PLATTEVILLE - Monroe's vaunted boys 3,200-meter relay team isn't exactly easing its way into the young track and field season.
The team of seniors Joel Henry and Matt Bush, junior Alex Barenklau and sophomore Ethan Moehn finished in 8 minutes, 19.13 seconds to blister the field in the 15-team Tri-State Invitational on Saturday at UW-Platteville.
"We talked about putting together a fast 4x800 relay team early in the year with the idea of qualifying for the Penn Relays," Monroe track and field coach Curt Miller said. of the pretigious event. "The guys put together one of the fastest times in the state of Wisconsin right now. They were really cooking."
The Monroe quartet topped second-place Davenport West by more than five seconds.
"That's kind of a nice time for those guys to go out and hit this early in the season," Miller said.
Monroe finished ninth in the Large School Division with 30 points. Hartland Arrowhead won with 114.5.
The Sugar River boys captured the Small School Division crown and the Darlington girls were the top finisher among four area teams.
The Cheesemakers also received strong efforts from sophomore Jake Hirsbrunner and junior Steve Christiansen.
Hirsbrunner tied for second in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches) and was fifth in the 400 in 54.10.
"Jake had a nice day," Miller said. "We maybe don't run him as much because he's a very good high jumper. But he ran the 400 and then came back and placed second in the high jump. That's excellent in a meet of that caliber."
Christiansen was fifth in the 1,600 in 4:46.82.
"Steve ran a great mile," Miller said. "He's had two nice meets in a row."
Sophomore Taylor Barrett had the top finish for the Monroe girls, going 4-10 in the high jump for third place.
"Taylor had a good day for her first outing after a pretty good basketball season," Miller said.
Sophomore Therese Hughes had the other top-five finish for Monroe, placing fourth in the 800 in 2:39.98. The Cheesemakers finished 11th with 15 points in a 13-team meet won by Verona (100.83).
In the Small Schools Division, Sugar River received individual titles from junior Ryan McCoy and sophomore Garrison Woods in scoring 70 points to hold off Durant (52.5) for the title.
McCoy won the 1,600 in 4:30.48.
"He broke the meet record by six seconds," Sugar River coach Dan Schettler said. "That was a very nice time for him for the first meet."
Woods won the long jump with a leap of 18-10.5, finished second in the triple jump (40-5.5) and was fourth in the high jump (5-10).
"He was kind of jumping off a bad ankle. He toughed it out," Schettler said. "He was jumping off his wrong foot in the triple jump and he still went 40 (feet). That shows you want kind of an athlete he is."
Senior Cody Bigler in the long jump (18-3.25) and senior Jon Beckman in the 55-meter hurdles (8.40) posted runner-up finishes for the Raiders.
"(Bigler) had a PR, which was just huge for us," Schettler said. "We won (the title) by eight points and that's eight points right there."
Brodhead-Juda's Joey Jordan won the triple jump with a leap of 40-9.50 while Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe captured the 3,200 title in 9:57.20. The Redbirds' Michael Sinclair was runner-up to Miehe in 10:18.37 as the Redbirds finished sixth. Brodhead-Juda was 15th and Albany 18th.
Christa Wamsley won the 3,200 in 12:40.13 and Darlington's 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams each finished second to lead the Redbirds to a fifth-place finish with 44.70 points in the 18-team Small Schools Division girls meet. Sugar River was seventh, Brodhead-Juda 15th and Albany 16th.
The area's other individual champions were Brodhead-Juda's Heather Clankie in the shot put (35-3) and Sugar River's Madeline Brunner in the 1,600 (5:44). Albany sophomore Bailey Hlavachek was second in the 1,600 in 5:44.49.
The team of seniors Joel Henry and Matt Bush, junior Alex Barenklau and sophomore Ethan Moehn finished in 8 minutes, 19.13 seconds to blister the field in the 15-team Tri-State Invitational on Saturday at UW-Platteville.
"We talked about putting together a fast 4x800 relay team early in the year with the idea of qualifying for the Penn Relays," Monroe track and field coach Curt Miller said. of the pretigious event. "The guys put together one of the fastest times in the state of Wisconsin right now. They were really cooking."
The Monroe quartet topped second-place Davenport West by more than five seconds.
"That's kind of a nice time for those guys to go out and hit this early in the season," Miller said.
Monroe finished ninth in the Large School Division with 30 points. Hartland Arrowhead won with 114.5.
The Sugar River boys captured the Small School Division crown and the Darlington girls were the top finisher among four area teams.
The Cheesemakers also received strong efforts from sophomore Jake Hirsbrunner and junior Steve Christiansen.
Hirsbrunner tied for second in the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches) and was fifth in the 400 in 54.10.
"Jake had a nice day," Miller said. "We maybe don't run him as much because he's a very good high jumper. But he ran the 400 and then came back and placed second in the high jump. That's excellent in a meet of that caliber."
Christiansen was fifth in the 1,600 in 4:46.82.
"Steve ran a great mile," Miller said. "He's had two nice meets in a row."
Sophomore Taylor Barrett had the top finish for the Monroe girls, going 4-10 in the high jump for third place.
"Taylor had a good day for her first outing after a pretty good basketball season," Miller said.
Sophomore Therese Hughes had the other top-five finish for Monroe, placing fourth in the 800 in 2:39.98. The Cheesemakers finished 11th with 15 points in a 13-team meet won by Verona (100.83).
In the Small Schools Division, Sugar River received individual titles from junior Ryan McCoy and sophomore Garrison Woods in scoring 70 points to hold off Durant (52.5) for the title.
McCoy won the 1,600 in 4:30.48.
"He broke the meet record by six seconds," Sugar River coach Dan Schettler said. "That was a very nice time for him for the first meet."
Woods won the long jump with a leap of 18-10.5, finished second in the triple jump (40-5.5) and was fourth in the high jump (5-10).
"He was kind of jumping off a bad ankle. He toughed it out," Schettler said. "He was jumping off his wrong foot in the triple jump and he still went 40 (feet). That shows you want kind of an athlete he is."
Senior Cody Bigler in the long jump (18-3.25) and senior Jon Beckman in the 55-meter hurdles (8.40) posted runner-up finishes for the Raiders.
"(Bigler) had a PR, which was just huge for us," Schettler said. "We won (the title) by eight points and that's eight points right there."
Brodhead-Juda's Joey Jordan won the triple jump with a leap of 40-9.50 while Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe captured the 3,200 title in 9:57.20. The Redbirds' Michael Sinclair was runner-up to Miehe in 10:18.37 as the Redbirds finished sixth. Brodhead-Juda was 15th and Albany 18th.
Christa Wamsley won the 3,200 in 12:40.13 and Darlington's 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams each finished second to lead the Redbirds to a fifth-place finish with 44.70 points in the 18-team Small Schools Division girls meet. Sugar River was seventh, Brodhead-Juda 15th and Albany 16th.
The area's other individual champions were Brodhead-Juda's Heather Clankie in the shot put (35-3) and Sugar River's Madeline Brunner in the 1,600 (5:44). Albany sophomore Bailey Hlavachek was second in the 1,600 in 5:44.49.
