Schudrowitz leads Tosa East cross country team to state meet

Wauwatosa East senior Natalie Schudrowitz took first place in her sectional and is heading to Saturday's WIAA State Cross Country Meet at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids.

And she won't be going by herself.

That's because the Red Raiders finished second in their WIAA Division 1 Cross Country Sectional Meet on Saturday, hosted by Homestead High School at Tendick Park in Saukville and qualified for state as a team.

Tosa East coach Glen Gardiner was thrilled with his team's performance, especially considering the key injuries they had.

"It was a great end to a year in which we dealt with a number of injuries to our varsity runners, specifically Tayla Enderesinghe and Ali Piepenburg, who were unable to finish the season," he said. "The girls really persevered in the end to cap a season that got us to state for the first time since 2003."

Whitefish Bay won the event with 25 points, but East was a solid second (85), well ahead of third-place Nicolet (105).

Schudrowitz led the way, winning with a time of 14 minutes, 59.25 seconds, easily beating out Bay senior Sara Coffey (15:39.43).

It was a nice ending for Schudrowitz, who broke her collarbone on Sept. 29 in a bike accident. She did cross-training on ellipticals and bikes and finally got the clearance to run two weeks ago.

"For the first few days, I just wanted to see how it felt and then I noticed it didn't feel too bad (when she ran)," she said. "I got that first race in (at conference) and went from there.

"I really wanted to get back for the team, because our whole goal this year was to do well as a team (and get to state). It's always more exciting when the whole group goes. Especially seeing that this is my senior year."

Freshman Janet Fee finished 15th (16:30.33) and junior Lindsey Govan was 18th in 16:48.07.

Seniors filled the final two scoring spots — Gabi Caron-Schuler took 22nd (16:58.36) and Samantha Osinski was 29th (17:09.38).

"Natalie repeated as sectional champion to lead the team, but the other girls that were in our top five took it upon themselves to compete against their counterparts from the other teams (our second runner beating the other team's second runner and so on)," Gardiner said.

Freshman Jordyn Summerfield (42nd, 17:40.81) and junior Margaret Deflieze (64th, 19:15.09) also ran and Gardiner commented on their performance.

"Jordyn Summerfield and Margaret Deflieze also ran on the sectional team and will look forward to having a great race at the state meet," he said.

Gardiner then talked about the battle for second place to get the trip to state.

"Nicolet, Germantown, Tosa West and Homestead were our main competitors in the team race," he said. "However, any team that had a great day could have competed for the state berth."

Gardiner said the weather affected the strategy.

"I was very proud of how our team competed with a state berth on the line," he said. "Times were almost irrelevant because of the wind and cold temperatures, so the goal was simply to focus on our places within the race.

"The state meet will be a great opportunity for the girls to compete against the best and for the younger runners to gain valuable experience."

SECTIONAL

Saturday, Tendick Park

1. Whitefish Bay (25), 2. Wauwatosa East (85), 3. Nicolet (105), 4. Germantown (108), 5. Homestead (122), 6. Cedarburg (167), 7. Port Washington (169), 8. Wauwatosa West (178), 9. Milwaukee King (212), 10. Menomonee Falls (240), 11. Arts-Carmen (347)