Spartan boys hurdle spring break vacancies

Winning a track and field meet is usually a surprise for Brookfield East boys track coach Mike Steiner. But what the Spartans accomplished Saturday at the West Allis Hale Mondo Invitational was a little bit of a shocker for the East coach.

The Spartans nipped Germantown, 87-85, to win the championship, despite being short-handed.

"We needed to use quite a few underclassmen due to spring break and ACT testing going on," Steiner said. "Most schools were similarly affected. Winning the meet was a bit of a surprise due to the number of varsity caliber kids we were missing.

"(We) definitely brought a lot of young kids. Many got their first taste of varsity competition. We competed well for the first outdoor meet. We tried not to extend kids too much, but with so many kids unavailable some had to do more than others."

The Spartans got four first-place finishes, two by Kyle Rohde, who won the triple jump (42-feet, 4¼ inches) and the long jump (21-7¾).

"Kyle had another solid day, winning both long/triple (jumps) and leading off the 4x200, which took third," Steiner said. "We are taking it slow with Kyle in the triple jump due to a heel injury he had last season. He is coming from a very short approach right now and he took just two jumps.

"He is really jumping well and we think as the season progresses, his marks will increase quite a bit. He is really off to a nice start this season. He has been very consistent and that is encouraging. He brings an awful lot to the table for us.

Glen Harold won the pole vault (13-0) and continues to impress Steiner.

"Glen is doing just an outstanding job in the vault," Steiner said. "He brings a ton of focus to each meet and has the desire to be great. His contributions to our team at this point have been tremendous. Coach Matt Harris has done some impressive work with our young vaulters and that event is shaping up to be one of our team strengths."

Trenton Daniels was the other winner, taking first in the 800 in 2:00.77. He used his head as well as his legs, having taken the ACT test in the morning and arrived only minutes before his race.

"Trent showed some toughness in his race, as he held off some really talented kids," Steiner said. "It was a rush job for him, but he really did a nice job competing."

Mitch Douglas was second in the high jump (5-10), fifth in triple jump (37-2¾) and seventh in the 300 hurdles (46.31). Zach Copeland was second in the 110 hurdles (16.33).

The 4x200 relay of Rohde, Mitch Douglas, Copeland and Michael Mueller finished third (1:37.98) and the 4x800 relay of Michael MacCudden, Ryan DunDun, Kyriel Hansen and Peter Kuenzle finished third in the two-mile relay (8:45.18).

Scott Douglas was fourth in the high jump (5-6) and sixth in the pole vault (10-6) and the mile relay of Zach Schober, Brad Johnson, Michael Freigang and MacCudden finished fourth (3:35.84). Robi Szabo was fifth in the 110 hurdles (16.95).

Taylor Lucas was eighth in the shot put (43-0) and the 400 relay of Peter Ditter, Alex Thorp, Gerald Childs and Cal Durni finished eighth (49.82).

"Overall, an excellent meet," Steiner said. "Keeping it in perspective, it is obviously very early in the outdoor season. This season is just flying by. The kids are working hard and we are seeing some potential both as a team and individually.

"I'm very pleased with how our team competed; an excellent start for us as we head into the outdoor portion of our schedule."

MONDO INVITATIONAL

April 14, West Allis Hale

1) Brookfield East (87)

2) Germantown (85)

3) Muskego (67.50)

4) West Bend West (67)

5) West Allis Hale (59)

6) West Allis Central (55)

7) Waukesha South (53)

8) Catholic Memorial (50)

9) Cudahy (44.50)

10) Whitnall (27)

11) Franklin (22)

12) Waukesha West (19)

13) University School (13)

14) Greenfield (9)