JANESVILLE - The Monroe boys cross country team ran to a 13th-place finish out of 42 teams at the Midwest Invitational on Saturday.
The Cheesemakers finished as the top Division 2 and 3 school with 347 points. Arrowhead captured the team championship (108) ahead of runner-up Neenah (186). Darlington, which has won five straight WIAA Division 3 state titles, took 19th as a team (426).
The race included 42 Division 1, 2 and 3 teams in the same race including 11 of the state's top Division 1 ranked teams.
"This was a great meet for our runners to get some experience racing against the best competition in the state," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said. "With 42 schools participating this was bigger than the state meet and had better competition with all of the Division 1 schools than what we would see in the Division 2 state meet."
Monroe junior Dylan Scace finished 29th with a time of 16 minutes, 26.4 seconds. Senior teammate Nick Baumann took 40th (16:40.3).
"Dylan Scace had a great race, really attacking the last mile to put himself in the mix with a lot of good runners," he said. "Nick Baumann also ran well. He has sat out a couple of meets this year and he's about a race or two away from really finding his stride and significantly bringing his times down."
Monroe junior Drake Ingold placed 67th (17:07) and sophomore Kyle Legler was 79th (17:14). Senior teammate Parker Ingold finished 132nd (17:47.4).
"The majority of our runners set season bests or lifetime best times," Mosher said. "This has been a very common trend for every meet, which is fun for the kids."
Darlington sophomore Payton Heinberg finished 41st (16:40.6) and junior teammate Tanner Evenstad was 57th (17:00.6). Senior Conner Hackett placed 80th (17:14.3) and sophomore Tucker Lange took 119th (17:39.1). Sophomore teammate Trae Schilling rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking 129th (17:45.4).
In the girls' invite, Sun Prairie outdueled Arrowhead for the team title 61-87. Darlington took 13th and Monroe placed 24th in a 42 team field that featured nine of the state's top-ranked Division 1 teams.
"They again closed the gap with some of the teams we are chasing in our conference and sectional," Mosher said. "The girls as a team were over 31⁄2 minutes faster than they were last year at this race."
Belleville senior Noelle Marie finished fourth overall with a time of 18:42.5). Darlington senior Paige Schilling placed 30th (19:54.3)
Monroe junior Rachel Meier finished 46th with a season-best time of 20:20.9.
"It was just a few seconds off her PR," Mosher said of Meier.
Darlington junior Reghan Komprood finished 52nd (20:25.5). Sophomore teammate Ilse Mendez placed 92nd (20:57.5) and junior Emma Crist was 93rd (21:01.9). Junior teammate Erin Wolf finished 128th (21:37.7).
Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner took 116th (21:19.1) and senior Allyce Fahrney was 162nd (22:15.2).
Junior teammate Kati Symons placed 127th (22:20.7) and sophomore Natalie Faith took 170th (22:25.2).
"It's fun watching them get faster as a group each and every race," Mosher said. "If they can keep this up we will have a shot to do some neat things at the end of the year."
The Cheesemakers finished as the top Division 2 and 3 school with 347 points. Arrowhead captured the team championship (108) ahead of runner-up Neenah (186). Darlington, which has won five straight WIAA Division 3 state titles, took 19th as a team (426).
The race included 42 Division 1, 2 and 3 teams in the same race including 11 of the state's top Division 1 ranked teams.
"This was a great meet for our runners to get some experience racing against the best competition in the state," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said. "With 42 schools participating this was bigger than the state meet and had better competition with all of the Division 1 schools than what we would see in the Division 2 state meet."
Monroe junior Dylan Scace finished 29th with a time of 16 minutes, 26.4 seconds. Senior teammate Nick Baumann took 40th (16:40.3).
"Dylan Scace had a great race, really attacking the last mile to put himself in the mix with a lot of good runners," he said. "Nick Baumann also ran well. He has sat out a couple of meets this year and he's about a race or two away from really finding his stride and significantly bringing his times down."
Monroe junior Drake Ingold placed 67th (17:07) and sophomore Kyle Legler was 79th (17:14). Senior teammate Parker Ingold finished 132nd (17:47.4).
"The majority of our runners set season bests or lifetime best times," Mosher said. "This has been a very common trend for every meet, which is fun for the kids."
Darlington sophomore Payton Heinberg finished 41st (16:40.6) and junior teammate Tanner Evenstad was 57th (17:00.6). Senior Conner Hackett placed 80th (17:14.3) and sophomore Tucker Lange took 119th (17:39.1). Sophomore teammate Trae Schilling rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking 129th (17:45.4).
In the girls' invite, Sun Prairie outdueled Arrowhead for the team title 61-87. Darlington took 13th and Monroe placed 24th in a 42 team field that featured nine of the state's top-ranked Division 1 teams.
"They again closed the gap with some of the teams we are chasing in our conference and sectional," Mosher said. "The girls as a team were over 31⁄2 minutes faster than they were last year at this race."
Belleville senior Noelle Marie finished fourth overall with a time of 18:42.5). Darlington senior Paige Schilling placed 30th (19:54.3)
Monroe junior Rachel Meier finished 46th with a season-best time of 20:20.9.
"It was just a few seconds off her PR," Mosher said of Meier.
Darlington junior Reghan Komprood finished 52nd (20:25.5). Sophomore teammate Ilse Mendez placed 92nd (20:57.5) and junior Emma Crist was 93rd (21:01.9). Junior teammate Erin Wolf finished 128th (21:37.7).
Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner took 116th (21:19.1) and senior Allyce Fahrney was 162nd (22:15.2).
Junior teammate Kati Symons placed 127th (22:20.7) and sophomore Natalie Faith took 170th (22:25.2).
"It's fun watching them get faster as a group each and every race," Mosher said. "If they can keep this up we will have a shot to do some neat things at the end of the year."
