OREGON — The Monroe girls narrowly missed a conference title May 14, finishing just five points behind Watertown for the Badger South championship.

The Goslings finished with 240 points, while the Cheesemakers had 235 and Oregon 232.

“While this meet did sting, it just fuels the fire to light up regionals and carry the momentum to sectionals and state,” Monroe coach Eric Jubeck said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team … and the great accomplishment that is taking second place in a top tier conference. They competed well and you could see from the bottom of their hearts they were a team that wanted to win a conference championship.”

After taking some time off to rest and recover over the past few weeks, Monroe senior Cammi Ganshert impressed in her final Badger South showing and appears primed to make another run to a state meet.

Ganshert won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.78 seconds, topping Stoughton freshman Abigail Groleau (12.84) in the finals. Ganshert added to her trophy room with a title in the 200 (26.61), beating Oregon’s Olivia Marsden by nearly a full second. In the preliminaries, Ganshert held back and ran a 28.25 before shaving off nearly a second and a half in the finals. In the 400, Ganshert finished in seventh (1:06.48).

“After missing the past couple of weeks, it was the way she deserved to leave the Badger Conference — a multiple event champion,” Jubeck said.

The Cheesemakers also got strong performances from Cassi Gersbach and Chloe Bunker.

Gersbach scored in four events and won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.33. She was second in the 100-hurdles (16.46), with Milton’s Chrissy Hughes blowing the rest of the field out of the water with a 15.55. Gersbach also finished fifth in the long jump (15-05.5), just 1/4 of an inch out of fourth place and less than nine inches from the title. In the triple jump, Gersbach was fourth (33-01.25), besting teammate Faith Koester by 1/4 of an inch. 

“(It) was great to watch her compete and try her best to bring a team championship home,” Jubeck said.

Bunker, a junior, won the shot put (37 feet, 8 inches), beating teammate Riley Hartwig (37-05.5) for the title. Bunker also won the discus with a personal record throw of 121-08, nearly seven feet better than second place Jillian Hesse of Watertown. Hartwig was sixth (95-07) in the discus.

“They (Bunker and Hartwig) scored 31 points in two events — an incredible feat,” Jubeck said.

Elsewhere for Monroe, Faith Koester was third in the high jump (5-0) with Megan Benzschawel one of four behind her with a 4-10. Benzschawel also set a personal best mark in the 300-hurdles (50.52), which was fifth overall. Bri Seagreaves was sixth in the 100 hurdles (17.84) and Emma Sanders was sixth in the 100 (13.65).

Monroe finished third in the 800-relay, sixth in the 1,600-relay, seventh in the 3,200 relay and eighth in the 400-relay.

“Faith Koester showed great senior leadership in anchoring the third place 4x2, taking third in high jump, making finals in long jump and placing in triple jump,” Jubeck said. “This meet defined who she is — willing to do what is best for the team, knowing it may affect her personal achievements.”