DARLINGTON – Arnie Miehe had a lot to celebrate on Saturday, but nothing made the Darlington cross country coach happier than seeing his two varsity squads start off the season strong with sweeps over the larger-than-usual Alumni teams.
    With many former Redbirds on hand to honor Coach Miehe’s 30 years of coaching cross country at Darlington High School, the Redbirds boys’ and girls’ cross country teams cruised to a pair of wins with identical 15-50 scores at the 27th annual DHS Alumni Meet held on Saturday, Aug. 27.
    The Redbirds placed runners in the top 11 spots to take down the Alumni men’s team, and the Lady ‘Birds finished in the top seven spots to defeat the Alumni women.
    Senior Hannah Robiolio won the girls’ 4,000-meter race in a time of 17:03 and sophomore Tyson Miehe claimed the boys’ 5,000-meter individual title for the second year in a row with his time of 16:57 to lead the Darlington varsity teams.
    Junior Cheyenne Wolfe (17:34), senior Amy Jorgenson (17:51), sophomore Claire Cullen (17:58) and freshman Johanna Meister (18:06) completed the team scoring for the Lady Redbirds.
    Erin (Goebel) Donovan [2000], who has won this meet eight times including five after graduation, was eighth in 18:31 to lead the Alumni. Amy (Sonsalla) Pembroke [1995] followed in 10th (19:15), while Sarah (Pattinson) Potter [1995] placed 12th (19:40), Ann (Smith) Miehe [1983] placed 14th (19:55) and Michelle (North) Roelli [1993] placed 17th (20:24) for the Graduates.
    Seniors Kent Miehe (17:58), Brady McDaniel (18:19) and Michael Sinclair (18:26) took the second through fourth spots in the boys’ race, while junior Garth Garrison  (18:27) came in fifth to round out the team score.
    James Schuetz [1996] led the Alumni in 12th-place (20:14). He was followed in by A.J. Roelli [1998] in 17th (21:00), Patrick Cleary [1997] in 20th (21:49), Jordan Heinberg [2010] in 21st (22:09) and Tanner Havens [2010] in 22nd (22:34) for the former Redbirds.    
    “We have had two tough weeks of training yet our team total time is better this year than last year. They are working hard and improving,” said Coach Miehe. “The girls are working to come together as a team. They need to continue to do that in order to get to the level we want to be at.”
    Full results from the Alumni Meet will appear online at www.myrjonline.com.
    Following the races, Miehe had a chance to meet with many of his former runners during a special ceremony honoring his 30th year of coaching at the school.
    In addition to a special highlight tape made in Miehe’s honor, there were also tables full of trophies, press clippings, yearbooks and old uniforms on display. There were even special t-shirts printed for the event to commemorate his milestone.
    “All the alumni runners who came back and the cross country parents made this year’s Alumni Meet a very special one for me,” Miehe stated. “I owe a lot to all the runners over the years who put in the dedication and hard work. It has been a great pleasure to be able to be a part of your success.”
    The Redbirds will host the 2011 Darlington Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 3, starting at 8:45 a.m. with the junior varsity girls’ race. The varsity girls will run at around 9:30 a.m., followed by the JV boys and the varsity boys’ race.
    The junior high girls will race around 10:45 a.m. and the junior high boys will follow, with an award ceremony set for 11:20 a.m. Saturday morning.

2011 DARLINGTON ALUMNI MEET
Redbirds Varsity 15, Alumni 50
Other Results: 1- Tyson Miehe, 16:57; 2- Kent Miehe, 17:58; 3- Brady McDaniel, 18:19; 4- Michael Sinclair, 18:26; 5- Garth Garrison, 18:27; 6- Destin Komprood, 19:00; 7- Robert Martin, 19:19; 8- Quinn Cullen, 19:21; 9- Patrick Roche, 19:49; 10- Thomas Schultz, 19:50; 11- Eric Skattum, 19:52; 12- James Schuetz (1996), 20:14; 13- Erik Zander, 20:20; 14- Andrew Kelly, 20:21; 15- Sam Johnson, 20:40; 16- Scott McDaniel, 20:48; 17- A.J. Roelli (1998), 21:00; 18- Kyle Schulte, 21:34; 19- Alex Schulte, 21:40; 20- Patrick Cleary (1997), 21:49; 21- Jordan Heinberg (2010), 22:09; 21- Tanner Havens (2010), 22:34; 23- Luke Winslow (2002), 22:35; 24- Nate Fleming, 23:01; 25- Grant Winfrey (1996), 23:10; 26- Joe Moseley, 23:33; 27- Andrew Jacobson, 23:40; 28- Jake Boll (2007), 23:41, 29- Randy Tuescher (2005), 23:43; 30- Tomas Zander, 23:54; 31- Ron Cullen (1980), 24:02; 32- Jeff Wiegel (2003), 24:44; 33- Frankie Roche (2009), 25:31, 34- Pat McGuire (1970), 25:49, 35- Jeremy Wick, 26:03, 36- Payton Steiner, 26:21; 37- Doug Kelly (1989), 26:41; 38- Seul Khon, 26:56; 39- Zach Keister (2007), 27:07; 40- Jamie King (1999), 27:16; 41- Scott Boatman (1997), 27:17; 42- Jason Tyson (1999), 27:17; 43- Nick Metz (1999), 27:18; 44- Kyrin Halvorson, 27:28; 45- Philip Roppe, 27:29; 46- Matt Keister (2010), 28:40; 47- Casey Lobdell, 30:30; 48- Shane Goebel (1998), 30:36; 49- Ryan Boatman (1996), 34:05; 50- Bill North (1970), 34:13; 51- Bryan Reilly (2006), 38:47.

Lady Redbirds Varsity 15, Alumni 50
Other Results: 1- Hannah Robiolio, 17:03; 2- Cheyenne Wolfe, 17:34; 3- Amy Jorgenson, 17:51; 4- Claire Cullen, 17:58; 5- Johanna Meister, 18:06; 6- Claire Scott, 18:15; 7- Rebecca Mathias, 18:26; 8- Erin (Goebel) Donovan (2000), 18:31; 9- Tatum Evenstad, 19:08; 10- Amy (Sonsalla) Pembroke (1995), 19:15; 11- Hannah Huffman, 19:22; 12- Sarah (Pattinson) Potter (1995), 19:40; 13- Harley Douglas, 19:47; 14- Ann (Smith) Miehe (1983), 19:55; 15- Darby Fitzsimons, 20:01; 16- Alix Brandt, 20:10; 17- Michelle (North) Roelli (1993), 20:24; 18- Lori (Rees) Myers (1994), 20:42; 19- Caitie Chiaverotti, 20:49; 20- Taylor Cox, 20:54; 21- Shannon (Rowley) Yorr (1993), 21:44; 22- Katie Carlson, 22:18*; 23- Shae Johnson, 22:19; 24- Christi (Meyers) Ramos (1995), 22:35; 25- Steph (Meyers) Kraus (1994), 22:37; 26- Andrea McGowan, 22:45; 27- Ashley Pratt (2002), 22:59; 28- Lisa Huntington (2005), 23:04; 29- Hana Miehe (2009), 23:13; 30- Vanessa Schwartz (2008), 23:27; 31- Chelsea Fortin (2011), 23:28; 32- Amy Siegenthaler (2007), 23:30; 33- Kari Thompson, 23:53; 34- Tabitha Blaser (2007), 23:55; 35- Hope Robiolio, 23:57; 36- Sherri Zander (2006), 24:04; 37- Lisa (North) Heitman (1999), 24:11; 38- Julia Zander (2008), 24:51; 39- Devra Komprood, 25:09; 40- Savannah Bergeson, 26:20; 41- Anna Monson, 26:43; 42- Meghan Vieth, 26:50; 43- Kayla Fitzsimons, 27:05; 44- Hailey Sonsolla, 27:09; 45- Ilka Clausen, 27:38; 46- Mackenzie Pickett (2011), 28:00; 47- Jamie (Acherman) Hartwig (1995), 28:01; 48- Heidi (Tuescher) Gille (1995), 28:03; 49- Alison Taylor (2009), 30:01; 50- Carly Miehe (2007), 30:02; 51- Leanna (Reilly) Corley (1999), 31:49; 52- Margie (Wiegel) North (1970), 31:55.
*Best time ever.