JANESVILLE - Monroe's boys cross country team finished eighth out of 37 teams at Saturday's Midwest Invitational at Blackhawk Golf Course.
"The Midwest Invite has become one of the largest meets in the state. There were 40 different schools there," said Dave Hirsbrunner, Monroe head coach, who added that there were 182 runners in the frosh/soph race. "The varsity race had 250 (runners), and the JV race had an unbelievable 618 runners in it. Needless to say, with 1,000 runners on the course it made it difficult to pass. You had to get out hard and hang on. It changed racing strategy a little."
Dylan Starck broke his personal best time by nearly a half of a minute and finished 19th with a mark of 16 minutes, 17 seconds.
"Dylan went out fairly hard and raced really well," Hirsbrunner said.
Joel Henry (16:43) finished 48th and teammate Luke Peterson (16:50) was 54th.
"Joel has been trying hard to crack that 17-minute barrier and he did in a big way," Hirsbrunner said. "Luke was out easy and just kept picking guys off all the way through the race."
Steve Christiansen (17:07) was 78th and Ethan Moehn (17:15) finished 89th.
Albany's boys team, which finished in 28th place, was led by Drew Mather, who was 84th overall with a time of 17:15. Hartland Arrowhead took the team championship.
On the girl's side, Abby Rogerson led the Cheesemakers, finishing in 97th place with a time of 16:35. Molly Hlubek (16:53) was 120th, Elizabeth Dale (16:55) took 125th and Rachel Rogerson (17:11) finished 143rd.
"Awesome day for the Lady Cheesemakers," Monroe girls coach Brian Jefferson said. "Twenty-two girls ran (for Monroe), 18 ran a season best while seven ran an all-time best."
Albany's Rosy Bauman (16:47) was 111th, Ciara Kubesh (17:04) took 134th and Jessica Mauerman (17:11) finished 144th.
Neenah finished in first place as a team while Monroe took 24th as a team and Albany was 27th in the 40-team field.
"This is the first race where we have actually eased off the training and it really showed. The girls responded by not only running some nice times but also competing at a very nice level," Jefferson said.
"The Midwest Invite has become one of the largest meets in the state. There were 40 different schools there," said Dave Hirsbrunner, Monroe head coach, who added that there were 182 runners in the frosh/soph race. "The varsity race had 250 (runners), and the JV race had an unbelievable 618 runners in it. Needless to say, with 1,000 runners on the course it made it difficult to pass. You had to get out hard and hang on. It changed racing strategy a little."
Dylan Starck broke his personal best time by nearly a half of a minute and finished 19th with a mark of 16 minutes, 17 seconds.
"Dylan went out fairly hard and raced really well," Hirsbrunner said.
Joel Henry (16:43) finished 48th and teammate Luke Peterson (16:50) was 54th.
"Joel has been trying hard to crack that 17-minute barrier and he did in a big way," Hirsbrunner said. "Luke was out easy and just kept picking guys off all the way through the race."
Steve Christiansen (17:07) was 78th and Ethan Moehn (17:15) finished 89th.
Albany's boys team, which finished in 28th place, was led by Drew Mather, who was 84th overall with a time of 17:15. Hartland Arrowhead took the team championship.
On the girl's side, Abby Rogerson led the Cheesemakers, finishing in 97th place with a time of 16:35. Molly Hlubek (16:53) was 120th, Elizabeth Dale (16:55) took 125th and Rachel Rogerson (17:11) finished 143rd.
"Awesome day for the Lady Cheesemakers," Monroe girls coach Brian Jefferson said. "Twenty-two girls ran (for Monroe), 18 ran a season best while seven ran an all-time best."
Albany's Rosy Bauman (16:47) was 111th, Ciara Kubesh (17:04) took 134th and Jessica Mauerman (17:11) finished 144th.
Neenah finished in first place as a team while Monroe took 24th as a team and Albany was 27th in the 40-team field.
"This is the first race where we have actually eased off the training and it really showed. The girls responded by not only running some nice times but also competing at a very nice level," Jefferson said.
