MONROE — Cheesemakers cross country coach has always been with his runners’ worth ethic in the offseason. The big question for this fall will be just how ready are they? 

With the 2020 Alternate Fall season taking place this past spring, followed immediately by the spring track season that lasted another three weeks beyond its normal end date, runners were both in-shape and exhausted as the calendar turned from June to July.

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the hard work being put on by the athletes this summer,” Mosher said. “I think the athletes’ dedication to getting better and putting in the miles this summer will be a strength as we move through our race season.”

Monroe competed as one of the younger teams in the spring session, as many seniors that normally would have competed in the fall had either graduated early or were injured. That meant a lot of the more inexperienced runners got a real look by the coaching staff.

“We were a very young and inexperienced team for both girls and boys last year, so we are hoping to see growth in race experience. I think both genders can be competitive in the Badger West so a goal is to place high at our conference championship,” Mosher said.

On the girls side, Jadyn Elgin qualified for the state meet in the spring as a freshman. Alyssa Roelli had some impressive runs in her first season in cross country as a junior. Throw in the gained experience from Jenna Brower, Kaitlyn Elgin, Marlies Brandli, Anna Polnow and Ellery Bazely, and the girls team has a solid lineup.

Newcomers who could have a big impact include seniors Sierra McGuire and Bre Lambert, and sophomore Ximena Miranda.

“For the girls our strength will come from having a strong couple of runners at the front of each race, followed by great team depth rounding out our scoring,” Mosher said. “Our girls are still fairly young and/or inexperienced.  Many of our runners have not had a typical season where they race against a full field of runners, most of our races last spring were with one or two teams.”

On the boys side, four experienced leaders return: Heath Huschitt, Lucas Sathoff, Jared Batz and Zander Slack. Junior Anthony Wels enjoyed some success in the spring and also returns, as Aidan Thelander and Wyatt Stevenson are expected to bring depth to the squad.

“I think we will have a very solid pack of runners who will push each other and be able to do well at meets,” Mosher said. “Our boys look like they will lack depth and we will need to develop some of our younger athletes to step up and contribute.”

Mosher sees Oregon as the favorite to win the girls conference title, given their strength in reaching state in the spring. 

“Mount Horeb and Edgewood will also be competitive on the boys and girls, and I know Sauk Prairie from the old North has strong returning athletes for each gender,” Mosher said.