PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — Despite facing some setbacks, Monroe’s boys and girls cross country teams pulled together to finish second and advance to the WIAA Division 2 State Championship in Wisconsin Rapids. 

“It was a great moment for the team, coaches, parents, and fans,” head coach Scott Mosher said. “Looking through pictures today has been awesome to see the emotions on faces.  There were looks of shock, huge smiles and fist bumps, and lots of tears of joy and hugs.”  

The girls set the tone for the day, breaking an 18-year State appearance drought.  

Headed into the meet, Monroe was ranked 13th by the WCCCA. The Hounds knew defending state champion Dodgeville/Mineral Point would be the favorite, so they set their sights on beating No. 9-ranked New Glarus/Monticello.  

Earlier in the season at the Baertschi Invite, NGM bested Monroe 72-83. The Knights’ first two runners — Lily Maynard and Melanie Fink — surpassed Monroe’s top runner Miley Hansen.  

The sectional race gave the Hounds the perfect opportunity for revenge. The cards were set, as Monroe started strong, but Hansen rolled her ankle and slowed. 

“A potentially disastrous situation occurred where Miley Hanson rolled her ankle and started falling back,” Mosher said. “Miley had been one of our top runners all year, and was our No. 1 for a few races. So, to lose her was a shock to see. Her teammates responded the best way that teammates can respond, by stepping up and filling the void.” 

Mary McKenzie and Jadyn Elgin, who finished two-tenths of a second a part in the Badger West Conference meet, ran together yet again. They finished sixth (20:57.4) and seventh (20:59.6), respectively, ahead of Dodgeville/Mineral Point’s second and third runners Julia Thompson (21:04.4, 8th) and Brienna Wasley (21:09.0, 9th).  

Skye Dickson, who finished her last two races as the fourth and fifth runner for Monroe, jumped up to the No. 3 position (21:24.2, 13th). 

“Skye Dickson kept grinding and ran with a look of determination that I hadn’t seen before,” Mosher said. 

Ximena Miranda, who also suffered some pain and soreness, shaved two seconds off her conference meet time to finish fourth (21:58.2, 21st) for the Hounds. 

“Despite dealing with knee pain for the past few weeks, she [Miranda] fought through it and ran unbelievably,” Mosher said. “Each time we saw her on the course there was obvious pain in her face, but she never backed down and ran with focus and determination.” 

To solidify Monroe’s second-place finish, Aniyah Jackson-Bey finished just over the 22-minute mark (22:01.2, 23rd) ahead of NGM’s fourth runner Emma Martinson (22:19.0, 25th). 

Monroe finished 16 points behind Dodgeville/Mineral Point and 23 points ahead of New Glarus/Monticello. 

The boys’ race proved closer though, as Monroe beat Dodgeville/Mineral Point by one point to advance.  

“We knew it was a completely different race than for the girls,” Mosher said. “The boys’ competition was very close and five to six teams all had a chance to win. We felt if the boys ran well, they could win the meet, or they could still run well and take sixth.” 

Although Jared Batz led Monroe (17:40.5, 10th) his time was well behind that of other races this season. At the Baertschi, he ran a 17:08.4, and in the Badger West conference meet, he ran a 17:17.3. If Batz had any hope of qualifying for State, he’d need to do it as a team. 

“Jared Batz ran well but not great and finished 10th overall, which looked to be outside of what was needed to qualify as an individual,” Mosher said. 

Tre Dammen finished behind Batz (17:57.9, 11th), piling on the accolades as the top freshman of the meet. Mosher was pleased with his performance and sees “quite a running career” in store for Dammen. 

Monroe’s third runner, Anthony Wels (18:24.3, 16th) finished between two runners from Dodgeville Mineral Point: Joey Robinson (18:22.2, 15th) and Parker Owens (18:25.8, 17th). Wyatt Stevenson was also in the mix, finishing 18th (18:31.4). 

Like the girls’ race, the boys needed another runner to step up, as Padraic Houston was off his game. 

“Up to this point our top four fell into place like they usually do, but our fifth man at conference, Padraic Houston, fell back and wasn’t as close to the pack as he usually is,” Mosher said. “Just like how the girls stepped up when needed, Benjamin Erdly realized that he had to do something special to make up the difference. He kept grinding and responded with surge after surge to move up the best he could.” 

Erdly finished with a time of 19:08.8 for 39th. The efforts from Monroe’s three through five runners proved to be crucial with the one-point difference. 

“There are so many places in a meet where one point can be won or lost, but what Benjamin did stands out, as well as Anthony out-kicking a runner from Dodgeville/Mineral point right at the end,” Mosher said. “That one place was a two-point swing, and if he doesn’t do that, the boys end up in third by one point rather than second.” 

The combined efforts of the boys’ and girls’ teams showed that, while cross country appears to be an individual sport, it really comes down to the team. 

“What is unique about cross country is that at its most basic form, cross country is an individual sport, but when runners learn to run for each other, great things happen,” Mosher said. “We got to see that firsthand this weekend where the athletes were genuinely happier for each other than they were for themselves.” 

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS 

Although New Glarus/Monticello and Brodhead/Juda did not qualify for State in either the boys’ or girls’ races, they each had an individual move on. 

Senior Knight Tom Nelson was the third individual in the boys’ race (17:03.7, 4th) behind overall winner Joseph Stoddard of Mount Horeb (16:28.5) and Noah Kuhn of Madison Edgewood (17:01.6, 3rd). 

For Brodhead/Juda, Kalena Riemer took the fourth individual spot with her time of 20:56.8. Abigail Sadler of Mount Horeb got first overall, finishing in 18:52.6. 

THE MEET

The 110th running of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Cross Country Championships and the 49th Annual Girls Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Oct. 29, at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

ADMISSION TICKETS

The WIAA uses GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $9 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. To purchase tickets, visit the WIAA website at: https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI?activity=Cross%20Country.

 AWARDS CEREMONY

The award ceremony for teams and individuals will be held at the Ridges Golf Course after the final race. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3:25 p.m. with the awards presented in the order of the races at the podium to the west of the starting boxes.

NEED RESULTS?

The most efficient way to get results will be to access the WIAA website at: www.wiaawi.org and choose the cross country home page. In addition, PT Timing will be providing live updates from the course during the races. To access the updates, go to:  https://www.pttiming.com/results-current.php.

ORDER STATE MEET APPAREL ONLINE

WIAA licensed State Championship apparel is available for sale at the course. Post-meet apparel will be available for sale online beginning the evening of Oct. 29 and running through Sunday, Nov. 6 prior to midnight. A link to the post-meet online store will be available on the Cross Country Tournament page on the WIAA website.

FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Receive updates of the State Cross Country Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaaxc. Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at wiaawi.