The Brookfield Central boys and girls cross country teams achieved state berths at Saturday’s sectional meet, a fantastic end-result of many great individual performances and perfect racing strategies.
It is difficult to compare cross country teams before the post-season, as the personal-records of each varsity runner have to be taken with a grain of salt depending on how difficult the course on which they occurred is. However, the Arrowhead High School course venue would not only provide an even playing-field, but also one of the fastest five kilometer (roughly three miles) courses in the state. This, combined with chilly weather conditions, large crowds, and a few weeks of end-of-the-season easy training proved that it would be every team for themselves.
The boys team, which was unranked going into the sectional meet, took off at 11:00. Senior Ben Turner took advantage of Arrowhead’s wide, flat trails to lead the pack through the first quarter mile and complete the first mile in 4:58 in 9th place. Behind him were seniors Owen England and Jacob Seifert in 18th and 27th. Vishnu Chouhan, Ben Cai, Max Strangberg, and Miles McMath followed in a tight-knit group that hovered in the 40s. The Lancers took advantage of the pack of runners spreading out in the second mile to move up several spots. Seifert and Chouhan, for example, jumped 5 and 6 places respectively. All members of the Lancers’ varsity were able to at least maintain their positions and stay on personal record pace through the two-mile. This careful pacing, instead of overly conservative or reckless racing, advanced the Lancers from fourth at the mile mark to third at the two-mile mark, where they trailed second place West Allis Nathan Hale by 3 points. Knowing that every point mattered, the Lancers propelled themselves down Arrowhead’s 300 meter final stretch to finish with a score of 102 points, good for second place and just barely ahead of the Hale, Sussex Hamilton, and Arrowhead teams. The most notable performances included Ben Turner’s 7th place finish in 16:00.9, a 30 second personal-best, and Vishnu Chouhan’s 31st place finish in 17:08.3, a 35 second personal best.
The girls’ race drew many parallels to the boys’ in terms of strategy. Despite the lead pack of runners pushing through the first mile at an extreme pace, the Lancers, who were ranked 16th in the state, held back at 5th place as a team. Junior Lily Michalski, normally a top-finisher, had settled at 13th place in 5:55 through the first mile. Senior Alexandra Rossi and sophomore Angelina Goll ran together in 18th and 19th respectively while the rest of the girls varsity, including Meredith Huettl, Kate Rusch, Lucy Shockatz, and Maddie McGowan were spread out over the rest of the field. As the second mile came underway, almost all of the Lancers were able to pick off their competition. Michalski moved up 8 places, Rusch moved up 7, and Rossi and Goll both climbed up 5. At this point the Lancers had risen to third place behind Pewaukee and Waukesha West. A crucial final mile by Huettl and strong finishes by the Lancers’ top three gave them the boost to overcome Pewaukee and finish as runner-up with a score of 75 points. Standouts included Kate Rusch, who ran a 26 second personal best of 20:33.3 to finish in 30th place, and Lily Michalski, who secured 2nd place with a 13 second personal best of 18:34.0.
Both squads will receive a school send-off on Friday morning before they embark on the two-hour drive to Wisconsin Rapids, where they will compete the on the following Saturday.
