PLATTEVILLE - When a computer glitch happened Saturday at the WIAA Division 2 sectional meet, Monroe High School senior Nick Baumann didn't panic about whether the Cheesemakers had qualified for state.
It was a two-horse race and the top two teams advance to state. The only drama was whether the Cheesemakers did enough to win the sectional championship. After a 40-minute delay before the results were available due to a backup system malfunction, it was revealed that Dodgeville-Mineral Point edged Monroe for the sectional title 51-54.
"We saw that it was going to be between the two of us," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said of Dodgeville-Mineral Point and the Cheesemakers. "We knew it would be us and then everyone else."
By finishing as the sectional runner-up, Monroe advances to state as a team for the 11th time in the past 13 years.
"We knew we were going to state," Baumann said. "We just didn't know if we had won the sectional championship.
"We wanted to win it, but at the end of the day, moving on was the top priority."
The Cheesemakers had five of the top 21 runners, led by Baumann's second-place finish in a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 5.8 seconds on the 5,000-meter course.
"It was good to do that because I know what I'm capable of now," Baumann said.
River Valley senior Dustin Hatfield won the individual sectional championship (15:46.4).
Monroe junior Dylan Scace took sixth (16:34.2).
"It's quite a one-two punch," Mosher said of Baumann and Scace. "I don't think there are any other teams with a better 1-2 in Division 2 right now.
Sophomore Kyle Legler was 11th (17:06.1), junior Drake Ingold placed 14th (17:19), and senior Parker Ingold finished 21st (17:36.2).
Drake Ingold has been battling a respiratory illness.
"He's not back to 100 percent yet," Mosher said. "We knew we were not going into it fully healthy. Our goal was to get through it, make it to state and get everyone well for next week."
The Brodhead-Juda boys took ninth out of 14 teams. Brodhead-Juda senior Reuben Larson finished 25th (17:47.1), senior Nate Ciabatti took 36th (17:58.4), sophomore Holden Whitledge placed 46th (18:15.8), sophomore Jacob Staffon was 53rd (18:28.6), and senior Jeff Moss took 62nd (18:49.6).
Monroe junior Rachel Meier took fifth in 19:56.1 in the girls' 5,000-meter race to qualify for state for the first time.
Evansville freshman McKenzie Fillner was the individual sectional champion (19:45.7).
McFarland (75) won the girls sectional championship in the 14-team meet. Dodgeville-Mineral Point (94) took second to lock up the other team qualifying spot. The Brodhead-Juda girls took seventh (161), and Monroe was eighth. The top two teams advance to state and the top five individuals not on one of the top two teams also are state qualifiers. It's rare that none of the top five finishers were not on one of the top two teams.
Meier became the first Monroe girls runner to break 20 minutes since the switch to the 5,000-meter race.
"It shows that she would have been the No. 1 runner for either of the top two teams at state," Mosher said. "She (Meier) had a gutty, gutty race. It's really exciting. She was really spent at the end of the race. She definitely didn't have anything left."
Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner closed her cross country career with a 14th-place finish in a season-best time of 20:33.9.
"It's always tough when it's your last meet," Mosher said of Hirsbrunner who was a state qualifier last year. "She went out with the leaders because she knew that is what she had to do. She ran a season-best time. You can't be too upset about that."
Senior Allyce Fahrney placed 33rd (21:38.9) and sophomore Natalie Faith took 50th (22:22.8). Senior Josie Eberle finished 67th (23:21.1). Monroe's Kati Symons, who had been the Cheesemakers' No. 3 runner most of the season, injured her ankle and didn't finish the race.
"It's unfortunate," Mosher said. "I think we could have been in the top-five range. It didn't impact who was going to state."
Brodhead-Juda junior Madee Harding finished 12th (20:29.5) and junior Cora Purdue took 19th (20:51). Sophomore Carissa Purdue placed 29th (21:29.9), and junior Nadia Flood-Elyafi finished 48th (22:21.1). Junior Nicole Kamholz finished 53rd (22:31.6) to round out the top five for the Cardinals.
It was a two-horse race and the top two teams advance to state. The only drama was whether the Cheesemakers did enough to win the sectional championship. After a 40-minute delay before the results were available due to a backup system malfunction, it was revealed that Dodgeville-Mineral Point edged Monroe for the sectional title 51-54.
"We saw that it was going to be between the two of us," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said of Dodgeville-Mineral Point and the Cheesemakers. "We knew it would be us and then everyone else."
By finishing as the sectional runner-up, Monroe advances to state as a team for the 11th time in the past 13 years.
"We knew we were going to state," Baumann said. "We just didn't know if we had won the sectional championship.
"We wanted to win it, but at the end of the day, moving on was the top priority."
The Cheesemakers had five of the top 21 runners, led by Baumann's second-place finish in a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 5.8 seconds on the 5,000-meter course.
"It was good to do that because I know what I'm capable of now," Baumann said.
River Valley senior Dustin Hatfield won the individual sectional championship (15:46.4).
Monroe junior Dylan Scace took sixth (16:34.2).
"It's quite a one-two punch," Mosher said of Baumann and Scace. "I don't think there are any other teams with a better 1-2 in Division 2 right now.
Sophomore Kyle Legler was 11th (17:06.1), junior Drake Ingold placed 14th (17:19), and senior Parker Ingold finished 21st (17:36.2).
Drake Ingold has been battling a respiratory illness.
"He's not back to 100 percent yet," Mosher said. "We knew we were not going into it fully healthy. Our goal was to get through it, make it to state and get everyone well for next week."
The Brodhead-Juda boys took ninth out of 14 teams. Brodhead-Juda senior Reuben Larson finished 25th (17:47.1), senior Nate Ciabatti took 36th (17:58.4), sophomore Holden Whitledge placed 46th (18:15.8), sophomore Jacob Staffon was 53rd (18:28.6), and senior Jeff Moss took 62nd (18:49.6).
Monroe junior Rachel Meier took fifth in 19:56.1 in the girls' 5,000-meter race to qualify for state for the first time.
Evansville freshman McKenzie Fillner was the individual sectional champion (19:45.7).
McFarland (75) won the girls sectional championship in the 14-team meet. Dodgeville-Mineral Point (94) took second to lock up the other team qualifying spot. The Brodhead-Juda girls took seventh (161), and Monroe was eighth. The top two teams advance to state and the top five individuals not on one of the top two teams also are state qualifiers. It's rare that none of the top five finishers were not on one of the top two teams.
Meier became the first Monroe girls runner to break 20 minutes since the switch to the 5,000-meter race.
"It shows that she would have been the No. 1 runner for either of the top two teams at state," Mosher said. "She (Meier) had a gutty, gutty race. It's really exciting. She was really spent at the end of the race. She definitely didn't have anything left."
Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner closed her cross country career with a 14th-place finish in a season-best time of 20:33.9.
"It's always tough when it's your last meet," Mosher said of Hirsbrunner who was a state qualifier last year. "She went out with the leaders because she knew that is what she had to do. She ran a season-best time. You can't be too upset about that."
Senior Allyce Fahrney placed 33rd (21:38.9) and sophomore Natalie Faith took 50th (22:22.8). Senior Josie Eberle finished 67th (23:21.1). Monroe's Kati Symons, who had been the Cheesemakers' No. 3 runner most of the season, injured her ankle and didn't finish the race.
"It's unfortunate," Mosher said. "I think we could have been in the top-five range. It didn't impact who was going to state."
Brodhead-Juda junior Madee Harding finished 12th (20:29.5) and junior Cora Purdue took 19th (20:51). Sophomore Carissa Purdue placed 29th (21:29.9), and junior Nadia Flood-Elyafi finished 48th (22:21.1). Junior Nicole Kamholz finished 53rd (22:31.6) to round out the top five for the Cardinals.
