Un-BEE-lievable Event

First day of school provides excitement as students wake early, greet friends they’ve not seen for months, meet new teachers in new classes, absorb new rules and routines and look forward (or not) to the first homework assignments. Then on this September Tuesday afternoon, as the last bells ring in New Glarus and Monticello, we jump on a bus and roar down to Monroe’s Twining Park for the Bruess Invitational, the first cross country meet of the season.
Eleven schools registered for this traditional race. By the time the 88 varsity boys click-clack across the wooden bridge, spectators see that the top spots are being contested by just four schools. A Mount Horeb guy occupies 1st place, New Glarus-Monticello’s senior Adam Nelson (18:00) chases just 4 seconds back. In 3rd place we witness a Wahlert Catholic runner with our Joe Quaglia (18:11), really close. The next pack is so mixed with NGMs, Wahlerts, Mount Horebs and Monroes that we are challenged just to record times for Braylon Hoesly (18:36), Tom Nelson (18:49), Conor McCoy (19:20), Ty Ready (19:46), Garret Grossen (19:58) and Simon Blohowiak (21:41).
Cross country points are assigned to teams based on the finishing places of the top five runners. As the announcer reads scores, starting with 11th place Stockton at 265, we really hope to NOT hear our name until the end. In fourth place Monroe 70 points, third Mount Horeb 59, second Wahlert Catholic 55 and in first…New Glarus-Monticello scoring 52. With reflection we realize that in the last 200 meters Adam Nelson, Braylon Hoesly, Conor McCoy, Ty Ready and Garrett Grossen all out sprinted their competitors to shave just enough points to win the first place trophy.
Earlier in the day, the Junior Varsity guys, consisting of a squad of twenty, placed Braydon Ryan (20:49), Logan Blum (21:00), Desi Delforge (21:01), Jude Rice (21:45), Dane Duerst (21:52), Beckett Malaise (22:38) and Griffin Ness (23:19) in 4th, 5th, 7th, 13th, and 14th to score 43 points and better Wahlert Catholic’s 46 for their first place trophy. Another first, and again by just three points.
Race over, excitement over, awards handed out and our Garrett Grossen says, “I encountered a problem today.” Oh, what’s that? we ask. “At the 1 kilometer mark a bee flew in my mouth and nailed me on the tongue!” he responds. “Are you sure?” we ask skeptically. “EMS just pulled the stinger out of my mouth. Check with them. They say they’ve never seen that before.”
Wow, another first!

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Youngsters Do Well</strong>
Saturday morning, September 7, dawns cool and sunny in Verona. Nice weather for spectators and cross country runners alike. For most of us, the Verona Wildcat Invitational is the biggest race of the season. Twenty-four teams attend ranging in size from Sun Prairie (2,389 students) to Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld (235). Most athletes find it fun, if they don’t get trampled in the first two furlongs.
At 8:30 a.m. sharp, 126 middle school runners take off. Nineteen 7th and 8th graders represent New Glarus-Monticello today. Breckyn Thompson, Tanner Gardner and Owen Runkle lead our pack with Lily Maynard closing from behind. Grayson Rodefield, Lucy Melvin, Dylan Baker, Ruthie Zuber, Sophie Stecha, Emma Martinson, Camryn Arnett, June Lounsbury, Ella Skidmore, Steffi Dopp, Carlee Roudebough, Emma Mondloch, Devi Duerst and Michelangelo O’Brien make up this talented team. Breckyn, Tanner and Lily win medals for placing in the top three spots in their grade level.
Seven girls run on varsity teams. Our V girls consist of three freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior. Starting in the coolest part of the day makes it possible for the ladies to run fast times. Annika Ziperski-F (22:30), Tenley Faber-F (22:48), Whitney Disch-F (22:48), Dayna Karls-SO (23:33), Molly Molencamp-S (24:10), Alexa Thayer-J (26:18) and Dylan Noll-J (28:18) almost finish in order of ages. Most of the girls go 1-2 minutes faster than their Tuesday performance in Monroe. However, Alexa removes a refreshing 3 minutes from her previous time.
The ladies team finishes 4th of the 7 teams in the small school division. Watch for continued improvement from this competitive group of gals.
A full moon occurs the evening of Saturday the 14th. The NGM CC team will have competed at Spring Green earlier in the day. Being that the SG Municipal golf course is one of our favorite meets, we hope to have an excuse to howl at that moon: some fast times resulting in top finishes.