MONROE - Seth Calaway was in the middle of a record-breaking performance by the Monroe boys track team en route to winning the Simpson Relays for the first time since 2009.
Calaway, a Monroe junior, was a member of the Cheesemakers' Simpson Relays record-breaking 800 medley and 1,600 medley relays.
"It feels great since it's in front of our home crowd," Calaway said. "We just want to compete for everyone watching and cheering us on. ... I'm proud of how good we are."
Calaway teamed with Dakota Phillips, Blake Bast and Jake Hirsbrunner to win the 800 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 34.98 seconds. In the 1,600 medley relay, Calaway teamed with Forrest-Klug Hanson, Evoeny Kondratev and Ethan Moehn to win the race with a record-breaking time of 3:36.90, which was about two seconds less than the previous record set by Waukesha West in 1997. The Cheesemakers won five races and racked up four second-place finishes and displayed their depth by edging Monona Grove 85-76.5 for the team title. Sun Prairie finished third (67) and Darlington was seventh (41) out of eight teams.
"It was good to go against one of the better teams in the Badger Conference in Monona Grove and one of the top teams in the Big Eight in Sun Prairie and come out on top," Monroe coach Curt Miller said. "We had a great meet led by our seniors. It's a great way for them to win a championship at the Simpson Relays, which we haven't done for a while.
"We have a lot of quality kids from the 100 all the way up to the two-mile. It's neat because you get to mix the sprinters with the distance kids and they did some great things."
The Cheesemakers' 3,200 relay team of Cody Faust, Trevor Blum, Derek Christiansen and Noah Tostrud won the race (8:30.8), which was about five seconds ahead of Oregon.
"It's always nice to win on your home track since they don't get to see us run much," Tostrud said. "We had a couple of different guys in there so we could work on our depth."
The Cheesemakers' 1,600 relay team of Phillips, Moehn, Faust and Hirsbrunner took first (3:27.66). Monroe also won the high jump with a team of Hirsbrunner, Faust and Nash Von Kaenel with a combined height of 17 feet, 6 inches. Hirsbrunner cleared 6 feet, 6 inches and just missed at 6-9 1/2 and also ran a 49.5 second split in the 400 in the 800 medley relay. Monroe freshman Dylan beaver won the freshman triathlon.
"There is no question he could get to state in the 400," Miller said. "He took another step tonight."
Darlington won the distance medley (11:01.83) and took second in the high jump (16-4). The Redbirds finished third in the 1,600 medley relay (4:02.13) and third in the 1,600 relay (3:38.59).
The Cheesemakers took second in the pole vault (33-6) with a team of senior Grant Keith, Bast and Mitch Keith, which was just four inches away from champion Sun Prairie (33-6). The Cheesemakers took second in the distance medley (11:21.20), second in the 800 relay (1:32.81) and second in the long jump (57-5 1/4). The time in the 400 relay was less than one second away from first-place Oregon.
"It would feel better to have a first," Phillips said after running the 800 relay. "I think we passed the sticks well today. We just have to work on the hand-offs, get them down perfectly and we will be ready to roll."
Calaway, a Monroe junior, was a member of the Cheesemakers' Simpson Relays record-breaking 800 medley and 1,600 medley relays.
"It feels great since it's in front of our home crowd," Calaway said. "We just want to compete for everyone watching and cheering us on. ... I'm proud of how good we are."
Calaway teamed with Dakota Phillips, Blake Bast and Jake Hirsbrunner to win the 800 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 34.98 seconds. In the 1,600 medley relay, Calaway teamed with Forrest-Klug Hanson, Evoeny Kondratev and Ethan Moehn to win the race with a record-breaking time of 3:36.90, which was about two seconds less than the previous record set by Waukesha West in 1997. The Cheesemakers won five races and racked up four second-place finishes and displayed their depth by edging Monona Grove 85-76.5 for the team title. Sun Prairie finished third (67) and Darlington was seventh (41) out of eight teams.
"It was good to go against one of the better teams in the Badger Conference in Monona Grove and one of the top teams in the Big Eight in Sun Prairie and come out on top," Monroe coach Curt Miller said. "We had a great meet led by our seniors. It's a great way for them to win a championship at the Simpson Relays, which we haven't done for a while.
"We have a lot of quality kids from the 100 all the way up to the two-mile. It's neat because you get to mix the sprinters with the distance kids and they did some great things."
The Cheesemakers' 3,200 relay team of Cody Faust, Trevor Blum, Derek Christiansen and Noah Tostrud won the race (8:30.8), which was about five seconds ahead of Oregon.
"It's always nice to win on your home track since they don't get to see us run much," Tostrud said. "We had a couple of different guys in there so we could work on our depth."
The Cheesemakers' 1,600 relay team of Phillips, Moehn, Faust and Hirsbrunner took first (3:27.66). Monroe also won the high jump with a team of Hirsbrunner, Faust and Nash Von Kaenel with a combined height of 17 feet, 6 inches. Hirsbrunner cleared 6 feet, 6 inches and just missed at 6-9 1/2 and also ran a 49.5 second split in the 400 in the 800 medley relay. Monroe freshman Dylan beaver won the freshman triathlon.
"There is no question he could get to state in the 400," Miller said. "He took another step tonight."
Darlington won the distance medley (11:01.83) and took second in the high jump (16-4). The Redbirds finished third in the 1,600 medley relay (4:02.13) and third in the 1,600 relay (3:38.59).
The Cheesemakers took second in the pole vault (33-6) with a team of senior Grant Keith, Bast and Mitch Keith, which was just four inches away from champion Sun Prairie (33-6). The Cheesemakers took second in the distance medley (11:21.20), second in the 800 relay (1:32.81) and second in the long jump (57-5 1/4). The time in the 400 relay was less than one second away from first-place Oregon.
"It would feel better to have a first," Phillips said after running the 800 relay. "I think we passed the sticks well today. We just have to work on the hand-offs, get them down perfectly and we will be ready to roll."
