MONROE — Fresh off winning the SWC championship, Platteville’s boys cross country team raised their level of success another notch.
     Led by seniors Cullen Bryla and Ben Bahr, and sophomore Vince Momot, the Platteville boys finished second at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Monroe Sectional and qualified for this weekend’s WIAA State meet as a team.
     Bryla (4th, 16:35.2), Momot (7th, 16:51) and Bahr (18th, 17:19.8) led the team throughout the race and were aided by the efforts of juniors Max Frommelt (25th, 17:40.9), Colton Henry (56th, 18:51.2) and Mike Donovan (77th, 19:43.9), and freshman Dan Iselin (26th, 17:41.2) as Platteville surprisingly edged out Madison Edgewood for the second and final team state berth at Platteville’s first trip to state as a team since 2008.
     Monroe won the boys’ sectional title with 71 points, while Platteville finished second with 80. Edgewood was third with 95.
     “We knew we were the underdogs,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres. “Monroe and Madison Edgewood were tabbed as the shoe-ins for the state Meet. We talked as a team through the week, and we knew that if we all raced our best, there was a chance that we could take out one of those top two teams. 
     “To have watched this race, you could see it in the eyes of these Platteville kids that they were not going down without a fight.  They ran with a goal in mind that whatever they could give, they were going to, and they did.”
Platteville’s magnificent seven will race in the boys’ Division 2 state championships at 1:50 p.m. Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.
     Platteville’s girls’ season came to an end Saturday with a eighth-place team finish.
     Senior Rachel Schwarzmann placed 34th to lead the Platteville girls. Fellow senior Cassidy Roth finished 40th, while junior Holly Kasper placed 46th.
     “I was proud of our girls this season, they came together and ran as a very strong pack pushing and pulling each other,” said Serres. “They had a nice season being conference runners up, and all the girls improved throughout the season.”

WIAA D2 Monroe Sectional
(from Saturday, Oct. 26 @ Monroe)
(Girls, 4,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.Madison Edgewood 38, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 63, 3.Mount Horeb 96, 4.Lodi 113, 5.Evansville 133, 6.McFarland 137, 7.Monroe 184, 8.Platteville 228, 9.Richland Center/Ithaca 272, 10.New Glarus/Monticello 278, 11.Brodhead/Juda 278, 12.River Valley 285, 13.Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 313, 14.Prairie du Chien 353. 15.Southwestern/Cuba City inc.
Top individuals: 1.Amy Davis (Edge) 14:46.8, 2.Hannah Owens (D/MP) 15:12, 3.Sara Viner (MH) 15:19.9, 4.Coutney Link  (Edge) 15:25.5, 5.Mckenzie Kruchten (Lodi) 15:43.8.
Individual state qualifiers: 3.Viner (MH) 15:19.9, 5.Kruchten (Lodi) 15:43.8, 7.Brooke Lonigro (McF) 15:54.5, 9.Meredith Gallagher (Lodi) 16:02, 11.Brielle Greenlead (Evans) 16:06.2.
Platteville: 34.Rachel Schwarzmann 17:13.9, 40.Cassidy Roth 17:33.1, 46.Holly Kasper 17:39.9, 53.Hannah Digman 17:50.3,  55.Allie Serres 17:54.5, 69.Hannah Van Natta 18:24.8, Eramis Momchilovich 18:48.3.
(Boys, 5,000 meters)
Team scores: 1.Monroe 71, 2.Platteville 80, 3.Madison Edgewood 95, 4.McFarland 98, 5.Mount Horeb 133, 6.New Glarus/Monticello 181, 7.Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld 185, 8.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 188, 9.Lodi 243, 10.Brodhead/Juda 246, 11.River Valley 271, 12.Prairie du Chien 277, 13.Evansville 345, 14.Richland Center/Ithaca 380.
Top individuals: 1.Ethan Moehn (Mon) 16:05.2, 2.Noah Tostrud (Mon) 16:28.5, 3.Jake Hirsbrunner (Mon) 16:31.9, 4.Cullen Bryla (Platteville) 16:35.2, 5.Logan Steinhoff (MH) 16:43.3.
Individual state qualifiers: 5.Logan Steinhoff (MH) 16:43.3, 6.Adam Phillips (Lodi) 16:45, 8.Dylan Johnson (B/J) 16:51.5, 9.Billy Boutelle (WH/B) 16:51.7, 10.Alec Bas (RV) 16:57.1.
Platteville: 4.Bryla 16:35.2, 7.Momot 16:51.0, 18.Ben Bahr 17:19.8, 25.Max Frommelt 17:40.9, 26.Dan Iselin 17:41.2, 56.Colton Henry 18:51.2, 77.Mike Donovan 19:43.9.