MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (Oct. 28–Nov. 4)
CROSS COUNTRY: WIAA Division 3 State Meet

By Casey Lindecrantz, Republican Journal / Tri-County Press

Darlington girls win first state title since 2016
WISCONSIN RAPIDS — The lone golden trophy from 2016 finally has a near-perfect match. All it took was a grueling 5,000-meter race at Wisconsin Rapids on Nov. 1, with a Kohler-sized obstacle in the way.

The Blue Bombers were the defending state champions that previously earned their title by three points over Aquinas (98) in 2024.

“That was our standard — that’s who we have to go after, and the girls weren’t afraid about talking about it,” Redbirds head coach Kent Miehe said. “Kohler’s guys got second in D2, and their girls finished second in D3. They weren’t this obstacle we had to overcome. We knew we were going after Kohler, and we took care of business.”

And Darlington did take care of business, though it wasn’t without adversity despite a strong start.

“I stood at the half-mile mark into the race,” Kent Miehe said. “When everyone went by me, they were all in great position. Adalee [Berget] was in the top group, Alaina [McGowan] and Brianna [Vazquez] were right behind her, and Clara [Solverson] and Madi [Welacha] were side by side. But the next time I saw them is when things started to not go as planned. Just after the half-mile mark, Adalee got struck with an incredibly bad side ache, and the cramping she felt made it difficult to breath and stand upright. I went to a spot just before the mile mark, and I waited and waited, but she didn’t go by where I last saw her. Once I finally did see her, she was holding her side and was in so much pain. I tried to encourage her to just keep pushing through it, but I felt helpless watching her go by.”

Berget was the Redbirds’ pack leader all season, and her place on the leaderboard was typically within the top-4, including first place finishes at the SWAL Championship Meet and the River Valley Invitational. 

“I know how tough of a competitor Adalee is, so I still had hope she’d be able to push through it,” Miehe said. “On the other hand, Brianna and Alaina still were in the same position from before. Clara and Madi still hadn’t left each other’s side, and Austia [Stauffacher] and Brenna Edgerton were also next to each other. We were in first place by 44 points through the mile. Once I saw that score, I knew that even with Adalee experiencing her side cramp, we were still getting the job done. Those girls responded for each other, just as they had done the entire season.”

Vazquez took over lead running duties, pacing the team by the 1-mile marker, placing 18th individually, and ninth among scoring runners with a time of 6:01.4. Despite the setback, Berget managed to place 10th as a scorer (21st overall) at just under two seconds back, with McGowan at 12th (25th overall, 6:06:6).

“Normally, I run alongside Alaina, and when I saw Adalee falling behind, I told myself that I need to do this for my team because one of them was falling behind,” Vazquez said.

Welacha (6:20.8, 52nd) and Solverson (6:20.8, 53rd) were further back at 22nd and 23rd, with Stauffacher (6:31, 71st) and Edgerton (6:33.1, 77th) claiming tiebreaker placements of 34th and 39th, respectively.

“Brianna had an unbelievably confident and purposeful look on her face during the second half of the race, and she took charge by holding her spot in the top-20,” Kent Miehe said. “Adalee, even with dealing with so much pain, struggling to breath, still was hanging onto her position just ahead of Alaina.”

“After the 2-mile mark, we still held a 16-point lead, so I knew if we could just hold onto where we were, we could still finish on top,” he added.

Vazquez improved to the 2-mile mark by four individual spots, up to seventh as a scoring runner, while Berget and McGowan each fell three spots in the scoring standings to 13th and 15th, respectively. Welacha’s (26th) and Solverson’s (28th) placements waned but were largely similar, while Stauffacher (54th) and Edgerton (65th) had also slipped back. 

Fortunately, Stauffacher was sitting two spots ahead of Kohler’s #6 to ensure, at that moment, that a tiebreaker would fall in favor of Darlington as it sat with a considerable lead over the Blue Bombers, 89-105.

“My last spot to stand during the race was a half-mile from the finish on a sloping back loop — easily the toughest part of the course,” Kent Miehe said. “As each girl came by me, the only thing I could yell at them was, ‘We’re still winning. Go be a champion” as they left to finish the last 800-meters of the race. Brianna came by, still holding strong and digging harder than she ever had. After she went by me, came the most impactful and impressive part of the entire race. Adalee Berget — a senior, running through unimaginable pain, running in her last state meet ever — found another gear and pushed through her side cramp, and as she went by me, she pulled alongside Alaina.”

Former Redbirds head coach Arnie Miehe, who was also in attendance, might have tossed a few vocal encouragements in Berget’s direction.

“Adalee ran a tough race — she was hurting,” he said. “I saw Alaina ahead of her, and as Adalee got by me, I told her to quit thinking and just run.”

“Once I yelled to them that we were still in the lead, both her and Alaina went together, passing a total of 23 people in the last mile overall,” Kent Miehe said. “Madi and Clara closely followed after that, and Austia and Brenna both finished in front of Kohler’s sixth runner. After Brenna went by me, I sat down on the ground out of exhaustion, and stared at [the standings on] my phone.”

If the final standings only took the top-3 runners from each team, Darlington would’ve finished 11 points behind Kohler. Thankfully, scoring includes the fourth and fifth runners for a team.

“Through four runners, we’re still down by four points, but I knew that our four and five — Madi and Clara — were well ahead of Kohler’s #5,” Kent Miehe said. “So for a brief second, this is the first moment I had the thought that we won. Then, our fifth runner went through — we had 92 points. I waited for what seemed like forever, and Kohler’s fifth runner finished — They had 96. I waited just a minute more to make sure the scores didn’t change, and it still had us at the top. I then jogged back to the finish to celebrate with the girls, and on the way back, I ran into my brother and dad, and we all shared tearful hugs as the celebration began.”

“I just feel so good for Kent, because he is twice the coach I ever thought about being,” Arnie Miehe said. “He knows his stuff, and now it’s his. I walked up with him for his first year, and we’re at State. Then we finished third on a tiebreaker, and he was crushed. He’s been carrying that baby around since, and I know the feeling.”

Kent Miehe’s girls squad has advanced to state as a team in each of the three consecutive years he’s led the program. His first trip in 2023 resulted in third place due to a tiebreaker behind Phillips, with Lancaster taking home the team title. That year’s team graduated a trio of seniors, but Berget, Vazquez, and Solverson were all running that year. Another state runner in both 2023 and 2024 was Piper DePauw, who did not run at state this year as a senior, though she was an alternate.

“It also needs to be known that one of the biggest proponents of that feeling during the season was Piper DePauw, our alternate,” Kent Miehe said. “She had run in the state meet the previous two years, and it was very difficult for her to not be able to finish her last race at state. However, she supported her teammates so incredibly well, and her leadership and humility was another incredibly impactful and crucial aspect of our state title. I’m so thankful as a coach to have a person like that who supported her teammates no matter the circumstance.”

For the Redbirds’ head coach, togetherness was perhaps the most crucial aspect of their championship run.

“That feeling is such a powerful measure of a true team, and it made the difference for us,” Kent Miehe said. “Everything has to fall into place for us to win, and even though it went a little differently than expected, those girls still responded to what was in front of them, and took care of business. Brianna taking over as the #1, Adalee pulling through her pain and ultimately pulling Alaina along with her — those moments are from an entire season of never giving up on each other. If we didn’t have that, none of this would be possible.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of how they handled the demands of the race, and how they responded to the task at hand as the race unfolded,” he added. “They proved to everyone that they are true champions for how they ran for each other.”

While togetherness was important for the athletes Kent Miehe coached, having the family and individuals around who helped make you what you are can be just as impactful.

“Having my dad as my coach and mentor made this moment so special for the both of us,” he said. “When he retired, we had a talk about the things he wanted to continue for the program, so to see how proud and happy he was after we won was such an incredible moment.”

Recognition and appreciation are also readily served up following big wins, and Kent Miehe had plenty to provide.

“Championship moments like this do not just happen by themselves,” he said. “They are the result of the collected efforts of so many people. Our parents in the program who supported our girls through good times and bad. The teachers and other coaches in the Darlington School District who instill important life lessons and push these girls to be their absolute best. Our community members who supported us during the season and at the meet on Saturday. Those are the reasons we won. Every challenge, every setback, every act of support from so many people — it all matters in championship moments. I can’t thank our fans, our teachers, and our community enough for their collected efforts that made this possible. I appreciate that more than I can put into words. It gives us great satisfaction knowing we made our community proud. This was a day for Darlington, and its a moment we’ll always be able to look back on and celebrate.”