OREGON — The Monroe cross country team competed in the final dual of the season before the WIAA spring sectional at Stoughton, which is slated for May 1.
Oregon won both the boys and girls races, though the boys race was separated by just 7 points.
“It has been a strange season, to say the least,” said Monroe coach Scott Mosher. “This past week we’ve started track and field and have seen kids do both sports. Next week we will have our first track meet on Tuesday and then cross country sectionals on Saturday. Along with runners doing track, we also have some doing other sports that started like soccer and softball. Fortunately, the coaches have been flexible in allowing the kids to do both at once.”
In the boys race, Heath Huschitt of Monroe finished second overall with a time of 18:03.0. Oregon’s Yordanos Zelinski paced the field at 16:41.7. Monroe’s Jared Batz was fourth (19:04.9), with teammate Zander Slack right behind him (19:07.7).
“(Heath’s) He’s really figured things out the last couple races and has put himself in the conversations for runners who can make it out of sectionals to compete at the state meet,” Mosher said. Batz and Slack “have also shown great improvement this season,” Mosher added.
Lucas Sathoff was the fourth Monroe runner to cross the finish line, coming in 9th overall at 19:40.2. Adyn Thelander was the No. 5 runner (22:15.6), finishing 12th overall. Mosher said that Thelander, a freshman, and classmates Wyatt Stevenson and Cristian Gomez have proven their chops this fall and with a strong offseason could be in for a bigger role when fall competition begins.
“These three freshmen; Adyn, Wyatt, and Cristian, have shown that if they are willing to work hard next summer, they could be varsity contributors next fall,” Mosher said.
On the girls side, freshman Jadyn Elgin was third overall (21:30.2), falling behind Oregon’s Libby Beirne (21:29.7) in the final sprinting meters. Dasha Vorontsov (19:51.9) was the race winner.
“Jadyn Elgin lead the way again for the girls and has been incredibly consistent. She was within seconds of her best time,” Mosher said. “What was really impressive was her ability to hold off a pack of Oregon runners who were running together and trying to catch her the entire race.
Oregon placed the next seven runners, including three within eight seconds of Elgin. Monroe’s Alyssa Roelli was the second Cheesemaker to cross the line (23:58.5), followed by freshman Katrina Sathoff (24:23.3). Jenna Brower (24:46.8) was 15th, and Marlies Brandli (25:08.2) and Kaitlyn Elgin (25:09.9) finished 17th and 18th.
“While (Roelli) wasn’t happy with the results, I’m thrilled with her toughness. She cramped up around half way and was in obvious pain. She didn’t stop and fought through it the best she could,” Mosher said. “Katrina left right after her race for softball. She joined cross country for something to do and get in shape, but in doing so has had a fantastic season. Jenna, Marlies, Katlyn, and Anna Polnow (20th, 25:15.9) all ran at or near personal best times.”
NGM sweeps Capitol title
The New Glarus-Monticello cross country team celebrated winning the conference title in both the boys and girls races April 24.
The boys team finished with a team score of 22, with Belleville the next closest competitor at 56 points, and Columbus third with 60.
Belleville freshman Carter Scholey won the race with a time of 16:46.2. NGM’s Joe Quaglia (17:11.4) was second, followed teammates Evan Guenther (17:23.5) and Tom Nelson (17:32.3). Braylon Hoesly (17:46.6) was sixth, Brayden Ryan (17:51.1) was seventh, Tye Ready (18:05.7) eighth and Conor McCoy (18:30.0) 10th. Quaglia, Guenther, Nelson, Hoesly and Ryan earned first-team all-conference honors. Ready and McCoy were second team.
On the girls side, Wisconsin Heights sophomore Samantha Herrling was first overall (20:30.4). NGM had the next four finishers. Freshman Lily Maynard was second (20:46.2) Annika Ziperski (21:19.2) third, Dayna Karls (21:33.3) came in fourth and Melanie Fink (21:36.8) was fifth overall. Belleville’s Alora Spiegel (22:21.9) was eighth and teammate Tayler Yapp (23:21.5) finished 11th.
Also finishing in the top 12 for NGM were Tenley Faber (22:22.3) in ninth, Emma Martinson (22:53.3) 10th, and Lucy Melvin (23:35.3) 12th.
Maynard, Ziperski, Karls and Fink earned first-team all-conference honors. Faber, Martinson and Melvin were on the second team.
Brodhead-Juda runners earn all-conference
Brodhead senior Madelynn McIntyre repeated as Rock Valley champion at the conference meet April 22.
McIntyre signed her National Letter of Intent the very next day to run track and cross country for UW-La Crosse, beginning in the fall.
Brodhead freshman Kalena Riemer earned first team all-conference honors. The girls team finished fourth.
The boys team was fifth, with Kyle Braund finishing as a second-team all-conference competitor.
