Wauwatosa East boys cross country team finished second at the Purgold Invite

The Wauwatosa East boys cross-country team placed second at the nine-team Cudahy Purgold Invitational on Oct. 3.

South Milwaukee won the event with 33 points, followed by the Red Raiders (52), Whitefish Bay (74) and Oak Creek (85).

The Red Raiders had great balance, as all five runners — all seniors — finished in the top 15 and the two extra runners finished in the top 19.

"We tried a different race plan for this meet that forced the boys to run in packs," coach Mackenzie Laska said. "Sam Potter paced the entire varsity group through two miles. They boys did an excellent job running together and committed to the race plan that required everyone to be faster at the 2-mile mark than they have ever been before. For some of the guys, this was even faster than they have run the 3,200 meters in track."

As usual, Potter led the way, finishing seventh in 16 minutes, 43 seconds. Right behind him was Marquez Green, who took eighth (16:43), Nathan Green in 10th (6:55), Paul Gagne 12th (16:57) and Sam Telloh in 15th (17:07).

Juniors Faisal Bartlett was 16th (17:09), and Jack Sveum took 19th (17:11).

"It was impressive to see all seven guys together for the first two miles before they began their kick to the finish," Laska said.

The JV had a similar race plan that involved five guys running in one pack, and it paid off when they finished 3-4-5-6-7 to win the JV team battle with 25 points.

"The boys broke major milestones with sub 17 and sub 18 and sets up for a great meet this Friday at McCarty Park," Laska said.

Tosa West

Tosa West only entered Liam Boyd, who finished an impressive ninth (16:43.73 ).

"It was a huge race from Liam," West coach Jack LoPresti said. "Boyd going a huge personal."