DARLINGTON - Gold could become Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe's symbol of power and supremacy.
The Darlington boys cross country team is looking to win its seventh straight state title. The Redbirds streak of six consecutive state championships is the second longest streak in the history of the state behind Milwaukee Riverside, which won eight straight from 1913 to 1920.
"Every once in a while, you stop and think about how fortunate you are having so many talented and good runners who pass it on," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said. "That (seventh straight state championship) is definitely their goal. We will be in the mix."
The Redbirds are led by junior Payton Heinberg who is coming off a sectional championship at Fennimore last week. Heinberg finished third in the state meet last year and 15th as a freshman two years ago.
"He is running faster times this year," Miehe said. "He has more confidence and experience now. When it comes to getting ready, the more he can put it together having that experience from a year ago."
Heinberg is expected to be in the hunt for another top-five finish, but winning an individual state title could be a challenge with Luther junior David Vannucchi back as the defending state champion.
"It could be a pretty tall order for him," Miehe said of Heinberg winning a state championship. "The defending state champion (Vannucchi) is back and he has a big gap on him (Heinberg). Payton beat the kid from Rosholt at the Wisconsin Rapids Invite, but the kid took a wrong turn."
Rosholt junior Adam Rzentkowski took fourth in 2016 and senior Dan Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran was seventh last year and in 2015. Other challenges for the individual state title include senior Garrett Franczek of Hilbert/Stockbridge, who placed ninth last season, junior Alex Mielke of Lake Country Lutheran, sophomores Gunner Schlender of Brillion and Owen Dickenson of Solon Springs/Northwood, and freshman Josh Waller of Oconto.
The other top runners for the Redbirds include senior Tanner Evenstad, junior Tucker Lange, senior Paul King, junior Trae Schilling and sophomore Bailey Schwartz.
"Tanner (Evenstad) has really been racing great," Miehe said. "He knows how important this race is to him to finish his career."
The other top state title team contenders in addition to the Redbirds are Rosholt, Durand, and Luther. Durand finished third last year.
"Durand is running very strong," Miehe said. "Rosholt will be one of the teams in the mix. This is one of the strongest teams in the Division 3 state meet I've seen since I've been coaching. They are all balanced. It could be a couple of points that separates them."
One of the biggest surprises is the New-Glarus Monticello boys qualifying for state as a team in Division 3. Four of the Glarner Knights' top five runners at the Fennimore sectional last week were freshman.
"It's a chance to prove ourselves one more time," New Glarus-Monticello coach Steve Wehrley said. "It's not very often a freshmen and sophomores get to run at state unless they are watching an older teammate run."
New Glarus-Monticello finished behind Marshall in the conference meet but made the surge past the Cardinals in the sectional.
"We knew we had some talent on our team," Wehrley said. "We have young talent. The tough thing is to get those kids to put it all together before the season is over. We only had one team ranked in our sectional (Darlington). Usually, we have five or six teams ranked. At conference, we thought if we could stay close to Marshall, at the sectional we might have a chance to beat them and we did by two to four seconds per runner."
The Knights are one of just four teams at the Division 3 state meet that isn't ranked.
"There is no doubt we will be underdogs," he said. "What our kids have to do is run as smart as they can. Our freshmen will have to run like sophomores and our sophomores will have to run like juniors."
The No. 1 runner for the Knights this year has been freshman Conor McCoy, who is the younger brother of Ryan McCoy, a cross country runner for the Naval Academy and a two-time WIAA Division 2 state champion (2011, 2012).
"He and all of the freshmen worked and ran in the summer," Wehrley said. "That is the advantage we had. Sometimes it's only when they are older when they say they will put in more mileage so they can improve next year."
The Darlington boys cross country team is looking to win its seventh straight state title. The Redbirds streak of six consecutive state championships is the second longest streak in the history of the state behind Milwaukee Riverside, which won eight straight from 1913 to 1920.
"Every once in a while, you stop and think about how fortunate you are having so many talented and good runners who pass it on," Darlington coach Arnie Miehe said. "That (seventh straight state championship) is definitely their goal. We will be in the mix."
The Redbirds are led by junior Payton Heinberg who is coming off a sectional championship at Fennimore last week. Heinberg finished third in the state meet last year and 15th as a freshman two years ago.
"He is running faster times this year," Miehe said. "He has more confidence and experience now. When it comes to getting ready, the more he can put it together having that experience from a year ago."
Heinberg is expected to be in the hunt for another top-five finish, but winning an individual state title could be a challenge with Luther junior David Vannucchi back as the defending state champion.
"It could be a pretty tall order for him," Miehe said of Heinberg winning a state championship. "The defending state champion (Vannucchi) is back and he has a big gap on him (Heinberg). Payton beat the kid from Rosholt at the Wisconsin Rapids Invite, but the kid took a wrong turn."
Rosholt junior Adam Rzentkowski took fourth in 2016 and senior Dan Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran was seventh last year and in 2015. Other challenges for the individual state title include senior Garrett Franczek of Hilbert/Stockbridge, who placed ninth last season, junior Alex Mielke of Lake Country Lutheran, sophomores Gunner Schlender of Brillion and Owen Dickenson of Solon Springs/Northwood, and freshman Josh Waller of Oconto.
The other top runners for the Redbirds include senior Tanner Evenstad, junior Tucker Lange, senior Paul King, junior Trae Schilling and sophomore Bailey Schwartz.
"Tanner (Evenstad) has really been racing great," Miehe said. "He knows how important this race is to him to finish his career."
The other top state title team contenders in addition to the Redbirds are Rosholt, Durand, and Luther. Durand finished third last year.
"Durand is running very strong," Miehe said. "Rosholt will be one of the teams in the mix. This is one of the strongest teams in the Division 3 state meet I've seen since I've been coaching. They are all balanced. It could be a couple of points that separates them."
One of the biggest surprises is the New-Glarus Monticello boys qualifying for state as a team in Division 3. Four of the Glarner Knights' top five runners at the Fennimore sectional last week were freshman.
"It's a chance to prove ourselves one more time," New Glarus-Monticello coach Steve Wehrley said. "It's not very often a freshmen and sophomores get to run at state unless they are watching an older teammate run."
New Glarus-Monticello finished behind Marshall in the conference meet but made the surge past the Cardinals in the sectional.
"We knew we had some talent on our team," Wehrley said. "We have young talent. The tough thing is to get those kids to put it all together before the season is over. We only had one team ranked in our sectional (Darlington). Usually, we have five or six teams ranked. At conference, we thought if we could stay close to Marshall, at the sectional we might have a chance to beat them and we did by two to four seconds per runner."
The Knights are one of just four teams at the Division 3 state meet that isn't ranked.
"There is no doubt we will be underdogs," he said. "What our kids have to do is run as smart as they can. Our freshmen will have to run like sophomores and our sophomores will have to run like juniors."
The No. 1 runner for the Knights this year has been freshman Conor McCoy, who is the younger brother of Ryan McCoy, a cross country runner for the Naval Academy and a two-time WIAA Division 2 state champion (2011, 2012).
"He and all of the freshmen worked and ran in the summer," Wehrley said. "That is the advantage we had. Sometimes it's only when they are older when they say they will put in more mileage so they can improve next year."
