2015 Sectional Runner Ups - State Qualifiers
Madison Memorial headed to Ripp Park in Waunakee Saturday morning for the Division 1 sectional where the top 2 teams and 5 individuals earn the right to advance to the WIAA State Championship. The weather was overcast and rainy and the course was hilly and difficult but all the teams had to face the same adversity and the Spartans were ready to compete. The work for this day was put in over the last five months and the boys just had to trust their training and each other. Our team ran as a group again today putting 5 runners within 28 seconds of each other and all 7 runners within 37 seconds. Middleton finished a strong first place scoring 42 points and Madison Memorial earned the runner up finish scoring 74 points outdistancing Madison West by 11 points. Our team was the only squad to have all 7 runners under 18:00 as we place all our runners in the top 28. This great team performance earned the Spartans a trip to the WIAA State Meet next weekend in Wisconsin Rapids. This will be the boys 16th appearance at the WIAA State Championships, the first since 2009, and this marks only the 3rd time in school history that both the boys & girls team will compete at the state meet (1979, 1985, & 2015).
The large hills in the first 1/2 mile led to a conservative start to our race but by the mile our group found their positions and were running well in the front part of the race. The long climb to the two mile mark is where the race was decided and it was obvious the hard work our team had done throughout the year paid off as all runners looked gassed going into the last mile but our guys were in great position to earn a state berth and closed well to wrap up that trip to Wisconsin Rapids. The sectional meet has one purpose...to decide who goes to state. Times aren't important, places and team scores are the story of the day. JMM was led to the finish line by Rory S (8th - 17:18) who earned a top 10 finish with his strong closing kick. He was quickly joined in the chute by Luke V (12th - 17:24), Casey GT (14th - 17:28), and Jonas B (17th - 17:30) who all earned top 20 finishes. Zach H (23rd - 17:47) led our strong finish of our 5th - 7th runners who helped us put distance on the other teams today. Trevor R (27th - 17:53) and Jack Z (28th - 17:56) would have been in every team's top 5 or better today except for Middleton. This group ran solid today and are ready to have a really good race at the state meet.
THANK YOU to all the parents, families, runners, alumni, teachers, administrators, community members and more who cheered on the JMM teams at Ripp Park....it was an AMAZING show of support for the teams and helped both the boys & girls teams on a difficult course with dreary weather. I hope we can have just as many fans or more who make it to the Ridges in Wisconsin Rapids to cheer on these runners who represent our whole program.
SECTIONAL RESULTS
Waunakee Sectional
All Sectional Results
NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday October 31st
WIAA State Championships
@ Ridges Golf Course - Wisconsin Rapids
Bus - TBD (info will be shared with athletes at practice)
12:00pm - 1st race
1:20pm - Girls D1 Race
3:10pm - Boys D1 Race
4:30pm - Awards Ceremony @ Lincoln HS
Fan Bus Sign Up - HERE (permission slips & payment will be done through the athletic office)
Bus leaves JMM @10:15am on Saturday morning
Sign up ASAP to ensure a seat on the bus
Spectator Driving/Parking Instructions - HERE
END OF YEAR NOTES
- Please send pictures that can be used for an end of year slideshow on a memory stick/flash drive to Coach Casey at school ASAP
- End of year banquet will be Thursday November 5th @ Rocky's ($10 per person - pay at door) RSVP to jmmcc@rocketmail.com
- Athletes who have not yet turned in $10 to captains for Thanksgiving Baskets & Coaches' Gifts...please do so ASAP
Order JMM Cross Country Clothing
JMM Boys & Girls State Meet Qualifiers
(1st time both JMM teams have qualified in the same year since 1985)
