Monticello chases twin titles

FORT DODGE — At quarterback, Derek Manternach. At receiver, Matt Manternach.

'We played middle-school football together,' Matt said. 'It was fun, we enjoyed it, and we weren't bad.

'But we thought we might be too small to play football in high school. We knew the cross country team was pretty good, so we decided to give it a shot.'

The Manternach twins stepped into a powerhouse program at Monticello High School. Saturday, the Panthers have an oppportunity to do something rare, something special.

'We're really looking forward to it,' said Coach Dan Sauser. 'It can't get here soon enough.'

The state cross country meet begins at 11 a.m. at Lakeside Golf Course. The Class 2A races are at 1 p.m. (girls) and 1:30 (boys). Chances are good that both teams could bring home championship trophies.

'We've got a shot,' Sauser said. 'That's one of our goals, to do something that hasn't been done many times. We're going to have to bolt. It's going to be tight.'

Monticello has four boys' championships in its possession, including three in a row between 2011 and 2013. East Marshall broke the streak last year.

Meanwhile, the girls struck gold last year — the school's first state title for any girls sport — with an extremely young lineup. Five state runners were freshmen, including individual champion Paige Holub.

'It was really impressive how they came into that meet,' Manternach said. 'I thought maybe they'd be nervous, but they showed up, ran a great race and showed people what they were made of.'

Both teams are rated No. 1.

Sauser is a 1989 graduate of Monticello. It was a solid program then. In the late 1990s, it blossomed into a small-school giant.

'There's a lot of support from the community,' he said. 'There are a lot of adults that are avid runners. The kids buy into it and really take running to heart.'

Even those who grow up as aspiring football players.

'I definitely made the right decision,' Manternach said. 'Cross country has opened up a lot of opportunities for me.'

The boys returned all seven of their runners from last year's runner-up team. Matt Manternach won last week's district meet in 16:31. Jordan Loes, Derek Manternach and Aaron Loes were third, fourth and eighth.

Jordan Loes is a senior, Aaron his sophomore brother.

Holub won the girls' regional race in 19:22. She was followed by freshman Keeley Anderson (sixth) and sophomore Jordyn Patterson (ninth).

Still, the Panthers had to sweat out the team race. Monticello edged Cascade by five points, South Winneshiek by eight.

'Cascade has gotten better and better,' Sauser said. 'They're a confident bunch. It's going to be tight.

'The boys, I really like our chances. If we have another race like we did at (districts), we'll be extremely tough to beat.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com