Cross country sectionals: Brookfield Central girls sweep top spots to earn state berth
Mark Stewart
Winning the sectional title was as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 for Brookfield Central.
The Lancers girls cross country team took the top four spots at the South Milwaukee Sectional on Saturday at Grant Park to qualify for the Division 1 state meet Saturday at Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids. The top two teams and top five individuals who were not part of a qualifying team advanced to the state meet.
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Central senior Abby Mauermann completed the 5,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 18.68 seconds. She was followed by senior Leah Neustedter (19:41.83), freshman Julia Neustedter (20:06.32) and senior Michelle Hirsch (20:22.38).
The Lancers, who are ranked sixth in the state by the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association, finished with 21 points. Brookfield East was second with 59.
In the boys race, South Milwaukee’s Jordan Janusiak ran away with the individual title, completing the course in 16:06.89 to lead the Rockets back to state for the fourth straight year.
Among the individual qualifiers is City Conference champion Gabe Ramirez, who took fifth in 16:57.32 to became what is believed to be the school's first state qualifier.
Arrowhead Sectional: Pewaukee junior Justin Krause won in 16:10.04 to lead Pewaukee to a second-place finish at the sectional. The Pirates finished four points behind Sussex Hamilton, which will make its first state appearance since 1977.
The Chargers' top five runners finished in the top 20. Senior Michael Swope led the way with a sixth-place finish in 16:19.54.
That left Arrowhead, which entered the meet ranked third in the state, without a state meet berth for the first time after 16 straight appearances.
In the girls meet, Waukesha West finished comfortably ahead of second-place Pewaukee, 44-65, to win the sectional. The Wolverines’ finished fourth last year with many of the same runners it has this season.
Pewaukee junior Zoe Goodmanson took the title with a time of 18:37.96, which was about 26 seconds ahead of the No. 2 finisher, Waukesha West senior Becca Langer.
Kenosha Bradford Sectional: Muskego ruled the day. The Warriors girls team, led by freshman Kate Sperka’s first-place finish, claimed three of the top four finishes to win the sectional by 59 points.
The Warriors boys, meanwhile, got a fourth-place finish from sophomore Erik Kain and two other top 10 showings to edge Kenosha Bradford for first in the team race, 70-79.
Bradford senior Ansel Fellman won the sectional for the second straight year. He completed the course at UW-Parkside in 16:01.8.
Beloit Memorial Sectional: Oconomowoc’s Alexander Vance was the only area qualifier in the field. He took seventh in 16:25.2 to claim a spot as an individual qualifier.
Manitowoc Sectional: North Shore Conference rivals Slinger and West Bend West finished 1-2, 58-61, to claim the automatic qualifier spots for the boys.
West senior Luke Guttormson, a two-time top-15 finisher at state, finished second in 16:03.80, about 3 seconds off the pace set by Oshkosh North’s Wesley Shiek. Slinger senior Augie Beyer was third in 16:21.49.
The Slinger girls took second to advance. Junior Paige Fassbender finished second in 19:44.32.
DIVISION 2
Winneconne Sectional: The Grafton boys and girls qualified for state.
The Black Hawks girls won the sectional at Lake Breeze Golf Course with the help of Julia Wille’s fourth-place showing (20:03.35). The boys took second to Cedar-Grove Belgium with the help of Gordy Thompson’s third-place finish in 16:57.0.
Deerfield Sectional: The East Troy girls, the defending state champion, missed making a return trip to state, but the Trojans boys, led by junior Nathan Fox’s second-place finish in 16:22.26, took second, three points behind Jefferson to qualify.
DIVISION 3
Lake Country Lutheran Sectional: Midwest Classic rivals Living Word Lutheran and Lake Country Lutheran finished 1-2 in the boys race with Lake Country junior Alex Mielke taking first in 16:50.46 and Living Word senior Michael Axtman finishing second in 16:52.76.
In the girls meet, Palmyra-Eagle placed three runners in the top 10 to finished second to Dodgeland. Senior Antonia Bartolotta finished second in 20:05.11.