Wiggy !!!

The boys pulled off one of the greatest heists in the history of Cross country. It was absolutely unbelievable. The more I dig into the details the wilder it gets. Monroe still has no idea what happened. At the mile mark Dennis and Kevin looked solid but Dennis wasn't where he needed to be if he was going to have a shot to win the whole thing. That spot was already owned by Phil Thomas. Andrew was running with David, they looked relaxed but they were also slow. No big concern because we plan to start slow. Brian however was clearly in trouble and fading fast. I overherd the Monroe coaches say that they could forget about Shorewood and focus on CMH. It ticked me off a little. At the two mile mark we were in fourth and things didn't look good. Dennis was going to have to hustle just to make the podium and Andrew wasn't moving up. Brian was finished. You could tell it was killing him and he was giving everything, but the tank was empty. At the "600 yd to go turn" Dom and I counted and we were still looking like 4th. With all seven CMH runners ahead of Christian the chance to win a fourth straight title seemed to be over. I called my dad and told him the bad news.

I couldn't get to the finish from where I was ( because I am too fat and out of shape) so I missed the whole race which apparently took place in the last hundred yards. Dennis found his kick and moved from 8th to fourth overall, 2nd in the team standings finishing one place behind Monroe's first runner. Kevin held on for 7th overall 3rd in the team scoring. Andrew rallied for 26th /12. Then a miracle happened. David moved up into a five way sprint to the finish. All five runners recieved the same time; places were sorted out by the computer via chip. David beat Monroe's third runner Denure by a literal shoelace. Normally in running places are determined by where your torso is when you cross the line, however with chip timing the winner is determined by whose shoe crosses the line first. David knew that and kicked his foot forward ahead of denure just as they got to the line ( a two point swing ). That's four in for us, three in for Monroe, and 1 in for CMH. Where is Christian? Bill H. starts counting. The next six CMH runners come in, still no Christian. Monroe's 4th, 5th, and 6th runners cross the line and still no Christian. Finally Christian appears, he is dead even with Monroe's 7th and final runner. They both recieve the same time but Christian officially edges him for 99th overall 62nd in the team count. Monroe is openly celebrating. CMH, having put all seven runners ahead of our fifth are pretty confident that they have second. Our boys aren't saying anything but they look "wiggy". Only Mr. Haury is predicting a victory but even he is hedging. The board flashes the scores and the group goes wild.

Shorewood 94
Monroe 96
CMH 99
Dodgeville 103

Monroe is stunned. CMH is gracious. The guys put Dom on their shoulders and threaten to celebrate by tossing him in the pond... Cooler heads prevail. The TV camera moves in for interviews.

The nine point spread between 1st and fourth has got to be a record. Meets are never ever this close. Once again it took every member of the team to contribute an extraordinary performance to pull it off.

They did it, and they did it with style.

Congratulations Guys.State Champions... Four years in a row. Amazing.

The awards ceremony was priceless. Monroe shuffled up for their second place trophy without cracking a single smile.
The SHS guys looked awesome in black this year.

Pictures when I can get to a real computer.