MONROE - The Monroe boys cross country team wasn't satisfied with their performance in the showdown with Dodgeville-Mineral Point in the WIAA Division 2 sectional Saturday at Twining Park, but the Cheesemakers will have another opportunity after qualifying for state.
Dodgeville-Mineral Point had five of the top 21 runners to run away with the sectional championship 49-76 over Monroe. The Cheesemakers, as the sectional runner-up, qualified for state for the seventh time in the last eight years.
The Cheesemakers finished ahead of third place New Glarus-Monticello (88).
"It's definitely an honor to get to state," Monroe senior Luke Peterson said. "Everyone is gunning for first. Only one team gets it. We were a little disappointed we didn't get first. We knew they (Dodgeville-Mineral Point) were the favorite. We knew we could beat them if everything went right. It just didn't today."
New Glarus-Monticello junior Ryan McCoy won the sectional with a blistering time of 15 minutes, 42 seconds, which was 24 seconds ahead of Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna and 30 seconds ahead of Dodgeville-Mineral Point's Trevor Wunnicke.
"I wanted to run my best and not worry about them," McCoy said of McKenna and Wunnicke. "I just wanted to run my race and control what I could control. I wanted to go for first and see what happened."
McCoy has qualified for state three straight years. He knew what was at stake.
"I wanted to win it," McCoy said. "It's exciting. Each one of us (McKenna and Wunnicke) could win the individual state championship."
The Cheesemakers had four of the top 14 runners led by sophomore Ethan Moehn who finished fifth (16:54). Peterson finished eighth (16:59), junior Steve Christiansen took 12th (17:15) and senior Joel Henry took 14th (17:26).
"We are happy to earn the right to go to the state meet and have another week of practice," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "In the same sense we are unsatisfied with our performance. We had the stage set. We had the second biggest race of the year on our home course."
Moehn is excited about making a return trip to state.
"That was definitely our goal at the beginning of the season," Moehn said of qualifying for state. "I have to give credit to Dodgeville. They ran a great race and it just wasn't our day."
Brodhead-Juda senior Tate Harnack finished 10th (17:07) and was the last individual state qualifier beating out New Glarus-Monticello junior Alexander Yeiser by 12 seconds.
"It's amazing," Harnack said of qualifying for state. "I beat my PR by 30 seconds. I usually stay back at the start and then attack it. I attacked it the whole time and it paid off."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point's No. 5 runner had a 16-point gap on Monroe freshman Jeremy Miller who finished 37th (18:12). Miller has emerged as the Cheesemakers No. 5 runner after Payton Hoesly suffered a stress fracture.
"If we would have had Payton Hoesly there wouldn't have been a gap," Hirsbrunner said. "When you think about it he (Miller) is our eighth runner. Jeremy did a nice job to keep us in it. He has been getting better every race. He bailed us out."
Yeiser finished 13th place (17:19) and just missed a trip to state. New Glarus-Monticello senior Evan Schultz took 19th (17:35), senior Wesley Morgan finished 25th (17:44) and senior Riley Miller was 30th (17:59). New Glarus-Monticello coach Steve Wehrley wasn't disappointed that the team didn't qualify for state despite coming within 12 points of the Cheesemakers.
"We did everything we could do," Wehrley said. "Dodgeville and Monroe are two of the top teams in the state. We showed that we can run with anyone who will be at the state meet. It's Monroe that has made us as fast as we are."
Despite finishing as the sectional runner-up and qualifying for state, Hirsbrunner questioned what he could do to get the most out of his runners.
"When we have multiple people not run up to expectations on the same day, it's something I have to look at as a coach," he said. "The guys would have killed themselves for the team. They gave everything they had. It's something on the coaching end that needs to be looked at."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point had five of the top 21 runners to run away with the sectional championship 49-76 over Monroe. The Cheesemakers, as the sectional runner-up, qualified for state for the seventh time in the last eight years.
The Cheesemakers finished ahead of third place New Glarus-Monticello (88).
"It's definitely an honor to get to state," Monroe senior Luke Peterson said. "Everyone is gunning for first. Only one team gets it. We were a little disappointed we didn't get first. We knew they (Dodgeville-Mineral Point) were the favorite. We knew we could beat them if everything went right. It just didn't today."
New Glarus-Monticello junior Ryan McCoy won the sectional with a blistering time of 15 minutes, 42 seconds, which was 24 seconds ahead of Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna and 30 seconds ahead of Dodgeville-Mineral Point's Trevor Wunnicke.
"I wanted to run my best and not worry about them," McCoy said of McKenna and Wunnicke. "I just wanted to run my race and control what I could control. I wanted to go for first and see what happened."
McCoy has qualified for state three straight years. He knew what was at stake.
"I wanted to win it," McCoy said. "It's exciting. Each one of us (McKenna and Wunnicke) could win the individual state championship."
The Cheesemakers had four of the top 14 runners led by sophomore Ethan Moehn who finished fifth (16:54). Peterson finished eighth (16:59), junior Steve Christiansen took 12th (17:15) and senior Joel Henry took 14th (17:26).
"We are happy to earn the right to go to the state meet and have another week of practice," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "In the same sense we are unsatisfied with our performance. We had the stage set. We had the second biggest race of the year on our home course."
Moehn is excited about making a return trip to state.
"That was definitely our goal at the beginning of the season," Moehn said of qualifying for state. "I have to give credit to Dodgeville. They ran a great race and it just wasn't our day."
Brodhead-Juda senior Tate Harnack finished 10th (17:07) and was the last individual state qualifier beating out New Glarus-Monticello junior Alexander Yeiser by 12 seconds.
"It's amazing," Harnack said of qualifying for state. "I beat my PR by 30 seconds. I usually stay back at the start and then attack it. I attacked it the whole time and it paid off."
Dodgeville-Mineral Point's No. 5 runner had a 16-point gap on Monroe freshman Jeremy Miller who finished 37th (18:12). Miller has emerged as the Cheesemakers No. 5 runner after Payton Hoesly suffered a stress fracture.
"If we would have had Payton Hoesly there wouldn't have been a gap," Hirsbrunner said. "When you think about it he (Miller) is our eighth runner. Jeremy did a nice job to keep us in it. He has been getting better every race. He bailed us out."
Yeiser finished 13th place (17:19) and just missed a trip to state. New Glarus-Monticello senior Evan Schultz took 19th (17:35), senior Wesley Morgan finished 25th (17:44) and senior Riley Miller was 30th (17:59). New Glarus-Monticello coach Steve Wehrley wasn't disappointed that the team didn't qualify for state despite coming within 12 points of the Cheesemakers.
"We did everything we could do," Wehrley said. "Dodgeville and Monroe are two of the top teams in the state. We showed that we can run with anyone who will be at the state meet. It's Monroe that has made us as fast as we are."
Despite finishing as the sectional runner-up and qualifying for state, Hirsbrunner questioned what he could do to get the most out of his runners.
"When we have multiple people not run up to expectations on the same day, it's something I have to look at as a coach," he said. "The guys would have killed themselves for the team. They gave everything they had. It's something on the coaching end that needs to be looked at."
