The New Berlin West Cross Country team competed in the Mukwonago Invitational meet on October 3, 2013. The meet was hosted at Mukwonago County Park. Although standards were high and competition was intense, the team rose to the occasion and pulled out several high scores.

The girls Junior Varsity team overall placed third. Leading the team, was freshman Abby Patterson with a time of 23:28. She placed ninth among all of the JV runners. Also contributing to the teams’ victory was 12^th place finisher Emma Karshna with a time of 23:55. Overall, the JV team was satisfied with their placing. As one teammate said,

“I felt pretty awesome, very proud of my race” said Junior Marisa Bernards.

The girls Varsity team also came out strong overall placing second.  Sophomore Sarah Meleski led her team with a solid fifth place finish. Only a few seconds behind was Junior Madeline Egan. She finished with a time of 20:31. Freshmen Katey Devine, Christa Modrow, and Allie Maniscalco also pushed themselves hard throughout the race.

Individual rankings for the boys Junior Varsity team include Freshman Collin Staudt finishing with a time of 20:02. Finishing only two places behind Staudt, Nick Piatrowski finished with a time of 20:04.

“Swell” said Freshman Piatrowski.

The boys’ Varsity team also competed well and had a successful night.  Dominick Ropella placed 26^th out of 63. He also earned a personal record with a finishing time of 17:51.

“It happened” said Ropella just seconds after crossing the finish line. His goal for the season was to break 18 minutes.

Seniors James Windorff, Ross Wick, and Nate Gale also placed in the top 45, all finishing in under 19 minutes. Although competition was intense, the boys managed to place ninth as a team.

After all events concluded for the night, the team gathered and summarized the teams’ efforts in one simple statement.

“Live for today, fight for tomorrow.” said Junior, Amber Nelson.

Following the meet, Coach Braun evaluated the team as a whole in more depth. He stated the team on and off the course is like a “second family”. They encourage and motivate each other almost too much noted the coach. When asked to describe his teams’ work ethic in just three words, he jokingly said,

“Hardworking, most days.”

Coach Braun stressed that the athletes are always pushing themselves to the limit; whether it is the clock in less competitive meets or the other athletes in specific meets.

Braun himself feels that being a coach has opened his own eyes.

“It’s cool to see kids in a different light, in a place where they’re actually motivated to do well, sometimes unlike a classroom setting” he says.