LACROSSE - When Monroe senior Dylan Scace got the baton to run the anchor leg of the 3,200-meter relay, he was in the position he wanted to be trying to out-kick the competition for a gold medal.
It was a three-team race as Scace looked to speed ahead of Lakeland Union's Kavanaugh FitzPatrick over the final 800. Scace, FitzPatrick and Omro senior Nate Erck were packed together. Scace knew the time was coming to make a final push. With about 150-meters to go, Scace got tripped up and Lakeland Union won the state title in the race with a time of 7 minutes, 55.16 seconds.
The Monroe 3,200-meter relay team of juniors Jason Koller, Drake Ingold, Jonah Tostrud and Scace finished third with a season-best time of 7:57.02.
"I felt good and I was ready to go," Scace said. "I knew I had a chance to win it. I went to make my move with about 150 meters left and I tripped up a little bit and lost my momentum. It didn't turn out the way we wanted."
The Cheesemakers entered the state meet with the top seed time in the 3,200 relay for the second straight year. Monroe finished as the state runner-up last year losing by less than 0.5 seconds to Dodgeville-Mineral Point.
"I'm a little disappointed because we wanted to win it," Tostrud said. "Lakeland got a start at a fast pace and they were better than we were today."
Ingold doesn't think the Cheesemakers could have changed anything in the race.
"I think we were all mentally prepared and ready to go," he said. "We gave it our all. We all competed our hardest."
It's the seventh straight time the Cheesemakers have been to state in the 3,200 relay and 15th time in the past 18 years and that includes five state titles. The Cheesemakers will have to wait another year to try to add another gold in the event.
Koller was confident the Cheesemakers would run their best time this year at state.
"We all knew we could set PRs (personal records)," Koller said. "We knew we could win it. It just wasn't our day. It just didn't come together like we wanted it to. It just didn't happen."
Ingold was honored to represent Monroe and carry on the tradition in the 3,200 relay.
"I think it's a great tradition," Ingold said. "We just need to keep carrying it on."
Monroe junior Brayden Zettle took fifth in the triple jump with a season-best jump of 44 feet, 4.25 inches. Lake Mills junior Ben Dunkleberger repeated as the state champion in the triple jump with a Division 2 state record 47-0.
Zettle was excited to medal in his trip to state.
"It feels great," Zettle said. "It's a big accomplishment for me. At the beginning of the season, it (medaling at state) was a goal. I didn't know how realistic is would be. I knew I could get here. It's a credit to my coaches to have me peaking now."
Zettle has enjoyed a rivalry competing with Dunklebeger.
"He's definitely a great competitor," Zettle said of Dunkleberger.
Zettle will compete in the long jump at state today. The top 10 finishes in the preliminaries in each event on Friday advance to today's finals.
Senior Trevor Aebly took 14th in the preliminaries of the 110 high hurdles (15.95) and didn't qualify for today's finals. Koller placed 13th in the preliminaries of the 400 (52.09) and didn't qualify for the finals.
It was a three-team race as Scace looked to speed ahead of Lakeland Union's Kavanaugh FitzPatrick over the final 800. Scace, FitzPatrick and Omro senior Nate Erck were packed together. Scace knew the time was coming to make a final push. With about 150-meters to go, Scace got tripped up and Lakeland Union won the state title in the race with a time of 7 minutes, 55.16 seconds.
The Monroe 3,200-meter relay team of juniors Jason Koller, Drake Ingold, Jonah Tostrud and Scace finished third with a season-best time of 7:57.02.
"I felt good and I was ready to go," Scace said. "I knew I had a chance to win it. I went to make my move with about 150 meters left and I tripped up a little bit and lost my momentum. It didn't turn out the way we wanted."
The Cheesemakers entered the state meet with the top seed time in the 3,200 relay for the second straight year. Monroe finished as the state runner-up last year losing by less than 0.5 seconds to Dodgeville-Mineral Point.
"I'm a little disappointed because we wanted to win it," Tostrud said. "Lakeland got a start at a fast pace and they were better than we were today."
Ingold doesn't think the Cheesemakers could have changed anything in the race.
"I think we were all mentally prepared and ready to go," he said. "We gave it our all. We all competed our hardest."
It's the seventh straight time the Cheesemakers have been to state in the 3,200 relay and 15th time in the past 18 years and that includes five state titles. The Cheesemakers will have to wait another year to try to add another gold in the event.
Koller was confident the Cheesemakers would run their best time this year at state.
"We all knew we could set PRs (personal records)," Koller said. "We knew we could win it. It just wasn't our day. It just didn't come together like we wanted it to. It just didn't happen."
Ingold was honored to represent Monroe and carry on the tradition in the 3,200 relay.
"I think it's a great tradition," Ingold said. "We just need to keep carrying it on."
Monroe junior Brayden Zettle took fifth in the triple jump with a season-best jump of 44 feet, 4.25 inches. Lake Mills junior Ben Dunkleberger repeated as the state champion in the triple jump with a Division 2 state record 47-0.
Zettle was excited to medal in his trip to state.
"It feels great," Zettle said. "It's a big accomplishment for me. At the beginning of the season, it (medaling at state) was a goal. I didn't know how realistic is would be. I knew I could get here. It's a credit to my coaches to have me peaking now."
Zettle has enjoyed a rivalry competing with Dunklebeger.
"He's definitely a great competitor," Zettle said of Dunkleberger.
Zettle will compete in the long jump at state today. The top 10 finishes in the preliminaries in each event on Friday advance to today's finals.
Senior Trevor Aebly took 14th in the preliminaries of the 110 high hurdles (15.95) and didn't qualify for today's finals. Koller placed 13th in the preliminaries of the 400 (52.09) and didn't qualify for the finals.
