Boys Cross Country: Spartans fourth in conference meet

Brookfield East finished fourth in the Greater Metro Conference meet Saturday at McCarty Park.

Marquette ran away from the field with 26 points, while Brookfield Central finished second with 62. The Spartans battled Wauwatosa East for third place, but the Red Raiders prevailed, 122 to 126.

Sophomore Karl Brandstaetter had the Spartans' top finish, taking seventh in 16 minutes, 29 seconds (first-team all-conference). East senior Mark Lindquist finished 17th (17:02, third-team) giving the Spartans two top-20 performers.

"We finished a somewhat disappointing fourth place in the conference," East coach Randall Bucheger said. "We had a great performance from Karl Brandstaetter and Mark Lindquist.

"But we had a few sub-par performances, maybe due to the fact that we took the week before off from racing and that might have taken some of our racing edge off our legs."

Senior David Luy was 27th (17:33), junior Zach Hodgson was 34th (17:42) and freshman Brad Johnson was 41st (17:53), rounding out the top five.

East's other three participants were sophomore Kevin Kashian, 50th (8:17), and juniors Brian Niemi, 52nd (18:28), and Peter Irgens, 61st (19:53).

"I am very proud of the guys and what they have endured all season since we have always been the underdog and have gone through so much with injuries and sickness," Bucheger said.

"We have one more week to show just what we can do. I have confidence in the guys that they will compete to their abilities and really dig down and fight through the fatigue."