DARLINGTON — As the starting gun kicked off the 40th Alumni Meet on the Miehe Cross Country Course at Darlington on Aug. 30, athletes had a new piece of hardware to run through.
As of the day prior, a metal arch proclaiming Darlington’s course, named in honor of its storied former head coach of 44 years, Arnie Miehe, as well as his family, was erected.
If you have a sharp memory, you may remember that at last year’s Darlington Invite on Sept. 7, the course was renamed after Arnie Miehe exclusively. That was changed after his acknowledging that his successes were more than just his efforts.
“The initial idea for the name dedication was for what he has done for the program and all the athletes he’s impacted over the years,” Darlington head coach Kent Miehe said. “He acknowledged that our entire family has played a part in the program as well — my mom coached at the high school and middle school for a number of years, and all of his kids ran all four years and have helped with many events in the program.”
His tenure as head coach, beginning in 1982, didn’t take long to earn state-wide success. Nine state championship teams -— eight boys’ with six consecutive over 2011-16 and one girls’ title — and 39 qualifiers — 23 boys and 16 girls — bore Arnie Miehe’s name as their head coach. The first of his state title boys’ teams was in 1985. The initial state championship meet was delayed a week due to a torrential downpour, though most of that year’s runners likely would have taken the rain as blizzard conditions marked the delayed meet’s weather.
Regardless of the running conditions, that year’s team scored 54 points to win the title by one point over Bayfield. A majority of that year’s team, including Kent Ruppert (7th, 18:35.6), James Schuetz (13th, 18:46.5), Dale Hirsbrunner (23rd, 19:24.3), Todd Johnson (28th, 19:38.6), Dale Kelly (30th, 19:43.2) and Kirk Evenstad (45th, 20:45) were in attendance at Saturday’s meet. Bob Cullen (39th, 20:04.4) was the only member not there.
The 1985 team also has significance for the Redbirds as it was the first state title in school history coming off a season where they hadn’t won a conference title for the past decade.
“When you think about the sport of cross country and what our program has been over the years, that’s what’s made out program so great,” Kent Miehe said. “We won some trophies and awards, but I could go to every alumni here and they can tell me a story about some race they remember, something that happened at practice, a hard race, or a tough workout. When you go through those moments with people that you care about and teammates that you want to be successful with — that makes things memorable. Those are the things that make our program so strong.”
Other historic members of the Darlington cross country family were in attendance. Troy Cullen (1983, 9th, 17:10) was the first individual state qualifier for the boys. Tyson Miehe (16:03) competed for the alumni boys, taking the title by almost 90 seconds over Payton Heinberg (17:25) and more than two minutes quicker than Darlington junior Marcus Kendall (3rd, 18:17).
The girls had their share of fame in the pack. Annie Miehe, the Redbirds’ first girls cross country athlete, competed where she finished 23rd with a time of 31:09. Erin (Goebel) Donovan (23:17) led the alumni at sixth overall. Both girls are tied for the most alumni wins at eight, each.
Both Donovan and Tyson Miehe both shared the honor of being the only runners in the pack with four conference championships apiece.
“All of this culminated with us needing to do something for the program to recognize the Coach (Arnie) Miehe and all the effort he’s put in over the years,” Kent Miehe said. “That’s the reason for the arch.”
Out on the course earlier during the junior high inter-squad races, Arnie Miehe had only praise for his son, Kent.
“It’s so common now for coaches to treat this like a job, and Kent doesn’t do that,” he said. “He really cares. I thought about hanging it up once, and Kent told me ‘dad, you have to keep doing it so I can take over for you.’”
As a pair of junior high runners rounded a corner, Arnie Miehe abruptly turned to encourage them — despite his retirement, he is always at the ready to provide a helpful push.
In the high school competition, the varsity girls swept the top-5 en route to a 15-point effort over the alumni’s 47. Despite losing Adalee Berget to an injury mid-race, Alaina McGowan (20:47) picked up the slack to earn the individual title ahead of Brianna Vazquez (21:20), Clara Solverson (21:33), Madi Welacha (21:58), and Austia Stauffacher (22:49). While Donovan paced the alumni at sixth, Ilse Mendez (23:51) was the only other runner inside the top-10 for the alumni.
The boys’ side saw a reversal of fortune, as the alumni (21 pts) bested varsity (36 pts). AJ Roelli (4th, 19:29) and Michael Thompson (5th, 19:38) ensure a near-clean sweep of the top-5 for the alumni along with Tyson Miehe and Heinberg. Mason Wiegel (19:55), Phoenix Johnson (21:08), and Kane McDermott (21:13) filled out sixth through eighth for varsity, with Ethan Aird (21:26) and Tanner Evenstad (21:42) claiming ninth and 10th, respectively.
