WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Both Monroe boys’ and girls’ cross country concluded their seasons at the D2 state meet on Saturday, Oct. 29. Notre Dame and Xavier took home the gold in the boys’ and girls’ race, respectively. 

“The state meet went well and was a great experience for the runners,” head coach Scott Mosher said. “Our goals were more focused on the individuals, with the team objective to learn and experience what the meet was like with the hopes of getting back next year with teams that can contend with the top team in the state.” 

The Lady Cheese finished 12 of 16 teams with 258 points. Skye Dickson led the team with her time of 21:03.9 (34th)—her best since the UW-Platteville meet on Oct. 1—despite racing with one shoe. 

“She lost a shoe in the first 100 meters when her heal got stepped on, and she ran the entire race with only one shoe on,” Mosher said. “I’ve seen this happen before but there are a lot of areas with gravel and rocks at this course, so it couldn’t have been the easiest thing for Skye. Last year, she was our alternate at sectionals, so it was a great cap to a great season for Skye.” 

Mary McKenzie and Jadyn Elgin followed in 38th (21:08.8) and 46th (21:19.3), respectively, consistent as they have been all season. 

“It was very fun watching Mary improve throughout the season and have the success she did,” Mosher said. “Jadyn also capped off a great year.  She got to run at State as an individual her freshman year and just missed qualifying last year, so it was cool to see her make a return trip this year.  She was our rock and most consistent runner all year and really was a great example for our younger runners on how to race.” 

Aniyah Jackson-Bey and Xiema Miranda rounded out Monroe’s top five at 67th (21:48.8) and 73rd (21:55.6), respectively. 

The entire girls’ varsity team will return next season, as none were seniors. 

Monroe’s boys finished 15 of 16 with 320 points, as two of their runners weren’t at their top game. 

“We had two key runners that were less than 100 percent heading into the state meet,” Mosher said. “Had this been earlier in the year, those two would have rested, but with it being the state meet and a huge accomplishment just to qualify, we ran those guys to give them the experience and the victory lap, if you will, for a great season and career.” 

Jared Batz—steady eddy—led Monroe as he had all year. He took 26th with a time of 17:28.7.  

“He was able to beat quite a few runners from other schools that had beaten him all year, something that he put as a personal season goal, so we were all happy to see him accomplish this for his last high school race,” Mosher said.  

Tre Dammen, in his breakout freshman year, took 32nd with a time of 17:34.3. He was the third-fastest freshman in D2. Benjamin Erdley—who typically was the No. 5 or 6 runner—challenged his PR with a time of 18:37.2. 

Padraic Houston and Wyatt Stevenson rounded out the top five with times of 19:11.0 (89th) and 19:37.9 (100th), respectively. 

Batz and Anthony Wels graduate, but the team has talented up-and-coming runners to fill their shoes. 

Other local runners at state included Carter Scholey of Belleville, who finished third overall in D3 (16:20.5). Kalena Riemer of Brodhead/Juda took 88th (21:30.4) in D2.