Top Sports Stories of 2011
• No. 1: Hurdler Jaclyn Ditter, boys 3,200-meter relay team bring home state track titles for Monroe.
• No. 2: Destin Komprood, Michael Sinclair lead Darlington to state cross country crown.
• No. 3: Rachel Rygh leads Black Hawk girls basketball team to third straight trip to state semifinals.
• No. 4: New Glarus-Monticello's Ryan McCoy wins state cross country title with second-fastest time ever recorded in Division 2.
• No. 5: Senior leaders Kelsey Erickson, Kristin McArdle, Kaylee Craigo and Kendra Clark, and pitching ace Becca Armstrong spark Monroe to the state softball semifinals.
MONROE - It was quite a run for athletes in Green and Lafayette counties in 2011.
Literally.
The achievements of the area's top track and cross country participants were impressive and dominate The Monroe Times' top five stories of the year.
A drum roll, please ...
Here are the top five area sports stories of 2011, as voted by The Times staff:
No. 1: Monroe track teams bring home pair of state titles
The Monroe boys and girls track teams brought home two individual WIAA Division 2 state championships, four individual medals and two relays medaled. Jaclyn Ditter won a state championship in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.19 seconds. Ditter, who plans to run track at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, broke her school record in the 100 hurdles.
Monroe's boys 3,200 relay team of Ethan Moehn, Matt Bush, Dylan Starck and Alex Barenklau won a state title with a time of 7 minutes, 57.61 seconds, which was about eight seconds ahead of Sugar River.
Starck finished fourth in the 800 (1:57.90) and fourth in the 1,600 (4:23.57).
Monroe's Jeffrey Hill broke the school record in the pole vault with a leap of 14 feet, 4 inches at the Wisconsin TFA Indoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Hill finished sixth at state in the pole vault (13-6).
Monroe's girls 400 relay team of Maria Eberle, Lauren Werth, Brenna Bazley and Ditter finished fourth (:49.78) at state - just 0.6 seconds away from a state championship.
No. 2: Darlington boys
cross country team wins Division 3 state title
The Darlington boys cross country team won the WIAA Division 3 state cross country championship.
Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe was the individual champion at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. It's the first time the Redbirds have won a state title in cross country since 1986, when Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner was Darlington's No. 1 runner.
The Redbirds had three of the top 14 runners at state to outdistance Grantsburg 46-74 for the title. Darlington senior Destin Komprood finished 11th (16:50.49) and senior Michael Sinclair took 14th (16:54.61).
Darlington coach Arnie Miehe got to celebrate with two sons on the team - Tyson and senior Kent Miehe.
No. 3: Black Hawk girls
basketball team makes
third straight
trip to state
The Warriors' pursuit of a state title and a perfect season came up short when they lost 64-40 to Newman Catholic Central in the Division 5 state semifinals.
Black Hawk, which was ranked No. 1 in the final regular season poll, lost to Newman Catholic for the second straight year. In 2010, the Warriors lost to Newman Catholic in the Division 4 state championship game.
Black Hawk finished 26-1 and was led by Rachel Rygh, the Six Rivers East Conference Player of the Year, who averaged 14.3 points per game.
The Black Hawk program and its fans won the WIAA's Sportsmanship award for the second straight year.
No. 4: New Glarus-Monticello's
Ryan McCoy wins state crown
New Glarus-Monticello junior Ryan McCoy won a WIAA Division 2 state cross country title at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
McCoy finished the 5,000-meter course with a time of 15 minutes, 38.27 seconds, which is the second fastest Division 2 time ever posted in the finals.
No. 5: Monroe softball team returns to state
The Monroe softball team made a run to the state tournament for the fifth time in the last nine years. Monroe lost 10-0 to Baldwin-Woodville in the state semifinals.
The Cheesemakers knocked off top seeded Edgerton 9-2 in the sectional final to return to state.
Monroe relied on the senior core of Kelsey Erickson, Kristin McArdle, Kaylee Craigo and Kendra Clark, and the pitching of Becca Armstrong.
The Cheesemakers also had two freshmen that made a big impact in Ellie Grossen and Chandra McGuire.
Literally.
The achievements of the area's top track and cross country participants were impressive and dominate The Monroe Times' top five stories of the year.
A drum roll, please ...
Here are the top five area sports stories of 2011, as voted by The Times staff:
No. 1: Monroe track teams bring home pair of state titles
The Monroe boys and girls track teams brought home two individual WIAA Division 2 state championships, four individual medals and two relays medaled. Jaclyn Ditter won a state championship in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.19 seconds. Ditter, who plans to run track at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, broke her school record in the 100 hurdles.
Monroe's boys 3,200 relay team of Ethan Moehn, Matt Bush, Dylan Starck and Alex Barenklau won a state title with a time of 7 minutes, 57.61 seconds, which was about eight seconds ahead of Sugar River.
Starck finished fourth in the 800 (1:57.90) and fourth in the 1,600 (4:23.57).
Monroe's Jeffrey Hill broke the school record in the pole vault with a leap of 14 feet, 4 inches at the Wisconsin TFA Indoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Hill finished sixth at state in the pole vault (13-6).
Monroe's girls 400 relay team of Maria Eberle, Lauren Werth, Brenna Bazley and Ditter finished fourth (:49.78) at state - just 0.6 seconds away from a state championship.
No. 2: Darlington boys
cross country team wins Division 3 state title
The Darlington boys cross country team won the WIAA Division 3 state cross country championship.
Darlington sophomore Tyson Miehe was the individual champion at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. It's the first time the Redbirds have won a state title in cross country since 1986, when Monroe coach Dave Hirsbrunner was Darlington's No. 1 runner.
The Redbirds had three of the top 14 runners at state to outdistance Grantsburg 46-74 for the title. Darlington senior Destin Komprood finished 11th (16:50.49) and senior Michael Sinclair took 14th (16:54.61).
Darlington coach Arnie Miehe got to celebrate with two sons on the team - Tyson and senior Kent Miehe.
No. 3: Black Hawk girls
basketball team makes
third straight
trip to state
The Warriors' pursuit of a state title and a perfect season came up short when they lost 64-40 to Newman Catholic Central in the Division 5 state semifinals.
Black Hawk, which was ranked No. 1 in the final regular season poll, lost to Newman Catholic for the second straight year. In 2010, the Warriors lost to Newman Catholic in the Division 4 state championship game.
Black Hawk finished 26-1 and was led by Rachel Rygh, the Six Rivers East Conference Player of the Year, who averaged 14.3 points per game.
The Black Hawk program and its fans won the WIAA's Sportsmanship award for the second straight year.
No. 4: New Glarus-Monticello's
Ryan McCoy wins state crown
New Glarus-Monticello junior Ryan McCoy won a WIAA Division 2 state cross country title at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
McCoy finished the 5,000-meter course with a time of 15 minutes, 38.27 seconds, which is the second fastest Division 2 time ever posted in the finals.
No. 5: Monroe softball team returns to state
The Monroe softball team made a run to the state tournament for the fifth time in the last nine years. Monroe lost 10-0 to Baldwin-Woodville in the state semifinals.
The Cheesemakers knocked off top seeded Edgerton 9-2 in the sectional final to return to state.
Monroe relied on the senior core of Kelsey Erickson, Kristin McArdle, Kaylee Craigo and Kendra Clark, and the pitching of Becca Armstrong.
The Cheesemakers also had two freshmen that made a big impact in Ellie Grossen and Chandra McGuire.
