Sports Editor

ONTARIO -- The girls ran what may have been a slightly longer than normal race.

The boys definitely ran a shorter race than normal.

It wasn’t cross country as usual at Brookwood High School Saturday.

Race leader Derek Storkel missed a turn in the boys race and led the field through shortened course at the Brookwood Invitational. Storkel posted a winning time of 13 minutes, 27 seconds over what Tomah coach Bruce Luebke estimated to be a 2.5-mile course.

It was the third straight year Storkel won the race. The course was altered this year, which likely accounted for the problems.

“Derek went straight went he should have turned left,” Luebke said. “When you have multiple turns out of one spot, you really should have a meet worker there.”

Luebke believes the girls race was slightly longer based on the performance of his number-one runner, Haleigh Flottmeyer, whose time was 1 1/2 minutes slower than the previous week in Onalaska. Luebke acknowledged that the Brookwood course is very hilly, but he doesn’t think that accounted for the entire 90 seconds.

Flottmeyer ran strong, especially in the second half of the race, when she passed two runners to move up from seventh to fifth. Her time was 18:35 over the 4,000-meter (2.5-mile) course.

“I think Haleigh ran very well,” Luebke said. “She ran powerful and smooth the whole race.”

Tara Lamb was next for the Timberwolves. She finished 30th out of 60 varsity runners and posted a time of 21:36.

Tomah’s other varsity finishers were Gabriella Mubarak (22:11), Chloe Shmays (22:50) and Allison Coffey (22:55).

Team scores: Cashton 45, Sparta 65, Melrose-Mindoro 75, Brookwood 92, Bangor 121, Tomah 130, North Crawford 149.

Andrea Lakowske of Sparta won the race in 16:59.

The Timberwolves’ jayvee runners were: Hillary Byrum (22:49) and Kelsey Rose (22:50).

The hilly course took its toll on the girls field. Nine varsity runners and 10 jayvee runners failed to complete the course.

Boys finish fourth

On the boys side, Tomah finished fourth out of eight teams. Luebke though his squad had a chance to finish higher but acknowledged he put the team through a demanding week of practice.

“We trained hard this week,” Luebke said. “That might have been part of the reason we didn’t place as high as we hoped.”

Jesse Parker was the next Tomah runner after Storkel. He was 14th in a field of 62 with a time of 15:57. He sprinted hard the last 100 meters to hold off three runners who were close behind.

Tomah’s other varsity competitors were: Jacob Waddell (17:03), Kyle Laylan (17:04), Mitch Rezin (17:30), Michael Wilde (17:31) and Chris Laylan (17:35).

Team scores: Sparta 42, Brookwood 66, Hillsboro 70, Tomah 101, Melrose-Mindoro 113, Bangor 123, Riverdale 194, Kickapoo/LaFarge 231.

Tomah had the only complete junior varsity boys team. Tomah’s jayvee runners were: Skylar McCarthy (18:39), Kevin Kirsch (18:48), John Lanska (18:49), Jacob Rezin (19:48) and Danny White (20:36).

The Timberwolves will host an invitational at Hiawatha Golf Club Oct. 7.