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McCracken leads IG boys to victory
ig cc winners
Ethan McCracken (second place), Gabie Campbell (sixth) and Caitlyn Fowell (fourth) each medaled to lead the IowaGrant cross country teams at last weeks North Crawford Goat Hill Classic.
Jason Nihles
Updated: Sep 27, 2013, 2:26 PM
Published: Sep 27, 2013, 2:28 PM

     GAYS MILLS — With leading runner Jordan Jenks resting a nagging hip injury and a strained calf, fellow Iowa–Grant junior Ethan McCracken picked up the slack.
     McCracken finished second overall in the boys’ varsity race to lead the Iowa–Grant/Highland boys to the team-title at last Tuesday’s North Crawford Goat Hill Classic in Gays Mills.
     McCracken, the son of head coach Corey McCracken, covered the hilly 5,000-meter course in 19 minutes and 15.19 seconds, finishing only behind Riverdale’s Brian Mathews (18:16.02).
     Fellow junior Micah Bomkamp (20:13.06) and sophomore Ben Connolly (20:14.50) just missed medalists honors, placing 11th and 12th respectively for the I–G co-op.
     Creighton Biddick (15th, 20:58.74), William McLeer (16th, 21:06.95), Charlie Connolly (22nd, 22:10.73) and Kyle Faull (24th, 22:24.93) rounded out the Panthers’ lineup.
     Iowa–Grant/Highland easily outpointed runner-up Kickapoo/La Farge 56–74 to claim the team title.
     In the girls’ race, I–G placed second, just seven points behind team champion West Central, 41–48.
     Sophomore Caitlyn Fowell (20:29.99) placed fourth, while senior Gabie Campbell finished sixth (20:47.72) to lead the Panther girls. Both earned medalist honors.
     Cassville’s Jenna Friesen was the girls’ individual champion with a winning time of 19:24.80.

North Crawford Goat Hill Classic
(from Tuesday, Sept. 17 @ Gays Mills)
(Girls, 4,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.West Central 41, 2.Iowa–Grant/Highland 48, 3.Riverdale 49, 4.North Crawford 72, Kickapoo/La Farge inc., Cassville inc.
Top individuals: 1.Jenna Friesen (Cassville) 19:24.80, 2.Janay Wiedenfeld (Riverdale) 19:31.09, 3.Katie Peterson (West Central) 20:18.83, 4.Caitlyn Fowell (Iowa–Grant/Highland) 20:26.64, 5.Gabrielle Roth (West Central) 20:29.99.
Iowa–Grant/Highland: 4.Fowell 20:29.99, 6.Gabie Campbell 20:47.72, 14.Makayla Dicken 22:06.66, 19.Julia Cockroft 23:21.01, 22.Marie Diver 25:00.14.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.Iowa–Grant/Highland 56, 2.Kickapoo/La Farge 74, 3.Riverdale 81, 3.West Central 81, 5.North Crawford 85, 6.Cassville 88.
Top individuals: 1.Brian Mathews (Riverdale) 18:16.02, 2.Ethan McCracken (Iowa–Grant) 19:15.19, 3.Mason Geary (Kickapoo/La Farge) 19:20.0, 4.Mitchell Shallwani (Riverdale) 19:32.97, 5.Jacob Bransky (North Crawford) 19:39.54.
Iowa–Grant/Highland: 2.McCracken 19:15.19, 11.Micah Bomkamp 20:13.06, 12.Ben Connolly 20:14.50, 15.Creighton Biddick 20:58.74, 16.William McLeer 21:06.95, 22.Charlie Connolly 22:10.73, 24.Kyle Faull 22:24.93
Darlington honors long-time coach Arnie Miehe
School renames cross country course after legendary coach
Arnie Miehe
Former Darlington cross country coach Arnie Miehe (left) stands as it is announced that the DHS cross country course will be renamed after him at the Darlington Invitational on Sept. 7. The years of accomplishments are displayed on the banner behind Miehe. - photo by Casey Lindecrantz
Natalie Dillon, Fox Tales
Updated: Sep 13, 2024, 4:03 PM
Published: Sep 13, 2024, 4:04 PM

DARLINGTON — At its 41st annual Darlington Invite, the cross country team honored long-time head coach Arnie Miehe by renaming the course after him.

“It’s an incredible honor,” Arnie said. “It’s very humbling. It makes me think of all the hours, days, weeks and years that went into it — all the events and kids I’ve come in contact with.”

Since taking over  the program in 1982, Arnie has had nine state championship teams — eight for the boys and one for the girls — including six consecutive boys’ titles from 2011-2016. Another 39 teams went to state — 23 for the boys and 16 for the girls. For four straight years from 1993-1996, Darlington boys were state runners-up to Cochrane-Fountain City. In this 41-year span, he’s also had numerous individual state runners.

Two of those runners were his sons, Kent and Tyson. Tyson has run in the Olympic trials, and Kent currently coaches the Redbirds cross country teams.

“The recognition needs to be spread out,” Arnie said. “It should really be named the Miehe course. My wife and kids had as much to do with the success as I did. It was an entire family effort.”

But Kent was quick to turn the recognition back to his father.

“All the success we had started here, with him,” Kent said of Darlington’s home course and the annual Invite, which Arnie had begun years ago.

Darlington kept its successful streak at home with the girls finishing runners-up to Lancaster. Adalee Berget led the squad with her third-place finish. As a team, the Lady Redbirds, ranked No. 9 in Division 3 per Week 1 of the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll, ran faster than the 2023 squad that finished third at state.

“We are learning what good is,” Kent said. “The returners know what it takes to be good. We have a perspective of what we are working toward. The season is far from over.”