatever event you are in and from there we will see what we need to do to improve on.”

Albany senior Jada Flannery impressed in the throws — winning the discus and finishing second in the shot put. 

“She had a great day,” Brewer said.

On the boys side, Mosher was pleased with what he saw from a number of athletes.

“Egor Sereda came out last year and showed promise before the season was canceled but we never got to see him compete. Him winning the 100 while breaking 12 seconds was quite impressive,” Mosher said. “JT Seagreaves and Lucas from went 1-2 in the 200, both showing great initial speed. Once they get a chance to work with our sprints coaches these times will get even more competitive.”

Sathoff also won the 400 by 3 ½ seconds. While the ‘W’ may not have been a surprise, it was the in-the-moment reaction that impressed Mosher.

“Usually winning by so much isn’t an exciting race but he got the crowd cheering by his performance,” Mosher said. “His time this early in the season shows his hard work the past two years is paying off. He made a commitment to track after his freshman season and switched to cross country even though he doesn’t really like running long distance. He’s always been a fast kid, but now he has endurance to go with it.”

There were other performances that impressed Mosher as well.

“Others that got in great experience were Charlie Wiegel winning the triple jump and Caden Blum winning the long jump, as well as Jordan Klocke taking second and Jakar Broitzman taking second in the 100. All are going to be great track athletes and will see lots of success over the next few years,” Mosher said.

Long distance and throwing are two areas of depth Monroe has this year that has been a pleasant surprise. The distance runners are coming off a spring cross country season that has helped in training, but the depth of the throwers is turning some heads.

“Caleb Bunker is leading a strong and deep group of throwers this year. He won the shot put and (unofficially) won the discus as well. He is such a powerful athlete and will definitely put up some good marks this year,” Mosher said. “Taylor Herbst took second in the shot put, and with his work ethic it wouldn’t surprise me if he cracks the top-5 all-time freshman in that event.

“My biggest take away is the excitement I saw from these athletes. On paper this should be a rebuilding year for Monroe track and field, but the guys don’t seem to care and showed potential to have a nice season.”