WAUNAKEE - The Monroe boys cross country team finished on top Tuesday in the 14-team Badger Challenge at Waunakee's Ripp Park. The Cheesemakers finished 18 seconds ahead of second-place Sauk Prairie.
"This was a very positive meet for us," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "Of the seven years the conference has had the Badger Challenge, we have won three of them. We really wanted to get number four tonight. Our next race is 11 days away, so we wanted to run hard tonight - especially after the tough week of practices we had last week."
The challenging course had a 600-meter hill that runners had to go up twice, making times a bit slower than usual.
Brett DeNure (third place) was the top Monroe finisher in the junior/senior race with a time of 17 minutes, 11 seconds. Cullen Sampson (17:47, sixth place) and Joe Pecora (17:56, seventh place) each medaled in the meet. Dylan Stark (18:00) and Justin Scott (19:12) finished out Monroe's top five.
Stark won the freshman/ sophomore race by 44 seconds.
"He destroyed the field. We thought he had a good chance of winning, but I certainly didn't expect him to run away with it like he did," Hirsbrunner said.
Luke Peterson (19:17) finished in fourth place in the freshman/sophomore race. Peterson jumped from eighth place all the way to fourth over the course of the last 700 meters.
Fort Atkinson finished third, Milton fourth, and DeForest fifth in the race.
Monroe races next Sept. 27 at Janesville in the Midwest Invite.
Monroe Girls 10th
The Monroe girls cross country team knew that the ground and weather conditions at the Badger Challenge would present a problem. Through the wind and hills, the Cheesemakers finished in 10th place with a time of 90:14, more than six minutes off of Reedsburg's top pace (84:08).
"The biggest area for improvement (for us) is the second mile," Cheesemaker head coach Brian Jefferson said. "Runners sometimes mentally go blank in that second mile and that cannot happen."
Tess Seichter was the top runner again for Monroe, as she finished 11th in the junior/senior race. Tessa Frutiger was the second runner to cross the finish line, with Sommer Bertalot coming in as Monroe's third runner.
Molly Hlubek and Rachel Rogerson finished ninth and 10th overall in the freshman/sophomore race to lead Monroe.
The coach praised Rogerson.
"We switched up her strategy a bit and it paid off. She now needs to carry this over into the final races of the season. It should serve as a booster for her. She has the ability, now she just has to use it," he said.
The girls also race Sept. 27 in the Midwest Invite in Janesville.
"This was a very positive meet for us," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "Of the seven years the conference has had the Badger Challenge, we have won three of them. We really wanted to get number four tonight. Our next race is 11 days away, so we wanted to run hard tonight - especially after the tough week of practices we had last week."
The challenging course had a 600-meter hill that runners had to go up twice, making times a bit slower than usual.
Brett DeNure (third place) was the top Monroe finisher in the junior/senior race with a time of 17 minutes, 11 seconds. Cullen Sampson (17:47, sixth place) and Joe Pecora (17:56, seventh place) each medaled in the meet. Dylan Stark (18:00) and Justin Scott (19:12) finished out Monroe's top five.
Stark won the freshman/ sophomore race by 44 seconds.
"He destroyed the field. We thought he had a good chance of winning, but I certainly didn't expect him to run away with it like he did," Hirsbrunner said.
Luke Peterson (19:17) finished in fourth place in the freshman/sophomore race. Peterson jumped from eighth place all the way to fourth over the course of the last 700 meters.
Fort Atkinson finished third, Milton fourth, and DeForest fifth in the race.
Monroe races next Sept. 27 at Janesville in the Midwest Invite.
Monroe Girls 10th
The Monroe girls cross country team knew that the ground and weather conditions at the Badger Challenge would present a problem. Through the wind and hills, the Cheesemakers finished in 10th place with a time of 90:14, more than six minutes off of Reedsburg's top pace (84:08).
"The biggest area for improvement (for us) is the second mile," Cheesemaker head coach Brian Jefferson said. "Runners sometimes mentally go blank in that second mile and that cannot happen."
Tess Seichter was the top runner again for Monroe, as she finished 11th in the junior/senior race. Tessa Frutiger was the second runner to cross the finish line, with Sommer Bertalot coming in as Monroe's third runner.
Molly Hlubek and Rachel Rogerson finished ninth and 10th overall in the freshman/sophomore race to lead Monroe.
The coach praised Rogerson.
"We switched up her strategy a bit and it paid off. She now needs to carry this over into the final races of the season. It should serve as a booster for her. She has the ability, now she just has to use it," he said.
The girls also race Sept. 27 in the Midwest Invite in Janesville.
