MONROE — Across the state, cross country teams competed in their respective sectionals, with the top two teams and five individuals not on an advancing team qualifying for the state meet on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Wisconsin Rapids.
DIVISION 2
In a loaded Deerfield-Cambridge sectional with three other ranked teams — two of which were higher than the Hounds — Monroe boys scored 55 points to earn the championship title.
“In my nearly 20 years of coaching, I’ve never seen each of the five runners execute their assignment,” Monroe head coach Scott Mosher said.
Tre Dammen led the squad with a sub-16-minute time, finishing second overall. It will be his third trip to the state meet, including 2022 on a team and 2023 as an individual.
Monroe girls also had a tough sectional with three other higher-ranked teams. The Lady Hounds finished fourth, led by Mary McKenzie. She snagged the fourth of five individual qualifying spots with a time of 19:28.62. That mark broke the school record, previously set by Ciarrah Kaderly in 2014. It will be McKenzie’s third trip to state.
“Mary always comes on strong at the end of the season and is quite fun to watch race,” Mosher said. “She put herself in contention from the starting gun, then grinded to hold on to the fourth of five qualifying spots.”
NGM’s Molly Olson took the last qualifying spot with a time of 19:29.32. She was a member of the state-qualifying team a season ago.
DIVISION 3
Darlington girls, ranked No. 6, were sectional runners-up behind Westby, ranked No. 5. Adalee Berget led the Redbirds with her second-place finish. It is the team’s second straight trip to state, where they finished third in 2023.
In the Albany sectional, Belleville’s Carson Biermeier edged out David Sarmiento-Paz by five tenths of a second for the final individual qualifying spot. Albany’s Kaleb Broughton was four seconds behind the pair.