WISCONSIN RAPIDS - New Glarus-Monticello senior Ryan McCoy closed out a stellar prep career by repeating as a the WIAA Division 2 state champion with a state record time of 15 minutes, 28.30 seconds at the Ridges Golf Course Saturday.
"I wanted to run my best race and run as fast as I could," McCoy said. "I was hoping to run faster than the record."
McCoy, a four-time state qualifier, has visited the University of Illinois and plans to visit Minnesota and several other schools. He will run in the Foot Locker Midwest meet at the end of November.
McCoy finished ahead of state runner-up Michael Christianson of La Crosse Aquinas and Dodgeville-Mineral Point's Trevor Wunnicke.
"There was a lot of good competition," McCoy said. "I just had to go out there and not worry about the past or worry about what others were doing. I just had to execute. It's a good way to cap my high school career."
Monroe finished fourth at state as a team with 147 points. Shorewood edged Freedom 80-90 for the state title.
"That's probably about as high as we could have finished," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We couldn't have beat the top three even if we would have ran better. It's very seldom do you leave a state meet happy. We beat everyone we should have beat. I'm thrilled."
Four of the Cheesemakers' seven runners set a PR.
Monroe junior Jake Hirsbrunner finished 11th (16:26.29) to lead the Cheesemakers. It marked Hirsbrunner's personal record time. Monroe junior Ethan Moehn took 21st (16:40.34) and senior Steve Christiansen was 29th (16:46.6). Moehn, who missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, ran two seconds faster at state this year than he did last year.
"The trick as a cross country coach is to get your guys peaking and running their best at the end of the year," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "To do what they did today, that just shows that we were doing something right."
In his first year running cross country after making the switch from football, Jake Hirsbrunner has been the Cheesemakers' No. 1 runner the last month.
"At the beginning of the season, I just wanted to be one of the top seven guys," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I didn't know I would be able to finish 11th at state, third in the sectional or first in the conference was even touchable. It's a great feeling.
"We train to be better at the end of the year and that is what we look to do. It feels great to run a PR at the end of the year. We had the mindset 'why not?' all week."
As a coach and father, Dave Hirsbrunner was proud to see his son competing on the biggest stage.
"He really stepped it up at the end of the year," he said. "He ran incredible. To cap it off with 11th place at state is phenomenal."
Dave Hirsbrunner also commended Moehn for working hard to return.
"He did everything we asked of him after he was injured," he said.
New Glarus-Monticello senior Alexander Yeiser finished 50th (17:16.30) and Brodhead-Juda junior Dylan Johnson took 58th (17:19.2).
Monroe senior A.J. Cifuentes took 63rd (17:24.3) and sophomore Jeremy Miller was 102nd (17:55.94).
The coach is already looking ahead to next year, when the Cheesemakers will have to replace three seniors.
"We joked at the state meet that we are taking applications and interviewing people for next year," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We will need to have some guys step up."
"I wanted to run my best race and run as fast as I could," McCoy said. "I was hoping to run faster than the record."
McCoy, a four-time state qualifier, has visited the University of Illinois and plans to visit Minnesota and several other schools. He will run in the Foot Locker Midwest meet at the end of November.
McCoy finished ahead of state runner-up Michael Christianson of La Crosse Aquinas and Dodgeville-Mineral Point's Trevor Wunnicke.
"There was a lot of good competition," McCoy said. "I just had to go out there and not worry about the past or worry about what others were doing. I just had to execute. It's a good way to cap my high school career."
Monroe finished fourth at state as a team with 147 points. Shorewood edged Freedom 80-90 for the state title.
"That's probably about as high as we could have finished," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We couldn't have beat the top three even if we would have ran better. It's very seldom do you leave a state meet happy. We beat everyone we should have beat. I'm thrilled."
Four of the Cheesemakers' seven runners set a PR.
Monroe junior Jake Hirsbrunner finished 11th (16:26.29) to lead the Cheesemakers. It marked Hirsbrunner's personal record time. Monroe junior Ethan Moehn took 21st (16:40.34) and senior Steve Christiansen was 29th (16:46.6). Moehn, who missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, ran two seconds faster at state this year than he did last year.
"The trick as a cross country coach is to get your guys peaking and running their best at the end of the year," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "To do what they did today, that just shows that we were doing something right."
In his first year running cross country after making the switch from football, Jake Hirsbrunner has been the Cheesemakers' No. 1 runner the last month.
"At the beginning of the season, I just wanted to be one of the top seven guys," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I didn't know I would be able to finish 11th at state, third in the sectional or first in the conference was even touchable. It's a great feeling.
"We train to be better at the end of the year and that is what we look to do. It feels great to run a PR at the end of the year. We had the mindset 'why not?' all week."
As a coach and father, Dave Hirsbrunner was proud to see his son competing on the biggest stage.
"He really stepped it up at the end of the year," he said. "He ran incredible. To cap it off with 11th place at state is phenomenal."
Dave Hirsbrunner also commended Moehn for working hard to return.
"He did everything we asked of him after he was injured," he said.
New Glarus-Monticello senior Alexander Yeiser finished 50th (17:16.30) and Brodhead-Juda junior Dylan Johnson took 58th (17:19.2).
Monroe senior A.J. Cifuentes took 63rd (17:24.3) and sophomore Jeremy Miller was 102nd (17:55.94).
The coach is already looking ahead to next year, when the Cheesemakers will have to replace three seniors.
"We joked at the state meet that we are taking applications and interviewing people for next year," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "We will need to have some guys step up."
