Smiley Invite - Varsity 4th, JV 9th

 Great day of racing at the Smiley Invite! The team awoke to storms and uncertainty Saturday morning but they were prepared to bring their best no matter what the course or mother nature had prepared for them. The JV team took to the course for the Spartan's first race of the day and were led by Andy who ran terrific 18:43 for his first ever sub 19 5k! Smiley is a tough course to PR on but after running hard in the middle of the race and with cooler weather, many of our runners ran their lifetime bests with Abhi, Ephraim, Levi, Miguel, Ethan, Eli B, Owen, Oliver K, Henry M, Devon, Luke S, Jacob S, Elias K, Ryan S, and Walter S all setting new PRs. All of these fantastic races added up to a 9th place finish, an improvement over 14th place from last year. Our JV kids have been working hard and this middle of the season can be tough...keep working hard, take care of your body, and huge PRs are on the horizon in the final month of the season.

The Spartan varsity runners continue to make leaps and bounds each week and Smiley was no different. New lifetime PRs by Charlie, Patrick, and Max led the way but all seven runners ran great providing the team with a 4th place finish, up from 6th last year. Will L-S was solid up-front again helping the team with a low stick and running a great time of 15:59. Berndt had his best race of the season so far and ran well under 17 minutes continuing to show his improvement. Anthony had a really impressive showing just off his best time from last year and earning a top 100 finish. 

RESULTS
Smiley Invitational

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 26th
Midwest Invite @ Blackhawk GC in Janesville, WI (Course)

Bus - 6:45am

8:00am - Community Race

9:00am - First High School Race

9:35am - Blue JV Race (sub 21:30 racers)

10:45am - Varsity Race

12:00pm - White JV Race

Awards - Varsity = top 40 individuals & 3 teams, JV (both Blue & White) - top 30 individuals

Estimated return to Memorial is 3:00pm

*** Janesville is charging an entry fee for spectators. Adults = $6 Kids/Senior Citizens = $4 Under 6 years old = free...NO CASH purchase online at Janesville Craig High School Hosts the Midwest Cross Country Invitational - Cross Country - Sep 26, 2026 or with debit/credit card at the gate

For anyone in the community including parents, alumni, or coaches, we will be hosting a community open race before the races for the high school athletes begin at 8am. The cost is $20 and can be paid through the link above.

Parking is available at the Blackhawk Golf Course lots. There are roughly 75 spaces available and the lots are expected to close early. No buses are allowed in these lots. Palmer Park (north of Racine St.) and Palmer Dr., west of Sharon Rd., has space as well. These areas require a walk to the course, so plan accordingly. Please note Palmer Dr., between Racine St. and Sharon Rd. will be closed to traffic as the event begins at 8:00 AM. Golf cart shuttles are available from Palmer Park area (Racine St. and Palmer Dr. intersection). Additional parking is available at Dawson Field (920 Beloit Avenue) and at Craig High School (401 S Randall Avenue). There is a free shuttle bus that runs from Dawson Field to the meet beginning at 8 am.

Plan time for parking, walking to course, & paying admission!!

NEWS & NOTES

Take care of your health...sleep, eat healthy, hydrate, stretch, ice, sleep ;) and wash your hands

- For all the photographers - Upload pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/XCx5pYMw4uhwsVht8

- Sign up for meet snacks - https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0948AEA72CA3FB6-65337408-memorial?useFullSite=false

- Snap Raise... Thank you everyone who has donated! Try to get 20-emails uploaded! Fundraiser runs through 10/6

Monona Grove Invite - Varsity = 1st & JV = 2nd

Great day of racing for the Spartans...22 lifetime PRs on the day...after a great week of practice!! The day started with our varsity having their best race of the season. The varsity squad got out more aggressively and with more confidence this week and worked together as a team throughout the middle of the race. Will L-S ran a gutsy race finishing 2nd and Charlie G earned a top 15 finish with his time of 16:56 for 7th place and his first sub 17 5k. Ian was 3rd for the team and ran a PR of 17:22. Max, Berndt, Paul, Patrick, and Anthony rounded out the team all running strong races with a PR for Patrick (17:48) and seasons best times for everyone else. Together this group finished 1st out of 16 teams and continues to make great progress toward our season and individual goals. We look forward to big things in the coming months.

The JV squad carried forward the positive momentum the Spartans had from the varsity race to place 2nd in the field. PRs were run in the JV race by Abhi, Mitchel, Eli B, Andy, Luke H, Ethan, Owen, Noah, Oliver K, Henry M, Devon, Luke S, Brayden, Declan, Elias K, Milo, Jaxon, Ryan, and Walter. Our JV continues to make leaps and bounds in their training and their racing. If this group stays healthy and continues to work hard at practice, the sky's the limit. Together this group is doing difficult things and being rewarded with great times and great experiences.

RESULTS
All results

NEXT COMPETITION

Saturday September 19th
Smiley Invite @ Wausau East HS - Wausau, WI (Course)
Bus = 5:45am (bring pillow/blanket for bus ride)
8:30am - First race of day
9:50am - Boys JV  (box 10)
11:10am - Boys D1 Varsity (box 10)
12:30pm - Awards - (top 20 individuals & top 2 teams)
**We will stop to eat on the way home...bring $$ or a sack lunch**
Approximate return to school is 4:30pm

NEWS & NOTES

Attendance & grade checks ongoing...great start to the quarter. Keep up the hard work in the classroom!
Lots of cold symptoms going around...get sleep, eat & drink well, wash your hands, get more sleep.

- For all the photographers - Upload pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/XCx5pYMw4uhwsVht8

- Sign up for meet snacks - https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0948AEA72CA3FB6-65337408-memorial?useFullSite=false

- Snap Raise... Try to get 20-emails uploaded! Fundraiser runs through 10/6

Verona Invite - Varsity = 8th, JV = 11th

A muggy start of fall (end of summer?) morning greeted the Spartans as they headed to their first official meet of the 2026 season. The Madison Memorial boys joined 36 other teams from around the state of Wisconsin to compete on the Verona cross country course. Our team was looking to continue our improvement from our intrasquad and take a step forward from last season. The varsity race started off the day where our team placed 8th out of 36 teams improving upon our 9th place finish from last year. As for the JV we finished in 11th, a huge improvement from 20th place last year. As we continue to get experience in races we hope to see our JV runners continue to close the gap on our varsity and show some of our strength in numbers.

The varsity team was led by Charlie G who moved up from 99th place at 1-mile to 39th place at the finish. Charlie ran a great race earning a PR of 17:39. Patrick H also ran a big cross country 5k PR of 18:32 to break 20-minutes for the first time on a cross-country course. Overall, the varsity squad moved up significantly through the race from 16th place at 1-mile to 8th at the finish. I'm excited to see this group continue to cut down the gaps between runners and get out more aggressively at the start of races. Each week is an improvement, and we will return to this course in a month and a half for the Sectional championships.

Bowen D led our JV squad in a very deep and competitive Verona Invite with a 43rd place finish and a sub-20 time of 19:51. Elias K was our top freshman on the day running a time of 21:41. There were several PRs among the returning athletes: Luke H - 22:37, Owen G - 23:59, Abhi K - 25:28, and Brayden T - 25:59. First cross country 5ks were also run by Ephraim M, Levi B, Eli B, Oliver K, Henry M, Devon M, Luke S, Declan K, Elias K, Milo L, Jaxon P, Coda S, Ryan S, and Walter S. Many improvements were made from Elver to Verona and the JV guys are looking forward to getting to a Monona golf course with more rolling hills than steep climbs and opportunities for fast times and new PRs. If this group keeps working hard at practices and challenging themselves in workouts, there will be lots of fast races in their future.

RESULTS
All Races

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 12th
Monona Grove Invitational @ Monona GC (Course)
Bus - 7:00am
8:30am - First Race
9:40am - Boys Varsity  (Lane 11)
11:00am - Boys JV (Lane 11)
11:40am - Awards - top 2 teams and 15 individuals

Approximate return to Madison Memorial will be 12:30pm

We will be using the fieldhouse parking lot for drop off/pick up
SPECTATOR PARKING = easiest parking is at Monona Grove HS which is North of the golf course by about .25 mile....and then walking over to the course...leave yourself time

NEWS & NOTES

- Stay on top of your school work...don't let attendance or grades become an issue...ask coaches/upperclassmen if you need help.

- For all the photographers - Upload pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/XCx5pYMw4uhwsVht8

- Sign up for meet snacks - https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0948AEA72CA3FB6-65337408-memorial?useFullSite=false

- Clothing order #2 is open until 9/9 if you want some spartan gear https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/VPMXC2ND

- The Rothamer family (Berndt - 12th grade) and Regehr family (Zoey - 12th grade) are hosting a family potluck for the boys and girls cross country teams on Saturday September 12th. They ask families sign-up to bring a dish if possible. The potluck will be 6 - 8pm at the Garner park shelter and all family members are welcome to attend.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948AEA72CA3FB6-65338489-2026

- Snap Raise... Try to get 20-emails uploaded! Fundraiser will start 9/8

Thundercats Win Intrasquad!

Thirty-eight competitors toed the line for our first of many cross country races this season. Will L-S led the athletes over the hills and through the woods of Elver Park to win and establish a course record for the new Elver 2-mile course. Our 2- 5 athletes (Berndt, Charlie, Max, Paul) also ran strong races with a gap of less than 1-minute for our 1-5. Ian and Patrick will round the varsity squad heading into the Verona Invite next weekend.

Going into the Verona invite Anthony, Andy, Bowen, and Mitchell will lead a mix of youth and experience of our JV runners who we hope push to make the varsity team and improve PRs throughout the season. Henry M was the top finisher among athletes new to cross country and Elias K ended up being our top freshman finisher. We had many first cross country races run by Henry M, Elias, Ryan, Luke S, Eli B, Walter, Coda, Jaxon, Declan, Oliver K, Levi, Ephraim, Miguel, and Devon. Lots of improvement in the near future for these guys and all their teammates. We look forward to seeing some competition next week at Verona and having more fans out on the course cheering on the runners. 

Athletes should work on getting into a good sleep pattern as we prepare to head back to school. SLEEP (8-9 hours nightly) is the #1 thing runners can do to enhance their performance and avoid illness & injury. Additionally, continue to stretch, roll, ice, eat well, & hydrate. Looking forward to big things all season long!

Results

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q-rz4BIUyyCBFBDsePE4OKZuntfLRR8AgD3LA63-Juc/edit?usp=sharing

Next Competition

Verona Invite Saturday 9/5 (@ Verona High School)

7am - Bus leaves VPM (arrive 6:45am, if driving to Verona arrive at 7:30am and send me an email to let me know you won't be on the bus!)

9:05am - Boys Varsity

10:20am - Boys JV

11:30am - Awards

Course Map

Parking Info - School parking lots only. We have over 1200 parking spots on campus and if those fill spectators will need to park on the nearby Verona Streets.  Foot entrance to the course is either down Wildcat Way to the parking lot, which is the safest, or one of the crossings of the Military Ridge bike trail. Entrance directly onto the course is prohibited.

NEWS & NOTES
Athletic Fees (or waiver) - must be paid through Infinite Campus
Snap Raise Fundraiser will kick off 9/8
Uniform Handout will occur this week. Athletes will keep their uniform for the duration of the season and must return assigned items at the completion of the season). Uniforms should be worn only at meets and washed in between uses.