PLATTEVILLE - The Monroe boys cross country team had five runners finish in the top 15 to run away with the large school championship in the Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational on Saturday.
Monroe junior Dylan Scace, who ran a career-best time, finished fourth out of 156 runners with a time of 16 minutes, 17.4 seconds. It was also his first time running this season without a cast on his arm after breaking his wrist over the summer.
Senior teammate Nick Baumann took fifth (16:24.4) and junior Drake Ingold was ninth (16:49.8). The Cheesemakers, with 46 points, captured the team title over Dodgeville-Mineral Point (62). Brodhead-Juda took ninth (196) at the 12-team invite.
"We added this meet this year because it gave us a chance to run on the course where sectionals will be hosted and also compete against most of the teams that will be at sectionals," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said. "We have been racing against the best teams in Division 1 most of the season so this meet was a good indicator of where we stand compared to other Division 2 programs."
Monroe sophomore Kyle Legler placed 13th (17:21.6) and senior Parker Ingold finished 15th (17:28.8).
"We didn't alter our training to really run well at this meet, but mentally we wanted to see everyone compete hard," Mosher said. "The varsity boys ran smart races with everyone understanding we could do quite well if they raced to their abilities. The key to our success on Saturday, and it will be going forward, was our fourth and fifth runners. Kyle Legler and Parker Ingold ran together and kept the gap close. Kyle has been running great all season so seeing Parker stay with him was encouraging for the team. We've been waiting for Parker's breakout race and this could be it. It will be fun to see what he does the last few meets of the season."
Brodhead-Juda senior Jeff Moss ran to a 33rd-place finish (18:08.6). Senior teammate Reuben Larson placed 37th (18:21.9) and senior Nate Ciabatti was 38th (18:24.9). Freshman teammate Jacob Staffon finished 40th (18:25.9) and junior Holden Whitledge was 48th (18:39).
Darlington won the small school team title 20-75 over Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld. Darlington sophomore Payton Heinberg was the individual champion (16:31.9). The Redbirds dominated the small school field with all five of their runners in the top 10. Senior teammate Conner Hackett finished third (16:46.6). Junior teammate Tanner Evenstad took fourth (16:50.1) and sophomore Tucker Lange was fifth (16:55.4). Sophomore Trae Schilling rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking seventh (17:26.2).
Albany took third as a team with 76 points, which was just one point behind Wisconsin-Heights-Barneveld and New Glarus-Monticello took fifth (145) and Pecatonica-Argyle was last in the 11-team invite. Albany sophomore Josh Dahl finished eighth (17:26.6) to lead the Comets. Senior teammate Isaac Halverson took 12th (17:51.4) and senior Connor Trow was 14th (17:59.6). Albany senior Trevor Mueller placed 18th (18:13.9) and senior Jacob Elmer was 24th (18:44.4).
New Glarus-Monticello senior Christian Arnett took 10th (17:31.7) and freshman Adam Nelson placed 20th (18:17.6). Senior teammate Andrew Newberry finished 34th (19:14) and senior Cade Beutler took 36th (19:24.2). Freshman Garrett Grossen finished 45th (20:05.9).
Pecatonica-Argyle freshman Troy Nickels finished 46th (20:11.5). The Vikings had two runners in the top 55 of the small school race. Fellow freshman Payton Flannery placed 54th (21:17.1).
In the girls' race, Belleville senior Noelle Marie took second overall (18:52.8) and Albany senior Ciara Kaderly finished fourth (19:49.6) out of 151 runners. Wisconsin Dells captured the large school team title with 53 points, which was well ahead of runner-up Dodgeville-Mineral Point (81). The Monroe girls cross country team finished seventh (172) and Brodhead-Juda took 10th (192) out of 12 teams in the large school division.
Monroe junior Rachel Meier finished eighth (20:16) and senior Jordan Hirsbrunner took 15th (20:43) to lead the Cheesemakers. It marked Hirsbrunner's season-best time.
"We know Jordan is capable of running really fast times when she gets into race shape, and it looks like she is ready to go for the homestretch of the season," Mosher said. "These two (Meier and Hirsbrunner) are capable of breaking 20 minutes and will be a great one-two punch for the team in conference and sectionals."
Senior teammate Allyce Fahrney placed 44th with a personal-record time of 22:02.2 and junior Kati Symons was 46th with a PR of 22:05.4. Senior teammate Josie Eberle finished 59th (22:50).
"If our No. 3-5 runners can keep improving and close the gap on our No. 1 and 2 runners, they will have a chance to compete for a trip to the state meet."
Brodhead-Juda junior Madee Harding took 11th (20:31.7) and junior Cora Purdue was 21st (21:03.7). Freshman teammate Carissa Purdue placed 49th (22:25) and sophomore teammate Nadia Flood-Elyafi was 55th (22:42.2). Sophomore teammate Nicole Kamholz placed 56th (22:45.4).
The Darlington girls cross country team won the team title 48-63 over Albany. New Glarus-Monticello finished seventh (162) out of nine teams. Darlington senior Paige Schilling finished fifth (20:09.9). The Redbirds had all five of their runners finish in the top 15 in the small school division. Junior teammate Reghan Komprood placed eighth (20:28.5) and sophomore Ilse Mendez was 10th (20:47.7). Junior Emma Crist finished 12th (21:02.9) and junior Erin Wolf was 13th (21:05.5).
For Albany, Kaderly took fourth overall, but was third in the small school division. Albany junior Emma Guenther finished seventh (20:26) and sophomore Megan Anderson was 14th (21:19.6). Freshman teammate Kristin O'Bel placed 18th (21:51.5) and sophomore Kirsten Oliver took 21st (22:00.4).
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Josie Penniston finished 79th overall, but the Vikings didn't have enough runners to score in the small school team standings.
Monroe junior Dylan Scace, who ran a career-best time, finished fourth out of 156 runners with a time of 16 minutes, 17.4 seconds. It was also his first time running this season without a cast on his arm after breaking his wrist over the summer.
Senior teammate Nick Baumann took fifth (16:24.4) and junior Drake Ingold was ninth (16:49.8). The Cheesemakers, with 46 points, captured the team title over Dodgeville-Mineral Point (62). Brodhead-Juda took ninth (196) at the 12-team invite.
"We added this meet this year because it gave us a chance to run on the course where sectionals will be hosted and also compete against most of the teams that will be at sectionals," Monroe co-coach Scott Mosher said. "We have been racing against the best teams in Division 1 most of the season so this meet was a good indicator of where we stand compared to other Division 2 programs."
Monroe sophomore Kyle Legler placed 13th (17:21.6) and senior Parker Ingold finished 15th (17:28.8).
"We didn't alter our training to really run well at this meet, but mentally we wanted to see everyone compete hard," Mosher said. "The varsity boys ran smart races with everyone understanding we could do quite well if they raced to their abilities. The key to our success on Saturday, and it will be going forward, was our fourth and fifth runners. Kyle Legler and Parker Ingold ran together and kept the gap close. Kyle has been running great all season so seeing Parker stay with him was encouraging for the team. We've been waiting for Parker's breakout race and this could be it. It will be fun to see what he does the last few meets of the season."
Brodhead-Juda senior Jeff Moss ran to a 33rd-place finish (18:08.6). Senior teammate Reuben Larson placed 37th (18:21.9) and senior Nate Ciabatti was 38th (18:24.9). Freshman teammate Jacob Staffon finished 40th (18:25.9) and junior Holden Whitledge was 48th (18:39).
Darlington won the small school team title 20-75 over Wisconsin Heights-Barneveld. Darlington sophomore Payton Heinberg was the individual champion (16:31.9). The Redbirds dominated the small school field with all five of their runners in the top 10. Senior teammate Conner Hackett finished third (16:46.6). Junior teammate Tanner Evenstad took fourth (16:50.1) and sophomore Tucker Lange was fifth (16:55.4). Sophomore Trae Schilling rounded out the top five for the Redbirds taking seventh (17:26.2).
Albany took third as a team with 76 points, which was just one point behind Wisconsin-Heights-Barneveld and New Glarus-Monticello took fifth (145) and Pecatonica-Argyle was last in the 11-team invite. Albany sophomore Josh Dahl finished eighth (17:26.6) to lead the Comets. Senior teammate Isaac Halverson took 12th (17:51.4) and senior Connor Trow was 14th (17:59.6). Albany senior Trevor Mueller placed 18th (18:13.9) and senior Jacob Elmer was 24th (18:44.4).
New Glarus-Monticello senior Christian Arnett took 10th (17:31.7) and freshman Adam Nelson placed 20th (18:17.6). Senior teammate Andrew Newberry finished 34th (19:14) and senior Cade Beutler took 36th (19:24.2). Freshman Garrett Grossen finished 45th (20:05.9).
Pecatonica-Argyle freshman Troy Nickels finished 46th (20:11.5). The Vikings had two runners in the top 55 of the small school race. Fellow freshman Payton Flannery placed 54th (21:17.1).
In the girls' race, Belleville senior Noelle Marie took second overall (18:52.8) and Albany senior Ciara Kaderly finished fourth (19:49.6) out of 151 runners. Wisconsin Dells captured the large school team title with 53 points, which was well ahead of runner-up Dodgeville-Mineral Point (81). The Monroe girls cross country team finished seventh (172) and Brodhead-Juda took 10th (192) out of 12 teams in the large school division.
Monroe junior Rachel Meier finished eighth (20:16) and senior Jordan Hirsbrunner took 15th (20:43) to lead the Cheesemakers. It marked Hirsbrunner's season-best time.
"We know Jordan is capable of running really fast times when she gets into race shape, and it looks like she is ready to go for the homestretch of the season," Mosher said. "These two (Meier and Hirsbrunner) are capable of breaking 20 minutes and will be a great one-two punch for the team in conference and sectionals."
Senior teammate Allyce Fahrney placed 44th with a personal-record time of 22:02.2 and junior Kati Symons was 46th with a PR of 22:05.4. Senior teammate Josie Eberle finished 59th (22:50).
"If our No. 3-5 runners can keep improving and close the gap on our No. 1 and 2 runners, they will have a chance to compete for a trip to the state meet."
Brodhead-Juda junior Madee Harding took 11th (20:31.7) and junior Cora Purdue was 21st (21:03.7). Freshman teammate Carissa Purdue placed 49th (22:25) and sophomore teammate Nadia Flood-Elyafi was 55th (22:42.2). Sophomore teammate Nicole Kamholz placed 56th (22:45.4).
The Darlington girls cross country team won the team title 48-63 over Albany. New Glarus-Monticello finished seventh (162) out of nine teams. Darlington senior Paige Schilling finished fifth (20:09.9). The Redbirds had all five of their runners finish in the top 15 in the small school division. Junior teammate Reghan Komprood placed eighth (20:28.5) and sophomore Ilse Mendez was 10th (20:47.7). Junior Emma Crist finished 12th (21:02.9) and junior Erin Wolf was 13th (21:05.5).
For Albany, Kaderly took fourth overall, but was third in the small school division. Albany junior Emma Guenther finished seventh (20:26) and sophomore Megan Anderson was 14th (21:19.6). Freshman teammate Kristin O'Bel placed 18th (21:51.5) and sophomore Kirsten Oliver took 21st (22:00.4).
Pecatonica-Argyle senior Josie Penniston finished 79th overall, but the Vikings didn't have enough runners to score in the small school team standings.
