MONROE - The Wildcats arrived at Tuesday night's Badger South track and field meet at T.R. Holyoke Field with claws drawn.
Verona swept the boys' and girls' portions of the grudge match, more than doubling up the guys, 98-43, and defeating the girls soundly, 76-49.
"Verona really brought it tonight and competed very well," Monroe girls coach Curt Miller said. "They are very well coached and always bring their best when they compete against Monroe."
Boys coach David Hirsbrunner knew Verona had 100-point ability and said his guys "dug in and held on to keep the final in double-digits."
Monroe came away with a little precious metal; the Cheesemakers won four events. But, the inability to overcome the stacked Verona lineup was never more evident than when junior Brett DeNure met his match in the 800-meter run.
DeNure battled Verona senior Lars Mattison, who will run for Division I South Dakota State, throughout his signature event. Mattison kept DeNure just behind his right elbow for the last half of the race.
After the race, the pair couldn't help but admire their craftsmanship, as both were under 2 minutes, with DeNure placing second at 1:59.90.
"That was fast," a dogged, doubled-over DeNure managed to say.
"That was awesome," Mattison agreed.
Monroe junior Cullen Sampson joined DeNure in contributing to the victory in the 4x800 relay in a posted a time of 8:49.40. Sampson also showed off his springability with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches in the high jump.
"Coming off a few minor dings, Cullen ran a very nice, relaxed leg of the relay," Hirsbrunner said. "Cullen is a guy that we are really going to be leaning on as the season starts to wind down."
Luke Voegeli heaved the shot put 44 feet, 8 inches to round out Monroe's first-place efforts.
Monroe's boys posted 19 personal records.
"The funny thing about it is, it's not like we fell on our faces and had a bad meet," Hirsbrunner said. "We were performing very well. It's just that Verona has so many weapons in so many areas."
The heaviest barrage came from Verona's loaded sprint squad, which Hirsbrunner called "scary good."
Sophomore Stephanie Wyss was a loaded gun, as she fired through the long sprints, winning the 200-meter in 27.3 seconds and the 400 in 1:02.1. Her classmate, Tyreisha Gibson, came up about 10 meters shy of sweeping the sprints, but Verona's Shanna Beckwith nipped her at the very end and finished with a time of 13.1 seconds.
Freshman Brenna Bazley emerged to take gold in the triple jump.
"She has made some nice progress this year," Miller said.
Liz Knutson won the pole vault and many personal records went somewhat unrewarded. Thrower Carmen Lawver trumped her old mark in the discus with 97 feet, 4 inches, but still was bested by two Wildcats.
While Verona came after Monroe, don't believe there wasn't an equal and opposite reaction force.
"I did my very best because we knew Verona was going to be our best competition so far," Lawver said.
Facing such a stalwart program, Hirsbrunner, Miller and their staffs found many "teachable moments" Tuesday evening.
"Our young team got to see what a powerhouse team looks like," Hirsbrunner said. "With the progress we are making and the great group of young men we have, we know this group is going to be at that level in the near future."
The squads' next chance to sharpen their respective skills comes Thursday at the Waterloo Invitational.
Verona swept the boys' and girls' portions of the grudge match, more than doubling up the guys, 98-43, and defeating the girls soundly, 76-49.
"Verona really brought it tonight and competed very well," Monroe girls coach Curt Miller said. "They are very well coached and always bring their best when they compete against Monroe."
Boys coach David Hirsbrunner knew Verona had 100-point ability and said his guys "dug in and held on to keep the final in double-digits."
Monroe came away with a little precious metal; the Cheesemakers won four events. But, the inability to overcome the stacked Verona lineup was never more evident than when junior Brett DeNure met his match in the 800-meter run.
DeNure battled Verona senior Lars Mattison, who will run for Division I South Dakota State, throughout his signature event. Mattison kept DeNure just behind his right elbow for the last half of the race.
After the race, the pair couldn't help but admire their craftsmanship, as both were under 2 minutes, with DeNure placing second at 1:59.90.
"That was fast," a dogged, doubled-over DeNure managed to say.
"That was awesome," Mattison agreed.
Monroe junior Cullen Sampson joined DeNure in contributing to the victory in the 4x800 relay in a posted a time of 8:49.40. Sampson also showed off his springability with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches in the high jump.
"Coming off a few minor dings, Cullen ran a very nice, relaxed leg of the relay," Hirsbrunner said. "Cullen is a guy that we are really going to be leaning on as the season starts to wind down."
Luke Voegeli heaved the shot put 44 feet, 8 inches to round out Monroe's first-place efforts.
Monroe's boys posted 19 personal records.
"The funny thing about it is, it's not like we fell on our faces and had a bad meet," Hirsbrunner said. "We were performing very well. It's just that Verona has so many weapons in so many areas."
The heaviest barrage came from Verona's loaded sprint squad, which Hirsbrunner called "scary good."
Sophomore Stephanie Wyss was a loaded gun, as she fired through the long sprints, winning the 200-meter in 27.3 seconds and the 400 in 1:02.1. Her classmate, Tyreisha Gibson, came up about 10 meters shy of sweeping the sprints, but Verona's Shanna Beckwith nipped her at the very end and finished with a time of 13.1 seconds.
Freshman Brenna Bazley emerged to take gold in the triple jump.
"She has made some nice progress this year," Miller said.
Liz Knutson won the pole vault and many personal records went somewhat unrewarded. Thrower Carmen Lawver trumped her old mark in the discus with 97 feet, 4 inches, but still was bested by two Wildcats.
While Verona came after Monroe, don't believe there wasn't an equal and opposite reaction force.
"I did my very best because we knew Verona was going to be our best competition so far," Lawver said.
Facing such a stalwart program, Hirsbrunner, Miller and their staffs found many "teachable moments" Tuesday evening.
"Our young team got to see what a powerhouse team looks like," Hirsbrunner said. "With the progress we are making and the great group of young men we have, we know this group is going to be at that level in the near future."
The squads' next chance to sharpen their respective skills comes Thursday at the Waterloo Invitational.
