MONROE - Senior Ethan Moehn wanted to make a statement with a budding rivalry with Madison Edgewood in the WIAA Division 2 sectional.
Moehn won the individual sectional title with a time of 16 minutes, 5.02 seconds and the Cheesemakers swept the top three spots to win a sectional championship 81-90 over Platteville to qualify for state for the ninth time in the last 10 years Saturday, Oct. 26 at Twining Park.
"I'm rolling winning last week and winning today," Moehn said. "It's the last time I will ever run on this course. Edgewood shocked us last week. With all these people here supporting us, we were not going to let Edgewood come in here and embarrass us."
Monroe senior Noah Tostrud took second (16:28.5) and senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished third (16:31.9). However, unlike the Badger South Conference meet where the Cheesemakers swept the top three spots and finished second behind Edgewood, they got big performances from sophomore Derek Christiansen who finished 28th (17:45.4) and junior Jeremy Miller who took 37th (18:03.3) to fend off the Hillmen and Crusaders.
"We put a lot of pressure on them and told them they needed to step up if we wanted to be a good team," Hirsbrunner said of Christiansen and Miller.
It's the second straight sectional title for the Cheesemakers, who are ranked No. 5 in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Division 2 poll. Edgewood finished third as a team and didn't qualify anyone for the state meet Saturday, Nov. 3 in Wisconsin Rapids.
"I'm happy to defend it," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said of the sectional title. It felt good to get them (Edgewood) back this time. We normally want to win it every year, but we would have been happy with second this year because of all the illness we have had."
Tostrud, who is in his first year running cross country, credited Christiansen and Miller for their performances.
"For Jake, Ethan and I our goal was to go 1-2-3," Tostrud said. "We told them (Christiansen and Miller) it would come down to them and they came through for us. It (state) has been our goal all year. It's a great feeling."
The Cheesemakers were running without two of their top five runners - senior Trevor Blum (illness) and freshman Nick Baumann (stress fracture).
"I'm still not 100 percent," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I'm glad it (illness) happened last week and not now. We really ran at 80 percent. It gives them a lot of confidence and a lot of confidence in the team."
Brodhead-Juda senior Dylan Johnson took eighth (16:51.5) and was one of five individual state qualifiers not on one of the top two teams. It's the second straight year Johnson has qualified for state.
"My plan was every spot counted," Johnson said. "I needed to not be content with a spot based on who I thought would go as teams. I wasn't worried about time. I was just worried about place and if I would go on to state."
Monroe could get Blum and Baumann back next week for the state meet. The coach is optimistic about Blum, but he's not sure about Baumann.
"Trevor will hopefully be a lot better in one week," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "When he gets medication in him this week hopefully that will help him out."
He wasn't as optimistic about Baumann, who ran in three meets this year before his injury.
"He's a very big question mark," he said.
Moehn won the individual sectional title with a time of 16 minutes, 5.02 seconds and the Cheesemakers swept the top three spots to win a sectional championship 81-90 over Platteville to qualify for state for the ninth time in the last 10 years Saturday, Oct. 26 at Twining Park.
"I'm rolling winning last week and winning today," Moehn said. "It's the last time I will ever run on this course. Edgewood shocked us last week. With all these people here supporting us, we were not going to let Edgewood come in here and embarrass us."
Monroe senior Noah Tostrud took second (16:28.5) and senior Jake Hirsbrunner finished third (16:31.9). However, unlike the Badger South Conference meet where the Cheesemakers swept the top three spots and finished second behind Edgewood, they got big performances from sophomore Derek Christiansen who finished 28th (17:45.4) and junior Jeremy Miller who took 37th (18:03.3) to fend off the Hillmen and Crusaders.
"We put a lot of pressure on them and told them they needed to step up if we wanted to be a good team," Hirsbrunner said of Christiansen and Miller.
It's the second straight sectional title for the Cheesemakers, who are ranked No. 5 in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Division 2 poll. Edgewood finished third as a team and didn't qualify anyone for the state meet Saturday, Nov. 3 in Wisconsin Rapids.
"I'm happy to defend it," Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner said of the sectional title. It felt good to get them (Edgewood) back this time. We normally want to win it every year, but we would have been happy with second this year because of all the illness we have had."
Tostrud, who is in his first year running cross country, credited Christiansen and Miller for their performances.
"For Jake, Ethan and I our goal was to go 1-2-3," Tostrud said. "We told them (Christiansen and Miller) it would come down to them and they came through for us. It (state) has been our goal all year. It's a great feeling."
The Cheesemakers were running without two of their top five runners - senior Trevor Blum (illness) and freshman Nick Baumann (stress fracture).
"I'm still not 100 percent," Jake Hirsbrunner said. "I'm glad it (illness) happened last week and not now. We really ran at 80 percent. It gives them a lot of confidence and a lot of confidence in the team."
Brodhead-Juda senior Dylan Johnson took eighth (16:51.5) and was one of five individual state qualifiers not on one of the top two teams. It's the second straight year Johnson has qualified for state.
"My plan was every spot counted," Johnson said. "I needed to not be content with a spot based on who I thought would go as teams. I wasn't worried about time. I was just worried about place and if I would go on to state."
Monroe could get Blum and Baumann back next week for the state meet. The coach is optimistic about Blum, but he's not sure about Baumann.
"Trevor will hopefully be a lot better in one week," Dave Hirsbrunner said. "When he gets medication in him this week hopefully that will help him out."
He wasn't as optimistic about Baumann, who ran in three meets this year before his injury.
"He's a very big question mark," he said.
