Wauwatosa East's Potter wins two events, part of winning 4x400 relay at GMC Indoor

Red Raiders finish third behind Brookfield schools

Tosa East’s Dan Scallon, shown last spring, took fifth in the 200 at the GMC Indoor. The Red Raiders team finished third.

Tosa East’s Dan Scallon, shown last spring, took fifth in the 200 at the GMC Indoor. The Red Raiders team finished third. Photo By Dave Haberkorn

April 13, 2016

The Wauwatosa East boys track and field team finished third in the Greater Metro Conference Indoor Championship on April 6 at West Allis Central.

The Red Raiders (104.5) were one of three teams to score 100 or more points behind Brookfield East (157) and Menomonee Falls (151.5). Following the Red Raiders were Hamilton (86.5), West Allis Hale (73), Brookfield Central (54.83), Marquette (18) and West Allis Central (15.66).

"This was the best total-team effort I have seen in Tosa East track," coach Mackenzie Laska said. "When we fell short in one event, the guys brushed it off and came with even more focus in the next. We had a slow start to the meet, but were able to rally late when we scored 19 points in the 800-meter run, which got us into third place in the team scores and finished strong, scoring in every event to follow, which led up to the big win in the 4x4."

Senior Sam Potter had a big day, winning two individual events. Potter won the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 7.07 seconds and took first in the 1,600 (4:49.54).

"Sam had a solid meet and earned his first and second individual GMC titles on the track," Laska said. "We were confident he would get the first, but it's always tough at the indoor meet to double back in the 800 meters and have enough to get the win."

The 4x400-meter relay also took first in 3:50.05 behind Nathan Green, Marquez Green, Adam Schell and Sam Stelloh.

"The foursome was trailing the leader until the last lap of the third leg when Schell reeled in, caught and blew by the (Menomonee) Falls runner to hand off to Stelloh with a comfortable lead," Laska said.

The Red Raiders had two runners-up in Stelloh, a senior who took second in the 400 (56.12 seconds), and junior Faisal Bartlett, who was second in the 3,200 (10:32.45).

Senior Nathan Green in the 800 (2:08.94) and senior Marquez Green in the 1,600 (4:51.95) each had third-place finishes.

"Marquez Green ran an indoor best in the 1,600 and, with a strong kick, was able to finish third (and almost ran down second) after setting the pace for the first half of the race," Laska said.

Junior Jack Sveum finished fourth in the 3,200 (10:42.47), and senior Jermaine Copeland was fourth in shot put (46 feet, 91/2 inches).

Two relays also finished fourth: the 4x160-meter relay (1:20.55) behind Ryan Kelnhofer, Jeremiah King, Dan Scallon and Colin Bertz and the 4x800 relay (9:15.21) with Matt Doberstein, Ian Linscott, Adam Schell and Joe Paetsch.

Senior Tayison Crape was fourth in the 55 high hurdles (personal record, 8.20) and fifth in the 55 low hurdles (8.28), and junior Pierce Williams tied for fourth in the high jump (5-6) and was eighth in the triple jump (36-83/4).

Rounding out the top eight finishes were Scallon, who finished fifth in the 200 (24.75), junior Mark Michna, sixth in the 400 (59.39), and senior Paul Gagne, sixth in the 800 (2:17.45).

The 4x240 relay finished sixth (2:08.78) behind Scallon, Bertz, Avery Luckett and Elias Dotson.

The Red Raiders scored 95 of their points on the track and 9.5 in the field, which was a huge improvement over the combined 40 for seventh place in 2015 (39 track, one field).

"It was my goal for the team to score 100 points and finish in the top three," Laska said. "The boys were ready for the challenge, and watching them rise to the competition and finish races the way they did was the most fun I've had at a track meet since I started coaching."

Junior varsity second

The Wauwatosa East boys junior varsity finished second at the GMC Indoor meet with 138 points and won seven events.

The winners included the 4x800-meter relay (9:44.20) of Liam Nicol, Nate Blischke, Bryce Protz and Ricky Serrano and the 4x400 relay (4:04.50) with Andrew Casey, Sam Minix, Ben Tarrence and Serrano.

Henry Wellenstein in the 1,600 (5:12.64) and 3,200 (11:15.52); Max Finco in the 400 (59.25); Minix in the 800 (2:18.89); and Cole Tate in the high jump (5-6) also won.

"We were missing a few key individuals, but the rest of the team was able to step up and score points in other events," coach Laska said.

GMC BOYS INDOOR

April 6, West Allis Central

Results — 1. Brookfield East (157), 2. Menomonee Falls (151.5), 3. Wauwatosa East (104.5),4. Hamilton (86.5), 5. West Allis Hale (73), 6. Brookfield Central (54.83), 7. Marquette (18), 8. West Allis Central (15.66)

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