Imagining a better Wisconsin day for a footrace might be impossible. Cool, calm, dry with a warming sun, we feel vitamin D synthesizing in our skin. The Blackhawk golf course appears groomed and ready to accept some of the fastest runners in the state. The Alternate Fall Cross Country Championship survived COVID, and our NGM boys and girls survived a sectional of big D2 and D1 schools to qualify in lane seven.

"Run your own race" reminds girl's Captain Dayna Karls. The gals biggest challenge is, in fact, not going out with the first two dozen runners from big schools like Middleton, Madison West plus twenty individual qualifiers. Run too fast the first mile and the body will shift to survival mode for the last part of the race.

Lily Maynard comes through mile one in a fast, but not too fast, 6:15. Lily stays strong, finishes 24th overall and 12th in team competition. 20:11.4 is over a minute faster than her previous season best. Annika Ziperski (20:44) comes in 39th overall and 27th among team runners. Our second runner just knocked over a minute off of her best time. Dayna Karls (21:24), Melanie Fink (21:58) finish in the 21's and average 20 ticks faster than season PRs. Tenley Faber (22:34) and Emma Martinson (22:43) shave 30 seconds off their conference times. Still on the course, Lucy Melvin (23:12) trails a gal from De Pere. This gal pulls Lucy through the first 3 miles. Our girl in blue struggles to keep close. As seventh lady sees the finish line, she encounters over 100 cheering New Glarus-Monticello fans and six team mates. The exhausted runner finds her legs going faster and faster. She swoops by a surprised competitor and burns through the chute with a six second advantage. Lucy also beats her previous record by 54 seconds. No one is more spent and no one is happier than our Lucy Melvin (23:12).

Middleton's Lauren Pansegrau stuns the crowd running a state record 17:07. Almost a minute and twenty seconds elapse before the next gal appears. Middleton girls win the WIAA Alternate Fall First Place with 41 points. The Runner-Up trophy goes to the amazing girls from Oregon. During the first 100 meters, their black uniforms occupy the back of the pack. Running an even pace from start to finish, they pass runners for twenty some minutes and record 76 points to defeat a stunned Madison West with 79.

The cross country aficionados know that getting to this single division state meet took a major effort for the New Glarus-Monticello ladies. An even stronger performance of 174 place us rewardingly close to Oshkosh West with 165 and Fond du Lac with 162 as we finish eighth of eight.

New Glarus-Monticello guys appear as cool and calm as the weather. Knowing they represent the only small school among seven D1 schools might generate nerves, but they disguise it with smiles and nonchalance. Joe Quaglia and Evan Guenther blast through the first mile in 5:05 and 5:06. Joe holds the fast pace and twelve minutes later he records a 17:03 for 37th overall and 22nd among team runners. As usual, the following guys group together: Tom Nelson (17:46), Braylon Hoesly (17:48) and Brayden Ryan (17:52) finish close and in the 17's. Ty Ready (17:55.6) passes Evan Guenther (17:56.0) along with Middleton, Stoughton and Fond du Lac using his patented sprint. Conor McCoy (18:33) completes our team. The gentlemen shaved about 20 seconds per runner off of their conference races to finish the season with a seventh at State.

Photo courtesy of Randy Marks

Dayna Karls demonstrates speed under control.

During the race our boys ran ahead of an unmarked team in red and black. As scores pop-up on our smartphones, we find we've defeated Fond du Lac with 196 to our seventh place 174. Stevens Point dominates with an amazingly low 32 points. Sun Prairie's 69 earns the Runner-Up Trophy. Including New Glarus-Monticello, five of the eight teams come from this part of the state.