MONROE — The Hammer Hounds are sending both their boys and girls cross country teams to state again. On Friday, Oct. 23, the host Cheesemakers finished in first place in the team standings on both sides, securing their bids to run at Ridge Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, Oct. 31. Monroe hosted the WIAA Division 3 Sectional at its Twining Park home course.
“It’s super exciting and fun to do at home in front of so many people,” said coach Scott Mosher. “In the weeks leading up to (the sectional), it’s just been ultra-focused for our kids.”
It’s not the first time that both teams reached the state meet — in fact, they accomplished that feat just last year.
“(Making it to state) is not our goal anymore. We’re gonna get there and do something special there. So that’s where our mentality has been the whole time,” Mosher said.
Sophomore Braylin Cleary paced the Cheesemakers, finishing sixth overall with a time of 20:11.7. Senior Nevaeh Huenefeld wasn’t far behind, taking 10th at 20:14.0, tied with McFarland freshman Evie Heitzman. Also scoring for Monroe was senior Maryella Green (16th, 20:52.7), junior Alivia Mosher (18th, 21:01.4) and junior Kaylen Cassidy (19th, 21:11.9). Lyla Ritschard (26th, 21:41.1) and Elizabeth Veeder (34th, 21:57.4) also secured solid placement in case of any tiebreakers.
“It always comes down to feel like it’s the fifth runner, and today, that was Kaylen Cassidy. She had an excellent race. She moved up I don’t even know how many places” down the stretch Coach Mosher said. “And then our sixth runner (Ritschard) beat McFarland’s fifth, and our seventh runner (Veeder) was also right there. Everybody was pushing for that team score.”
Monroe’s girls team finished with 66 points at the sectional, five better than second place McFarland and 28 points clear of third-place Darlington. Only the top two scoring teams qualify for state. Redbird sophomore Alaina McGowan placed third overall with a time of 19:27.0. She was the lone runner on the Darlington girls team to advance to state. Senior Brianna Vazquez (20:35.6) was 11th overall. Only the top five individual runners not on a qualifying team advance to state, and Vazquez was sixth, and 24 seconds behind the pace.
Darlington and Lancaster girls had been promoted to Division 2 from Division 3 in the WIAA’s Performance Factor formula. Neither team made it back this year. Darlington was the Division 3 state champion a year ago.
Also for Darlington this year included Hadley Smith (22nd, 21:23.0), Addison Black (29th, 21:48.2) and Madison Welacha (32nd, 21:55.7), with Elizabeth Gruetzmacher (42nd, 22:25.7) and Austia Stauffacher (44th, 22:33.7) also running for the Redbirds.
New Glarus/Monticello (203 points) took seventh as a team, and Brodhead/Juda finished eighth, just 20 points behind.
Freshman Sadie Mitchell led NGM with a 15th place overall finish with a time of 20:49.8. Brodhead/Juda junior Olivia Brooks wasn’t far behind, taking 20th overall (21:16.0). Rachel Hatter, Brodhead/Juda junior, was 27th (21:42.6) and senior Holly Maynard, NGM, came in 40th (22:13.4).
McFarland senior Ada Geiger (18:51.7)won the girls race by just over 19 seconds.
Madison St. Ambrose/Abundant Life junior Jonathan Simon won the boys race (15:43.1) by 34 seconds. Monroe senior Kamrin Gerber-Reamer was third overall (16:36.9).
“Kamrin went off from the go, and he’s been up and down, but he decided that if he goes, he’s going to take it,” Coach Mosher said. “Third? An unbelievable race.”
Sophomore Ace Rossing was the next finisher for the Cheesemakers, taking eighth overall (17:02.9). Freshman Isaiah Ritschard (14th, 17:22.5), senior Eli Phillips (16th, 17:23.9) and junior Landon Smith (19th, 17:34.3) all scored for Monroe, with junior Weston Huntsman (24th, 17:43.1) and senior Lukas Gerber ( 48th, 18:32.1) adding tiebreaker support.
“Freshman Isaiah Ritschard has stepped up huge,” Coach Mosher said.
Monroe scored 60 points in the meet, besting second place McFarland by 22. St. Ambrose/Abundant Life was third (87 points) after bumping up a division from last fall. New Glarus/Monticello (292) was 10th as a team, and Brodhead/Juda (365) finished 14th.
NGM senior Dylan Gardner finished 18th overall (17:34.0), nearly 45 seconds behind the last state-qualifying spot. NGM freshman Gavin Anderson was 46th (18:30.6) and junior Benjamin Biank was 62nd (19:01.1).
Brodhead/Juda sophomore Ashton Henze (18:19.4) was 41st overall, and senior Treyton Leutenegger (19:00.1) was 61st.
WIAA Division 3 Albany Sectional
ALBANY — Just two weeks after hosting the Baertschi Invitational, the Albany boys cross country used their knowledge of the course and superior skills to finish in second place on the same course for the WIAA Division 3 Sectional on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Madison Country Day (61 points) took first place, followed by Albany (80) and then Salam (128). Belleville (178) was eighth as a team.
Senior Noah Lisser paced the Comets, finishing eighth overall with a time of 17:48.1. Juniors Kamden Broughton (11th, 18:11.2), Brooks Wachholz (17th, 18:21.5) and Brodyn Bakken (25th, 19:06.2) also scored high for Albany, with freshmen Merrick Vozka (29th, 19:32.6), Aaron Alexander (36th, 19:43.0) and sophomore Michael Schwartz (41st, 20:03.3) also finishing with solid times.
Belleville senior Carson Biermeier was just off the pace of state (12th, 18:14.6), finishing seven spots and 48 seconds behind Parkview’s Adley Crane for the final qualifying position. Belleville’s Henry Koch (22nd, 18:42.4), Adrian Scott (39th, 19:56.7) and Harrison Elliott (49th, 20:22.1) also placed well in the 112-runner field.
Salam junior Abdulrahman Sheikh Al was the race champion with a time of 16:55.5.
On the girls side, Clinton sophomore Amaya Flickinger was the sectional champion with a time of 19:52.9. Belleville sophomore Kate Hendrickson was eighth overall with a time of 21:12.2, qualifying for state.
Brookfield Academy (84 points) won the team title, ahead of The Prairie School (102). Albany was fifth (143) and Belleville finished 12th as a team (268).
Albany was led by sophomore Emersen Butts (18th, 22:41.5) and freshman Maycee Ginter (19th, 22:43.8). Freshman Diem Briggs (29th, 23:09.7) and senior Lydia Ahnen (45th, 23:56.8) each finished in the top 50 of 103 runners.
WIAA Division 3 Boscobel Sectional
BOSCOBEL — Darlington senior Marcus Kendall punched his ticket to the WIAA Division 3 state meet this past Saturday. Kendall finished seventh overall with a time of 16:55.4 at Boscobel’s Kronshage Park course. Of the five individuals advancing to state, he was third, and clear by eight seconds.
Argyle/Pecatonica junior Ayden Slater was 28th overall (18:41.0), while Darlington’s Phoenix Johnson (19:00.7) placed 43rd.
On the girls side, Southwestern/Benton sophomore Mackenzie Knuckey won the sectional title at 18:41.7. Southwestern/Benton as a team won the sectional and advance to the state meet.
Argyle/Pecatonica’s Sophie Howard was 53rd overall (23:26.9) and teammate Emma Johnsen was 57th (23:36.7) out of 114 runners.
