Posted: Oct. 6, 2009 |(0) Comments

The North Shore champion Bay/Shorewood golfers had to work hard to advance to sectional, taking the fourth and final qualifying spot in the regional at Wanaki on Sept. 29.

Bay turned in an 18-hole score of 368 as Greater Metro Conference champ Divine Savior Holy Angels won with a 351 total with Brookfield Central (352) and Pius XI (358) also earning sectional berths.

The Blue Dukes took part in sectional play today at Ives Grove in Racine. Bay/Shorewood is going for its second state berth in three seasons (see WhitefishBayNOW and ShorewoodNOW.com sites for more details).

Keeley Wallis finished sixth individually to lead the team at regional with an 85. Other scores for the Blue Dukes included Leslie Fuda (93), Katherine Matkom (94), Maddie Mittelstadt (96) and Molly Baron (97).

Homestead girls volleyball

Flying under the radar with the likes of Nicolet, Germantown and Cedarburg ahead of them, the Highlanders have struggled for a place in the sun for a decade now.

They found the light in a big way Saturday, when they stunned a strong field to win their own Highlander Invitational.

"It wasn't necessarily a surprise," said Homestead coach Amy Wasmer. "It was a goal. A lofty goal, but a goal nonetheless. We knew that if we played well and were a solid team that we had a chance.

"There were no epiphanies," Wasmer said. "We just needed to play well. We just pushed ahead to keep momentum We stayed solid and supportive."

The Highlanders beat St. Thomas More, Waukesha West and Brookfield Central in pool play. Then they downed West Bend West in the semifinals (11th ranked in state) and beat West Bend East, 21-25, 25-23, 15-8, in the final.

Erika Reetz (20 kills in the final), Andrea Voss (39 digs) and setter Natalie Sperling (47 assists) led the way for Homestead. Wasmer said that Voss doesn't get enough credit for how well she controls the back row. Natalie Goniu moved to right side hitter and filled in well after Claire Raddatz twisted her ankle.

Now it's up to the Highlanders, who have been up and down in conference, to show some consistency, said Wasmer.

"Now we're at the point of 'How do we become this everyday?' " she said. "We can't do it just one day or two days. We have to be able to do this everyday."

Shorewood boys cross country

As successful as it had been for the winning girls team at the Griak Invitational two weeks ago, that's how discouraged the Greyhounds boys were at their sixth-place showing.

That's why they showed new commitment in practice last week and turned in a dominating performance in winning the 15-school Kimberly Invitational on Saturday.

"I'm happy with how we bounced back from the Griak meet," said coach Dominic Newman. "To say that I was disappointed with how the Griak meet went is a gross understatement. The captains (Peter Drews and Ben Tyler) called a meeting to talk about the team and individual goals that we set for the season and how we lost focus on them. We are talking about taking one meet/race at a time and that we need to re-establish what 'max effort' (the team motto this season) means to each runner."

For the Greyhounds that meant a one-two punch by Tyler (16 minutes, 26 seconds) and Drews (16:40) that led to a 53-point total, well ahead of runner-up Brookfield East (96).

Other scoring runners included John Taylor in 15th (17:36), Joseph Pendleton in 16th (17:42) and Aidan Mazur in 19th (17:47). Also running were Brendan Vorphal in 31st (18:03) and John Papke in 56th (18:36).

The Greyhounds will host their own invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Homestead girls cross country

Highlanders coach Victor Vilar feels that the Wisconsin Adidas High School Invitational held Saturday at the Thomas Zimmer cross country course at University Ridge in Verona will one day hold its own with the more established powerhouse Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.

And that thought was just one of the many good things that came out of the Highlanders winning effort at the event.

"It was a great course that we got to run on," he said, "and one day, I think it'll grow into becoming just a great venue. … And this was a good meet for us. We wanted to keep momentum and we did."

The third-ranked Highlanders, behind the first-ever individual title for sophomore Lauren Holtz (15:01 for the 4,000-meter course), scored just 29 points to win the seven-team meet. Fifth-ranked Madison West (59) was second.

Homestead will now be off until the North Shore Conference race Oct. 17.

Holtz broke open the race at the 3,000-meter mark, Vilar said.

"She blew their doors off at that point," he said. "When she got done, you couldn't wipe the smile off her face."

As usual, Homestead showed great balance behind Holtz as Kelsey Boyle, Caity Bobber and Sarah Miller were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, all in 15:34. Keali Bjork was the fifth runner in 13th (15:55). Also running were Carrie Rice in 19th (16:10), and Dana Griepentrog in 24th (16:21).

Vilar was also pleased that the junior varsity, competing with varsity units, was a solid eighth of 16 at the Racine Case Eagle Invitational the same day, with Andrea Dolsky in 22nd (16:07) leading the way.

Whitefish Bay cross country

How to make Blue Dukes coach Mike Miller unhappy?

Win a meet in a lackadaisical and uninspired manner like the defending state champion Bay girls did Saturday in the Purgold Invitational at Sheridan Park.

Not even the pleasant surprise of the boys also making it a clean sweep that day could wipe the frown off his face.

"It was just not good in terms of times or in terms of running competitively," he said. "Without a doubt, it was our worst team race of the season. In any other meet, we would have had it handed to us."

The meet was the regular season closer for the top-ranked Blue Dukes, who will next compete Oct. 17 in what will be a highly competitive North Shore Conference meet at Tendick Park in Saukville. Third-ranked Homestead, which has beaten the Blue Dukes once this season, will be the primary competition. Bay has not lost a league meet this decade.

The Bay girls scored 33 points with Cedarburg a distant second with 82.

Emma-Lisa Murphy led the Blue Dukes with a second-place showing (15:19), while Kenzie Vicker was third (15:32), Megan Palmer fifth (16:02), Maddy Vicker 11th (16:34) and Arden Stewart 12th (16:36).

Also running were Ally Spiroff 13th (16:37), Emma Fallone 14th (16:41) and Maureen Kahn 24th (17:25). Miller thought Fallone had the best race of the day.

The boys, who earned their second consecutive meet win in as many tries, scored 58 points. Waukesha North was second with 74.

Mike Camilleri was third (16:58), Casey Easterday, ninth (17:58), Rob Cary, 10th (17:59), Stuart Gilreath, 15th (18:07) and Cole Woodliff, 21st (18:14). Also running were Devon Lawler, 28th (18:27), Nate Gomoll, 31st (18:33) and Jordan Lester, 33rd (18:43).

"We felt really good about the boys," Miller said. "It's really energizing for this bunch. Mike (Camelleri) is really running well. Really taking the lead for us."

Nicolet boys volleyball

The Knights put it all together Saturday, overpowering the field and claiming the championship in the Shorewood Invitational.

The Knights downed Appleton North, Pius XI and Wauwatosa West in pool play and then defeated powerful New Berlin United 25-11, 25-23, in the semifinals. In the championship, they downed North again by a 25-19, 22-25, 15-8 count.

Nicolet, which will be at the Whitefish Bay Invitational on Saturday (8:30 a.m.), also defeated Homestead, 25-13, 25-13, 25-22, on Sept. 30 as Rob Mayer had 14 kills, Anatoli Berezovsky, 31 assists and Patrick Bieser, 14 digs.

University School football

The Wildcats gave their homecoming fans at Ken Laird Field a night of extreme excitement Friday as backup kicker Alex Yerukhimov hit a last-second field goal to defeat Midwest Classic Conference opponent Martin Luther, 29-27.

Tom Shadewald's second interception in the game late in the fourth quarter set up the decisive drive at the Luther 40 with USM trailing, 27-26.

USM methodically moved the ball to the Spartans 15 with 13 seconds left. Two pass attempts to get a touchdown fell incomplete. So on fourth and five with four seconds left, the Wildcats turned to Yerukhimov to kick a 28-yard field goal. Knowing Yerukhimov was a replacement for the Wildcats' injured regular kicker, Matt Williams, the Spartans called a time out just to put more pressure on Yerukhimov. But once the snap was off and the ball held for his toe, Yerukhimov made the night magical as the ball sailed through the uprights toward the clock that showed no time remaining.

Charlie Wigdale ran for one touchdown, while Peyton Stanford hit Fritz Stratton with another for a 13-7 first half lead for USM. Luther surged ahead, 21-13, in the third quarter, however Stanford and Stratton connected again to make it 21-19. Shortly thereafter, Wigdale burst up the middle 65 yards for another touchdown to make it 26-21 USM.

But a quick Luther drive let them take the lead right back setting up the Wildcats' last-second heroics.

In the game, USM had 142 yards rushing while Stanford completed 13 of 22 passes for 264 yards. Martin Luther had 171 yards rushing and 85 yards passing for a total of 256 yards.

USM is now 3-4 and 1-2 in conference. The Wildcats travel to Burlington to face Catholic Central for a 1 p.m. game Saturday.

University School field hockey

The Wildcats improved to 12-0 on the season when they beat defending state champion Trinity Academy, 2-0, Monday.

Senior midfielder Lauren Schroeder sent a nice pass to sophomore Jenna Seter who knocked it in for a first-half goal and Liza Jacobus provided the safety net goal in the second half. Jacobus was also a stalwart defensively in the first half.

Netminder Amy Bauzenberger made four saves on the night.

Homestead girls golf

The Highlanders easily earned a WIAA sectional berth by taking second in the regional held at Blackstone Creek in Germantown on Sept. 29.

With the effort, the returning state runner-ups claimed a slot in the sectional held at Westhaven in Oshkosh on today. The top two teams and first three individuals not on those teams will advance to the WIAA State Meet on Oct. 12 and 13 at University Ridge in Madison (see MequonNOW.com for details). Homestead will be looking for its 21st state tournament berth, the most in the 37-year history of the event.

The Highlanders turned in an 18-hole score of 373 at the regional as Arrowhead won with a 352 total. Hartford (379) and Menomonee Falls (400) earned the other team sectional berths.

Katie Zganjar was third individually to lead Homestead. She carded a score of 88 as the remainder of the Highlanders fell in neatly behind her with Jessica Levine (94), Lauren Olson (95), Rachel Morris (96), and Rebecca Hart (97) all contributing.

 

Whitefish Bay boys soccer

Nearly seven hours on a bus, with little rest and even less sleep, plus two losses for their efforts: Do you think Blue Dukes coach Mike Kops is wishing he had never booked that trip to the Gateway City Classic in Missouri this past weekend?

Not on your life.

"It was awesome competition, really good stuff," he said, "and we played some really good soccer ourselves, some of our best of the year."

The Blue Dukes (5-1 in league, 7-6 overall, who could clinch the North Shore Conference title with a win against Milwaukee Lutheran tonight, lost to Collinsville (Ill.), 2-0, and to nationally-ranked Chaminade of St. Louis, 3-1.

"We dominated Collinswood for much of the game, and we were hanging with Chaminade, 1-1, with just 15 minutes to go," Kops said. "It was a great experience."

Bay had hardly any time to rest and get ready after the bus arrived on Friday. They played at 6 p.m., got a quick bite to eat, got back to the hotel, and then played again at 9 a.m. on Saturday, before turning around and making the bus ride back home.

"We got some pictures of the (St. Louis) arch from the bus window," Kops chuckled. "That was the extent of our sightseeing."

Bay defeated Cedarburg, 3-0, on Sept. 29 to improve to 5-1 in conference play. Goals were scored by Brady King, Robert Courtney and Sam Bischman.

Bay will close out the regular season at Arrowhead at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Shorewood girls tennis

Victoria Nelsen took second at second singles to lead the Greyhounds to a fourth-place showing in the Woodland Conference Tournament last week.

"Victoria had an outstanding tournament and conference season, especially for a freshman," said Shorewood coach Margie Van Lieshout. "She lost only twice in the conference, both times to the player from Greendale (and she went undefeated). Victoria finished the conference season with a 10-1 record."

The Greyhounds will now take part in the WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament at Pleasant Valley Tennis Club in Jackson Thursday. The first four finishers in flight one of singles and doubles and the winners of flight two in singles and doubles, automatically qualify for the WIAA State Individual Tournament in Madison on Oct. 15-17.

Shorewood scored 25 points for its spot in the league tourney. Greendale swept every flight en route to a dominating total of 56 points.

Nelsen beat St. Thomas More and New Berlin Eisenhower opponents to advance to the final against Greendale's Emily Perinovic, to whom she lost, 6-3, 6-2.

Other places for the Greyhounds included a third from the first doubles team of Mary Matoba and Lizzy Tews (8-1 on the Woodland season) and fourths from Kirstin Repins at third singles, Elana Lambert at fourth singles and the second doubles team of Ellen Gough and Brie Keane. Lydia Hellwig was sixth at first singles.

Van Lieshout was impressed with the 3- 1/2 hour quarterfinal win Repins posted over a New Berlin West opponent (3-6, 6-2, 6-4) whom she had not beaten before.

Brown Deer girls tennis

The first doubles team of Darcy McMurtagh and Amy Wisotzke claimed the consolation crown to lead the Falcons to an 11th place finish in the Woodland Conference Tournament last week.

The pair beat a Whitnall duo in the first round but then fell to the eventual runner-up pair from New Berlin Eisenhower. However, the Falcons duo then defeated New Berlin West and South Milwaukee teams to earn a rematch with Whitnall in the consolation final, where they won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Nina Her went 2-2 at first singles, losing in the consolation semifinals. No other Brown Deer player won a match. Greendale swept every flight to cruise to the conference title.

The Falcons will host a WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament at Pleasant Valley Tennis Club in Jackson at 9 a.m.Thursday. The first four finishers in flight one of singles and doubles and the winners of flight two in singles and doubles automatically advance to the state individual tournament in Madison on Oct. 15-17.

Nicolet girls volleyball

The Knights continue to dominate North Shore play, sweeping a solid Germantown squad on the road Oct. 1, but tournament play still remains a bit of a mystery for them after they lost in the semifinals of the Homestead Invitational on Saturday to eventual champion West Bend East.

"I give West Bend East a ton of credit," said Knights coach Dann Jacobson. "They outplayed us in every aspect of the game-offense, defense and coaching. Coach had her players ready, willing and able and I did not. We will address the issue, coaches and players will learn from our mistakes, and we will get better because of it."

The Knights will attempt to go 6-0 in NSC duals at Milwaukee Lutheran at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Then on Saturday, they host their own Brittney Gigl Memorial Invitational beginning at 9 a.m. High-powered teams involved include Brookfield Central, Homestead and Pius XI.

In pool play of the Homestead tourney, the Knights swept Oshkosh West, Appleton North, Appleton East and West Bend West before falling to East, 25-19, 25-16.

"We played well at times in pool play, but were a bit too inconsistent. We have come to expect more out of ourselves," Jacobson said.

For the day, Melissa Morello had 37 kills and eight aces while Krystalyn Goode had 12 blocks and Rachel Morello 103 assists.

Nicolet girls golf

Competing with an incomplete team, Amy Hurwitz and Jennifer Longstreth finished out the season for the Knights on a positive note in the WIAA regional at Wanaki on Sept. 29.

Hurwitz turned in an 18-hole score of 100, including a 45 on the back nine, while Longstreth started out poorly, but finished well on the back nine (58) for a 134 total. Divine Savior Holy Angels won the team title with a 351 total while Pius XI's Amanda Braun was individual medalist with a 79.

Nicolet was unable to field a complete team all season.

Shorewood boys volleyball

Despite some good moments against excellent teams, the Greyhounds finished 0-3 in their own tournament Saturday.

"I am encouraged for the second half of season," said Shorewood coach Kevin Gemignani. "We have talent on offense and we are very athletic on the defensive end, but we got stuck in certain rotations and could not get into a consistent rhythm. That has been our challenge all season, maintaining a high level for the entire game/match. We played hard all day Saturday, but never found a comfort zone."

Shorewood lost to Burlington, New Berlin United and Brookfield Central in pool play. Nicolet wound up beating Appleton North for the title.

Gemignani said that the Greyhounds played well in long stretches against both Central and New Berlin, but could not finish the matches. He highlighted the efforts of Ben Peterson, Bennett Reed, Erik Berg and Ben Brody.

Homestead boys cross country

Behind Nate Routhier's fourth place individual finish, the Highlanders turned in a solid fifth in the initial Wisconsin Adidas High School Invitational in Madison on Saturday.

Homestead scored 141 points in the 10-school field as Arrowhead edged Brookfield Central, 66-70, for the title.

Routhier covered the 5,000-meter University Ridge Golf Course layout in 16 minutes, 25 seconds for his spot in the 72-runner field as Madison East's Gabe Heck won in 15:57.

Other scoring runners for the Highlanders included J.T. Raduka in 27th (17:35), Mike Cronce, 32nd (17:45), Andrew Churchill, 38th (17:59) and Alex Mattson, 40th (17:59). Also running were Eric Railsback in 44th (18:04) and Alex Boyle in 45th (18:04).

The Highlanders will be off until the North Shore Conference meet at Tendick Park in Saukville on Oct. 17.

Shorewood girls cross country

Continuing to challenge themselves against top-flight Division I competition, the Greyhounds were sixth of 15 in the Kimberly Invitational on Saturday.

The top-ranked-in-state division 2 Greyhounds, who will host their own invitational Saturday, scored 141 points at Kimberly as Wausau East won with 61.

Emily Bacchuber was third (15:26) while Haley Holan claimed 10th (16:02). Other scoring runners were Jenny Vrobel, 26th (16:37), Morgan Baker, 40th (16:57) and Chloe Staub, 62nd (17:26). Also running were Laura Schroeder, 68th (17:41) and Nora Waters, 73rd (17:54).

Shorewood girls swim

The Greyhounds cruised to a 109-61 Woodland Conference dual meet win over Pewaukee on Sept. 30.

Double individual winners included Elli Sellinger in the 50-yard freestyle (25.68 seconds) and the 100 free (57.16) and Claire Chamberlain in the 200 free (2:01.2) and 500 free (5:15.45); and Lauren Lanphere, the 100 butterfly (no time available) and the 200 individual medley (2:23.74) In addition, Sonya Tomasiewicz won, 100 breaststroke (1:16.32); and Molly Hayes, 100 backstroke (1:07.34).

The Greyhounds, who will be at the Sheboygan South Invitational on Saturday (12:30 p.m.), also won all three relays against Pewaukee.

Brown Deer/University School girls swim

The Falcons used a balanced effort to overpower the St. Thomas More/St. Francis co-op, 103-58, in a Woodland Conference dual on Sept. 29.

Caroline Roos led the way with legs on all three victorious relays, including the 200 medley (2:06.1), 200 free (1:49.7) and 400 free (4:02.3) as well as an individual victory in the 500 free (5:41.8).

Brown Deer/USM will take on Shorewood in a league dual on Wednesday and will be at the Cedarburg Invitational on Saturday (12:30 p.m.).

Nicolet cross country

Freshman Lauren Cunningham took sixth individually to lead a resurgent Knights girls harrier unit to a solid fifth-place finish in the Fond du Lac Invitational on Friday at Rolling Meadows Golf Course.

Cunningham turned in an impressive time of 15 minutes, 36 seconds on the 4,000-meter course to earn her spot in the 84-runner field as Neenah freshman Alison Park won with an imposing 14:55 effort.

Behind Cunningham's efforts, the Knights scored 124 points for their spot in the 11-school field as Neenah won with 51.

"She ran phenomenally well," said Knights coach Mike McKenna. "The second-fastest in school history and the best thing about it was, when I asked her about it, she said she thought she could go faster."

Other scoring runners included Christie Crossman in 23rd (16:23), Allison Maling in 27th (16:35), Polly Durant in 33rd (16:47) and Grace Dykstra in 35th (16:53). Also running for the Knights were Ashley Green in 50th (17:14), Elle Davis in 65th (17:38) and Kristen Maling in 68th (17:43). McKenna was pleased with the overall effort, one of the better team finishes in recent years for the Knights girls.

The Knights boys used strong individual efforts from Josh Greenberg in 11th (16:55) and Nathan Frazer in 12th (16:57) to also take fifth (137 points). Appleton East dominated the meet with just 34 points. McKenna said the overall effort was a little flat as the Knights didn't like the cool and rainy conditions.

Other scoring runners included Ethan Klein in 35th (17:58), Brandon Zall in 38th (18:02) and Sean Mannion in 44th (18:14). Also running were Matt Bootsma in 48th (18:19), Jeff McClain in 59th (18:43) and Tamir Klein in 64th (18:53).

The Knights will be at the Waterford Wolverine Invitational on Friday.

 

- Steven L. Tietz