Individual win leads Bay boys to NSC CC title

Whitefish Bay cross country runner Andrew Searles had a feeling that the Blue Dukes might have just pulled off an upset and won the North Shore Conference title on a windy Saturday at Tendick Park in Saukville.

So he went around asking people particulars about the race.

"Did Homestead's third runner finish ahead of Sam Casey (Bay's third runner)?" was one of his queries.

All the answers he got were either uncertain or positive, but he couldn't help saying at one point:

"Oh my God, I think we won."

Surprising win

But the Blue Dukes had to wait for the awards ceremonies for their official answer and it was like, as Searles thought, a positive one, as Bay knocked off multi-time champion Germantown for its first title since the state championship year of 2005.

"The team goal is so much better than the individual one," said Searles' teammate and individual league champion Nate Gomoll. "We knew Homestead and Germantown would be our main competition, but after we ran so well two weeks ago (in winning the Purgold Invite), this became a major goal for us. We know each other so well and have been improving so much all year."

For Blue Dukes coach Mike Miller, who had worried all season about the big gap between Bay's second and third runner, which suddenly evaporated this day, it was a moment of jubilation.

"Oh my god, to get the double victory (including the girls, see separate story) is awfully sweet," he said. "The guys have just been coming on all fall. To get three in the top 10 like we did was just amazing and Nate's race itself was outstanding. It was a beautiful thing to watch seeing as he drafted behind people and looked so nice and relaxed."

The Blue Dukes scored 57 points as Germantown was second with 70, Homestead third with 75 and Nicolet seventh with 151.

Gomoll finished 10 seconds ahead of Milwaukee Lutheran's Jeff Meitler on the 5,000-meter course in 16:33. He took control with about 600 meters to go and then left the field in his wake.

"I went out slow because the wind on the other side of the hill was really hard," said Gomoll. "It was tough going, but I had this goal from the beginning of the year."

Gomoll got help from Jordan Lester in seventh (17:22) while Casey did close the gap between second and third, earning ninth (17:28), while Nick Hotz was 19th (17:51) and Searles 21st (17:58). All five earned either first-, second- or third-team all-conference honors.

Other runners for Bay included Alex Hotz in 29th (18:15) and Eddie Pencak in 34th (18:20).

"Sam really closed the gap and Nick and Andy really came through," said Miller. "It was a real team effort. The guys just ran so well together. They didn't go out too fast and did a great job on the second loop. Just a great day."

Tactics work out

Germantown coach Andy Bavlnka said that the Blue Dukes ran a great race, starting cautiously and then moving up just at the right time.

Homestead was in the hunt until one of its runners, who was sitting around 10th at the time, collapsed and could not finish after hitting the 4,000-meter mark.

Alex Vielmetti in fifth (17:15) and Trevor Cho in sixth (17:21) both earned first-team all-league honors, while other scoring runners included Ben Jurenec in 18th (17:50), Kale Mason in 20th (17:57) and Brandon Beschta in 26th (18:09). Both Jurenec and Mason were third-team all-league.

Other runners included Alex Greeley in 28th (18:12) and Conner Knuth in 39th (18:45).

"We were right there," said Highlanders coach Dan Claussen. "It just always seems to be something."

Nicolet did not have a great day, said Knight coach Mike McKenna as Josh Greenberg earned second-team all-league honors taking 11th (17:32) and Randy Grzybowski 22nd (18:00) third-team accolades.

Bay claims NSC CC title

UP NEXT: Bay and Nicolet will be at the Marquette sectional held at Washington Park in Milwaukee on Oct. 22 with the girls race at 11 a.m. and the boys at 11:45 a.m. Meanwhile, Homestead will be back at Tendick hosting its own sectional with the girls going at 10 a.m. and the boys at 10:45 a.m.

The top two teams and the first five individuals not on those teams advance to the WIAA State Meet in Wisconsin Rapids on Oct. 29.