MONROE - It's hard to believe Monroe senior Ethan Moehn had never won a cross country varsity race before Tuesday's clash with Dubuque Hempstead in the Bruess Invitational.
Moehn won the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16 minutes, 18 seconds, which was five seconds ahead of Dubuque Hempstead senior Jon Specht in the season-opening Bruess Invite Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Twining Park.
"This is my first ever cross country win," Moehn said. "It didn't come as easy as I would have liked. It feels good to grind it out and win it."
The Cheesemakers had five of the top 14 runners including four in the top 10 to edge Hempstead 32-39 for the team title.
As a sophomore, Moehn finished second in the Badger South Conference meet behind Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna. Last year he missed most of the season with a stress fracture. Next, Moehn plans to make college visits to Stanford, Minnesota and Illinois in October and November.
Moehn enjoyed having the support of a lot of fans at Twining Park.
"Obviously, running at home when you get an opportunity, you want to run well. When I made a move, I had fans screaming. It makes it that much easier."
Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished third (16:45) followed by Monroe freshman Nick Baumann in seventh (17:11) and senior Noah Tostrud in eighth (17:14). Monroe senior Trevor Blum took 14th (17:38).
"Jake and Ethan we expected to go 1-2 or 1-3," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The difference in that whole race was the next three guys. I'm glad we challenged Hempstead. They are a very good team."
Hirsbrunner was also pleased with Baumann and Tostrud's first high school cross country races. Tostrud played football last year and Baumann ran cross country in middle school.
"They are confident," Hirsbrunner said. "We are trying to prepare them for everything so it doesn't seem like their first race. It just shows a lot of their maturity level, and competitiveness for handling adversity."
Jake Hirsbrunner also had to handle some adversity as he and Moehn ran with Specht for most of the race, trying to decide when they should make a move.
"I ran about 1 minute faster than last year," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I feel like I'm in better shape. Last year was just my first year of cross country. I feel stronger. I really can't be mad with how I did. I wanted to beat 17 minutes and I did. I just let them mentally break me."
Hirsbrunner and Moehn feel like this year's cross country team could have even more depth than last year.
"At this point in the season we usually know who are top four runners are and we are searching for the No. 5, 6, 7 runners," Moehn said. "This year we have eight deep. This is the best team we have had at this point since I have been here."
Jake Hirsbrunner is confident the Cheesemakers have a chance to win each meet.
"I feel like that is the mentality that we have to have," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "We have to go into every meet thinking that, or why run?"
Albany junior Aaron Johnson took fifth (17:00) and junior teammate Brennan Bloedel was 17th (17:47) to lead the Comets to a seventh-place finish (174) at the 10-team meet. Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl finished 38th (18:54).
"I was really pleased with Aaron's performance," Albany coach Tony Brewer said. "He was surprised by the time. For him to run that fast in the first meet of the season, who knows where he will end up."
New Glarus-Monticello took eighth as a team (196) and was led by senior Caleb Fredrickson who finished 28th (18:21) and senior Hunter Pratt who was 36th (18:50). New Glarus-Monticello freshman Kyle Fredrickson took 39th (18:59).
Moehn won the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16 minutes, 18 seconds, which was five seconds ahead of Dubuque Hempstead senior Jon Specht in the season-opening Bruess Invite Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Twining Park.
"This is my first ever cross country win," Moehn said. "It didn't come as easy as I would have liked. It feels good to grind it out and win it."
The Cheesemakers had five of the top 14 runners including four in the top 10 to edge Hempstead 32-39 for the team title.
As a sophomore, Moehn finished second in the Badger South Conference meet behind Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna. Last year he missed most of the season with a stress fracture. Next, Moehn plans to make college visits to Stanford, Minnesota and Illinois in October and November.
Moehn enjoyed having the support of a lot of fans at Twining Park.
"Obviously, running at home when you get an opportunity, you want to run well. When I made a move, I had fans screaming. It makes it that much easier."
Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished third (16:45) followed by Monroe freshman Nick Baumann in seventh (17:11) and senior Noah Tostrud in eighth (17:14). Monroe senior Trevor Blum took 14th (17:38).
"Jake and Ethan we expected to go 1-2 or 1-3," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said. "The difference in that whole race was the next three guys. I'm glad we challenged Hempstead. They are a very good team."
Hirsbrunner was also pleased with Baumann and Tostrud's first high school cross country races. Tostrud played football last year and Baumann ran cross country in middle school.
"They are confident," Hirsbrunner said. "We are trying to prepare them for everything so it doesn't seem like their first race. It just shows a lot of their maturity level, and competitiveness for handling adversity."
Jake Hirsbrunner also had to handle some adversity as he and Moehn ran with Specht for most of the race, trying to decide when they should make a move.
"I ran about 1 minute faster than last year," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I feel like I'm in better shape. Last year was just my first year of cross country. I feel stronger. I really can't be mad with how I did. I wanted to beat 17 minutes and I did. I just let them mentally break me."
Hirsbrunner and Moehn feel like this year's cross country team could have even more depth than last year.
"At this point in the season we usually know who are top four runners are and we are searching for the No. 5, 6, 7 runners," Moehn said. "This year we have eight deep. This is the best team we have had at this point since I have been here."
Jake Hirsbrunner is confident the Cheesemakers have a chance to win each meet.
"I feel like that is the mentality that we have to have," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "We have to go into every meet thinking that, or why run?"
Albany junior Aaron Johnson took fifth (17:00) and junior teammate Brennan Bloedel was 17th (17:47) to lead the Comets to a seventh-place finish (174) at the 10-team meet. Albany sophomore Tyler Dahl finished 38th (18:54).
"I was really pleased with Aaron's performance," Albany coach Tony Brewer said. "He was surprised by the time. For him to run that fast in the first meet of the season, who knows where he will end up."
New Glarus-Monticello took eighth as a team (196) and was led by senior Caleb Fredrickson who finished 28th (18:21) and senior Hunter Pratt who was 36th (18:50). New Glarus-Monticello freshman Kyle Fredrickson took 39th (18:59).
