VERONA — The Cheesemakers won the girls Division 2 team title at the Verona Invitational on Sept. 6 thanks in part to strong pack running.
“The girls ran fantastic and are shaping to be one of the best team’s we’ve had in quite some time in Monroe,” said head coach Scott Mosher. “We had six girls place in the Top 40 to earn medals. More impressive is our Top 5 were only 30 seconds apart.”
Skye Dickson, fresh off an AFS trip to India this summer, led Monroe with a lifetime-best time of 22:13.
“She won the JV race at Monroe a week ago and was our top varsity finisher this week. We are so excited to see this much improvement in Skye,” Mosher said. “She’s fun to watch because she trusts in her pace, her hard work, and is confident in her ability to run her race and not let others dictate how fast she goes out. This is a rare skill and really neat to see her move up throughout the race. As others get tired, she appears to get stronger.”
Jadyn Elgin, Miley Hanson, Mary McKenzie and Ximena Miranda rounded out Monroe’s Top 5.
“The girls were near each other the entire race and I think that helps pull them all along. It will be exciting to see how much this team improves throughout the year because of how close they are to each other,” Mosher said.
Monroe’s boys team finished second in Division 2 and were led by Jared Batz, who was ninth overall. All seven boys runners finished in the Top 40 and earned medals.
“There were some very good runners in this race and Jared put himself at the front of the pack and ran well with them and beat kids who ran faster than him at the last meet,” Mosher said. “He is very motivated and in great shape so I think we will continue to see him improve and run fast times.”
Mosher was also impressed with freshman Tre Dammen, the team’s second finisher. “He has shown that he not only has the ability to run with top runners, but he’s also demonstrated a fearless attitude towards running with the top guys,” Mosher said.
Monroe’s next meet is Sept. 10 at the River Valley Invitational in Spring Green.
