MONROE - Brothers Tyson and Kent Miehe continue to carry on the family legacy of college cross country and track success. Both are motivated after each missed out on qualifying for nationals in cross country this fall.
Tyson Miehe, as a redshirt freshman, is running cross country and track for the University of Wisconsin. His older brother, Kent, is a senior running cross country and track for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Miehe brothers, who are from Darlington, lean on and rely on each other in times of celebration and struggle.
"He's always been there so I can bounce ideas off of him and talk about what we are going through," Tyson said of Kent. "He understands what I'm going through if I have a tough race or a good race. He understands the nature of the beast in college running."
The Badgers' record streak of 43 straight trips to the NCAA Championships as a team was snapped this year after Wisconsin ran to a sixth-place finish in the Great Lakes regional on their home course.
The top two teams in each of nine regional sites and 13 other teams earn at-large berths to the nationals.
Tyson Miehe finished 103rd at the regional with a time of 32 minutes, 56.2 seconds in his first 10,000-meter run. College cross country teams run an 8,000-meter race during the regular season and it switches to 10K in the postseason. The best 8,000-meter time (24:56) for Tyson came in the Louisville Classic in October. He finished 83rd in the Big Ten Championships with a time of 25:20.7.
"It was a hard one to swallow," Tyson Miehe said of having the record streak end. "With a program like Wisconsin to not make it to nationals for the first time in 43 years was difficult for the runners, coaches and fans. We know we had a bad season. I didn't have too great of a season ... everything that could go wrong went wrong."
Kent Miehe finished 55th (25:38) in the 8,000-meter run for UW-Whitewater at a Division III regional at Augustana College. It was three seconds away from his personal best time. The Warhawks finished 12th out of 38 teams in the Midwest regional.
"Teamwise our region, the Midwest, is the strongest region in the country for Division III," Kent said. "This year, our region qualified eight teams for the national meet, which was an NCAA record for most teams from one region. We were pleased with how our team ran. We had a lot of runners run their fastest time of the season or ever.
"Personally, I was very happy that I could end the season almost running my fastest time ever. I got out very fast and ran nearly a perfect race. I was pleased because I didn't run very well at the conference race. It was a bounce-back race to end my career with."
The two brothers often discuss race strategy before and after big races.
"If one of us has a bad race, we talk to each other about what happened and how we can run better the next week, so in a way, we act as personal coaches for each other," Kent said. "We understand the stress and the work that goes into running in college, and being brothers, we have a more personal relationship than someone being close with just another teammate."
Tyson said the biggest difference between college cross country compared to high school is the training. He would run 50 miles a week in high school. Tyson, a three-time WIAA Division 3 state champion, now runs 80 to 90 miles per week.
"I'm now running at least 10 miles a day," Tyson said. "The strategy and tactics change. In high school, I was one of the better runners in the state. Now I'm in the middle of the pack. It's a lot more physical than being out front controlling the race."
Kent said the biggest adjustment for him running cross country and track in college has been managing all things outside of the sport - such as eating right, getting enough sleep and getting homework done ahead of time - that are required to be successful.
"We had more chances to race and compete if I felt sick (in high school) and it was much easier to muscle through a 5K if I didn't feel well," he said. "Now that I'm in college, I don't always have someone there to make sure I'm doing the little things. We also have harder workouts, longer races and less chances to compete, so I can't afford to feel a little under the weather."
Kent said the only difference between cross country practices from high school to college is his practices with the Warhawks are longer and faster.
"In high school, we would always put a big emphasis on every single meet and try to win each one," Kent said. "I always wanted to run my fastest at each meet. We had the incentive to try to achieve something at every meet, whether that was a medal, trophy or a personal-record time. In college, we put more focus on the meets towards the end of the season. In college if you run well you might get a T-shirt instead of a medal. There is not a lot of extrinsic incentive in college races. We prepare to run our best at conference and regionals. There are many high school coaches that understand and use this concept, but it is more prevalent in college running than the high school level."
Both Tyson and Kent are now gearing up for the indoor track season. Kent starts his indoor track season Saturday when UW-Whitewater has an alumni meet. The first regular season indoor meet is Jan. 16 when the Warhawks host the Karl Schlender Invitational. Kent focuses on the 3,000-meter run and the 1,600. During the outdoor season, Kent's main event is the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The Badgers are gearing up for the indoor track season that starts Jan. 16 when UW hosts Notre Dame. Tyson expects to focus on the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He's considering trying the 3,000-meter steeplechase when the outdoor track season begins. Both Tyson's father, Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe, and Kent have competed in the steeplechase at the college level.
"I'm thinking about it," he said. "To be competitive in the Big Ten and in the country it's tough. I may try it out this year and if I see some success I may go for it."
Tyson took two weeks off after the cross country season. Now, he's ramping up the miles to prepare for the indoor track season.
"When you come into the season you just try to get a good base of mileage," he said. "It's much more intense than high school. You have top notch guys across the nation. You just have to keep your nose to the grindstone, keep working and hopefully you see those results."
Both the Miehe brothers keep tabs on the Darlington cross country program and took note when the boys won a fifth straight WIAA Division 3 state championship in October.
"It's definitely exciting to see them win five in a row," Tyson said. "I was watching it on my laptop at the Big Ten Championships and someone was Skyping. The football team has also had success getting to state. The community rallies around those teams no matter where they are. It's something I'm proud to be a part of. I'm still representing Darlington even though I'm in Madison."
Kent was a part of the Redbirds' first state title team during the streak. He takes pride in seeing each team continuing to keep the streak of gold trophies alive.
"It's special to see the precedent we set continue year after year," Kent said. "They understand the hard work that goes into it and it's so cool to see them work as hard as they can to continue the streak, because no one wants it to end. Every year they have won after I graduated, I still feel part of the championship."
Tyson Miehe, as a redshirt freshman, is running cross country and track for the University of Wisconsin. His older brother, Kent, is a senior running cross country and track for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Miehe brothers, who are from Darlington, lean on and rely on each other in times of celebration and struggle.
"He's always been there so I can bounce ideas off of him and talk about what we are going through," Tyson said of Kent. "He understands what I'm going through if I have a tough race or a good race. He understands the nature of the beast in college running."
The Badgers' record streak of 43 straight trips to the NCAA Championships as a team was snapped this year after Wisconsin ran to a sixth-place finish in the Great Lakes regional on their home course.
The top two teams in each of nine regional sites and 13 other teams earn at-large berths to the nationals.
Tyson Miehe finished 103rd at the regional with a time of 32 minutes, 56.2 seconds in his first 10,000-meter run. College cross country teams run an 8,000-meter race during the regular season and it switches to 10K in the postseason. The best 8,000-meter time (24:56) for Tyson came in the Louisville Classic in October. He finished 83rd in the Big Ten Championships with a time of 25:20.7.
"It was a hard one to swallow," Tyson Miehe said of having the record streak end. "With a program like Wisconsin to not make it to nationals for the first time in 43 years was difficult for the runners, coaches and fans. We know we had a bad season. I didn't have too great of a season ... everything that could go wrong went wrong."
Kent Miehe finished 55th (25:38) in the 8,000-meter run for UW-Whitewater at a Division III regional at Augustana College. It was three seconds away from his personal best time. The Warhawks finished 12th out of 38 teams in the Midwest regional.
"Teamwise our region, the Midwest, is the strongest region in the country for Division III," Kent said. "This year, our region qualified eight teams for the national meet, which was an NCAA record for most teams from one region. We were pleased with how our team ran. We had a lot of runners run their fastest time of the season or ever.
"Personally, I was very happy that I could end the season almost running my fastest time ever. I got out very fast and ran nearly a perfect race. I was pleased because I didn't run very well at the conference race. It was a bounce-back race to end my career with."
The two brothers often discuss race strategy before and after big races.
"If one of us has a bad race, we talk to each other about what happened and how we can run better the next week, so in a way, we act as personal coaches for each other," Kent said. "We understand the stress and the work that goes into running in college, and being brothers, we have a more personal relationship than someone being close with just another teammate."
Tyson said the biggest difference between college cross country compared to high school is the training. He would run 50 miles a week in high school. Tyson, a three-time WIAA Division 3 state champion, now runs 80 to 90 miles per week.
"I'm now running at least 10 miles a day," Tyson said. "The strategy and tactics change. In high school, I was one of the better runners in the state. Now I'm in the middle of the pack. It's a lot more physical than being out front controlling the race."
Kent said the biggest adjustment for him running cross country and track in college has been managing all things outside of the sport - such as eating right, getting enough sleep and getting homework done ahead of time - that are required to be successful.
"We had more chances to race and compete if I felt sick (in high school) and it was much easier to muscle through a 5K if I didn't feel well," he said. "Now that I'm in college, I don't always have someone there to make sure I'm doing the little things. We also have harder workouts, longer races and less chances to compete, so I can't afford to feel a little under the weather."
Kent said the only difference between cross country practices from high school to college is his practices with the Warhawks are longer and faster.
"In high school, we would always put a big emphasis on every single meet and try to win each one," Kent said. "I always wanted to run my fastest at each meet. We had the incentive to try to achieve something at every meet, whether that was a medal, trophy or a personal-record time. In college, we put more focus on the meets towards the end of the season. In college if you run well you might get a T-shirt instead of a medal. There is not a lot of extrinsic incentive in college races. We prepare to run our best at conference and regionals. There are many high school coaches that understand and use this concept, but it is more prevalent in college running than the high school level."
Both Tyson and Kent are now gearing up for the indoor track season. Kent starts his indoor track season Saturday when UW-Whitewater has an alumni meet. The first regular season indoor meet is Jan. 16 when the Warhawks host the Karl Schlender Invitational. Kent focuses on the 3,000-meter run and the 1,600. During the outdoor season, Kent's main event is the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The Badgers are gearing up for the indoor track season that starts Jan. 16 when UW hosts Notre Dame. Tyson expects to focus on the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He's considering trying the 3,000-meter steeplechase when the outdoor track season begins. Both Tyson's father, Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe, and Kent have competed in the steeplechase at the college level.
"I'm thinking about it," he said. "To be competitive in the Big Ten and in the country it's tough. I may try it out this year and if I see some success I may go for it."
Tyson took two weeks off after the cross country season. Now, he's ramping up the miles to prepare for the indoor track season.
"When you come into the season you just try to get a good base of mileage," he said. "It's much more intense than high school. You have top notch guys across the nation. You just have to keep your nose to the grindstone, keep working and hopefully you see those results."
Both the Miehe brothers keep tabs on the Darlington cross country program and took note when the boys won a fifth straight WIAA Division 3 state championship in October.
"It's definitely exciting to see them win five in a row," Tyson said. "I was watching it on my laptop at the Big Ten Championships and someone was Skyping. The football team has also had success getting to state. The community rallies around those teams no matter where they are. It's something I'm proud to be a part of. I'm still representing Darlington even though I'm in Madison."
Kent was a part of the Redbirds' first state title team during the streak. He takes pride in seeing each team continuing to keep the streak of gold trophies alive.
"It's special to see the precedent we set continue year after year," Kent said. "They understand the hard work that goes into it and it's so cool to see them work as hard as they can to continue the streak, because no one wants it to end. Every year they have won after I graduated, I still feel part of the championship."
