JANESVILLE – The top-ranked big schools dominated the top of the boys’ team standings at the 78th annual Midwest Invitational, but Darlington represented the small schools well by placing 11th overall among the 37 scoring teams at the mid-season cross country showcase held at Janesville’s Blackhawk Golf Course on Saturday, Sept. 26.

     The Redbirds, who are ranked number one in Division 3, placed all five team runners within the 35 seconds of one another to pull in 11th with 329 points. They finished as the top D3 team at the meet, placing ahead of #2-ranked Boscobel (19th at 564) and #4-ranked Westby (26th at 652).

     Madison La Follette lived up to their number one ranking in D1 by running away with the team title with 70 points. Four more ranked D1 teams rounded out the top five finishers, and Wisconsin Lutheran (#1 in D2) finished sixth overall.

     Jaden Komprood was the first Redbird across the finish line, placing 39th in a time of 16:53. Tanner Evenstad took 62nd in 17:19, followed by Payton Heinberg in 70th in 17:24, Blake Cwynar in 78th in 17:27 and Sean Barbee in 80th in 17:28 to complete the team scoring on the day.

     “We got another solid race from our pack, which is going to be a key to our future success. I was impressed by our freshmen and first-year runners,” said Darlington head coach Arnie Miehe.

     La Follette’s Finn Gessner won the boys’ 5,000-meter race in 15:22.The Lady Redbirds battled through some injuries to finish 28th out of 30 teams in the girls’ meet with 673 points. Arrowhead, ranked #4 in D1, edged Kimberly, ranked #6 in D1, 85-89, for the girls’ team title. D3 foe Westby took 10th with 308 points.

     Reghan Komprood led the way by placing 78th in 21:39 for the ‘Birds. Emma Crist was 131st in 22:42, followed in by Paige Schilling in 136th in 22:52, Ilse Mendez in 159th in 23:28 and Jaci Moseley in 169th in 24:04. Varsity runner Erin Wolf was forced to drop out during the race and did not finish.

     “Our ladies need to get healthy and refocused to get things rolling again and be in the hunt when the conference meet rolls around,” Miehe commented.Wisconsin Lutheran’s Audrey Janik won the girls’ race in 18:31.

     In the junior varsity races, the Redbirds finished 15th with 442 points and the Lady Redbirds 18th with 556 points.

     At Darlington, on Monday, Sept. 28, the Redbird cross country teams swept Pecatonica/Argyle in the annual Parent’s Night dual meet The Redbirds posted a 15-50 win over the Viking, and the Lady Redbirds scored an 18-45 win.

     Next up, Darlington will participate in the Platteville Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 9 a.m. 

78TH ANNUAL MIDWEST INVITATIONAL

Varsity Boys Team Scores: Madison LaFollette 70, Kimberly 102, Madison Memorial 142, Middleton 156, Homestead 173, Wisconsin Lutheran 219, Houston MacArthur 224, Arrowhead 225, South Milwaukee 279, Neenah 304, Darlington 329, Janesville Craig 381, La Crosse Logan 485, Stoughton 485, Oconomowoc 498, Badger 503, Platteville 529, Beaver Dam 539, Boscobel 564, DeForest 564, Waunakee 582, Racine Case 597, Monroe 615, Oregon 622, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 645, Westby 652, Albany 690, Whitnall 721, Madison West 740, Mukwonago 763, Janesville Parker 801, Sun Prairie 865, Milton 883, Mt. Horeb 883, Beloit Memorial 891, Rockford Guilford 999, Burlington 1104. 

JV Boys Team Scores: Madison Memorial 35, Arrowhead 40, Wisconsin Lutheran 84, Middleton 128,La Crosse Logan 173, Homestead 174, Madison West 196, Kimberly 221, Stoughton 306, Sun Prairie 317, Janesville Craig 332, Madison LaFollette 332, Neenah 346, Oconomowoc 348, Darlington 442, Mukwonago 487, South Milwaukee 494, Badger 548, Monroe 575, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 581, Waunakee 589, Platteville 632, Milton 701, Oregon 711, Whitnall 743, Boscobel 758, Racine Case 774, DeForest 846, Beloit Memorial 964. 

Darlington Results: Vars– 132- Tucker Lange, 18:14; 197- Connor Hackett, 19:11. JV– 43- Dylan Perrin, 18:57; 76- Trae Schilling, 19:30*; 128- Paul King, 20:09; 171- Wylie Richardson, 20:32*; 173- Curtis Blosch, 20:33*; 318- Miles Carper, 21:55*; 349- Michael Garcia, 22:13; 355- Andrew Merriam, 22:16; 392- Preston Banfield, 22:42; 394- Mason Stone, 22:42; 424- Alexis Cruz, 23:02; 548- Daniel Maurer, 25:18; 554- Hunter Wilkenson, 25:30; 584- Kyle Thompson, 27:14; 602- Dylan Busch, 29:21; 616- Joel Wick, 33:54. 

Varsity Girls Team Scores: Arrowhead 85, Kimberly 89, Middleton 152, Madison West 192, Wisconsin Lutheran 214, Neenah 260, Madison Memorial 270, Oconomowoc 282, Stoughton 302, Westby 308, Oregon 309, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 333, La Crosse Logan 333, Waunakee 400, Albany 405, Boscobel 409, Badger 423, Whitewater 440, Sun Prairie 518, Beaver Dam 529, Burlington 530, Janesville Craig 533, DeForest 534, Monroe 584, South Milwaukee 602, Platteville 650, Racine Case 667, Darlington 673, Milton 846, Janesville Parker 852. 

JV Girls Team Scores: Middleton 29, Neenah 97, Kimberly 110, Arrowhead 111, Madison Memorial 145, Badger 170, Madison West 196, Stoughton 218, Oregon 243, Oconomowoc 264, Sun Prairie 292, Waunakee 352, Monroe 391, Wisconsin Lutheran 404, Madison La Follette 419, La Crosse Logan 476, DeForest 539, Darlington 556, Dodgeville/Mineral Point 573, Janesville Craig 627, South Milwaukee 690, Janesville Parker 709, Platteville 718, Beloit Memorial 724, Rockford Guilford 730. 

Darlington Results: Vars– 181- Bailey McDonald, 24:58. JV– 75- Meghan Douglas, 24:22; 109- Hannah Hauser, 25:55; 118- Molly McDaniel, 26:32*; 121- Tara Reichling, 26:45; 133- Hope Francis, 27:35; 140- Cheyenne Schuetz, 28:02; 149- Allie Halverson, 29:35; 396- Lacie Smith, 30:28; 415- Jada Glendenning, 30:57; 432- Kim Sniff, 31:36; 453- Grace Cwynar, 33:29; 461- Anastasia Dannenberg, 35:39; 467- Kaitlyn Johnson, 36:26.