East, Central girls dominate GMC cross country meet

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Dave Haberkorn

Hamilton's Shannon Downs (left), Brookfield East's Natalie Dillon (center) and Caitlin Wolters of Brookfield Central battle for position at McCarty Park during the GMC meet.

Dave Haberkorn

Hamilton's Shannon Downs (left), Brookfield East's Natalie Dillon (center) and Caitlin Wolters of Brookfield Central battle for position at McCarty Park during the GMC meet.

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There was definitely a Brookfield flavor at the top of the Greater Metro Conference girls cross country meet Saturday at McCarty Park.

The Brookfield East combination of juniors Taylor Conway and Natalie Dillon - who finished second (15 minutes, 25 seconds) and third (15:31), respectively - led the Lady Spartans to a thrilling three-point win and GMC championship, the second one in three years under East coach Kim Leupold.

East scored 45 points to Central's 48 as the two Brookfield schools dominated the competition. Wauwatosa East finished a distant third with 84 points.

"Wow, what an amazing conference race," Leupold said. "We knew that the race would be close and hard fought with Brook Central. I'm a bit speechless.

"My team blew me away with their finishes. All of them battled to gain spots in the second half of the race. It was a day to celebrate."

In fact, Brookfield had six of the top nine runners in the race, led by meet champion junior Hannah Trasser (15:03), who ran away with the title.

Central seniors Caitlin Wolters and Alyson Ambrookian took sixth (15:46) and eighth (15:49), respectively, while sophomore Madeline Timm of East finished ninth (15:57).

Looking even further, Brookfield had five more runners in the top 20.

Junior Taylor Stewart of East was 13th (16:12), sophomore Lauren Glomski of Central was 14th (16:13), sophomore Kathleen Browne of East was 18th (16:20), sophomore Sheila Kilb of Central was 19th (16:24) and freshman Brittany Allen of East was 20th (16:24).

That gave Brookfield 11 of the top 20 conference finishers.

Senior Lilly Kresinszky, 32nd (16:40), and sophomore Taylor Swittel, 38th (16:59), were East's other finishers.

Central's other runners were freshman Veronica Porubsky, 25th (16:30), and sophomores Brianna Speaker, 33rd (16:45), and Lauren Hemani, 46th (17:07).

"We knew that Brookfield East would be very challenging to beat, and we gave them a tough meet," Central coach Lorie Lewis said. "The team raced terrific. Sheila Kilb, Lauren Glomski and Alyson Ambrookian really raced outstanding. Hannah Trasser was very strong as she broke the race wide open.

"I was very proud of everyone's effort and their focus to race strong from our first runner to our eighth."

Both teams take part in the Brookfield Central Sectional at Mitchell Park on Saturday. The girls begin at 11 a.m. and the boys at noon.

GMC Meet Results

Girls standings - Brookfield East (45), Brookfield Central (48), Wauwatosa East (84), Hamilton (111), West Allis Hale (119), Divine Savior Holy Angels (139), West Allis Central (173), Menomonee Falls (205)

Boys standings - Marquette (26), Brookfield Central (62), Wauwatosa East (122), Brookfield East (126), Menomonee Falls (137), West Allis Hale (139), Hamilton (140), West Allis Central (191)