Posted: Dec. 22, 2009 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay girls gymnastics

The defending Division 2 state champs got their season off to a sound start with a 136.25-111.4 dual meet win over visiting Port Washington on Dec. 16.

"We've come back healthy and strong," Blue Dukes coach Mary Liniewski said. "They've learned a lot of new skills. … These are kids who grew up in the gym (at Bay). We have pictures on the wall of when they were mighty mites (5- and 6-year-olds), and now here they are leading the team.

"We're going to built much the same way we were last year. Very cohesive with great leadership and terrific motivation."

The most significant graduation loss for the Blue Dukes was multi-time state placewinner Hannah Wallace, who is competing intercollegiately in track.

But aside from that, Bay is ready for a sound defense of their surprising state championship win over River Falls in March.

Sophomore state placewinning all-around Maggie Anderson will lead a group dominated by underclassmen. The co-captains will be senior vaulter Sarah Courtney and junior beam and floor exercise performer Margaret Fitzpatrick.

Other letterwinners include junior bars and vault specialist Anna Syburg and sophomore all-arounds Kelly Danek and Tory Patek. Also expected to help is sophomore beam, bars and floor worker Sofie Yang.

"We're very encouraged about this season," said Liniewski. "The kids are working hard and staying late six days a week. It's very exciting to have kids who want to learn new skills as much as this group does."

The Blue Dukes are the defending North Shore/Greater Metro Conference champions.

In the win over Port, Anderson led the way, claiming the all-around (35.4), the vault (9.05), the bars (8.45) and the floor exercise (9.1). Fitzpatrick claimed the beam with an impressive 9.35 mark. Patek turned in a 33.55 all-around mark, while Danek had a 33.35 score.

Nicolet girls gymnastics

Returning the heart of its WIAA Division 1 third-place team from a year ago, the Knights showed no signs of slowing down with a 135.2-121.525 dual meet win over Menomonee Falls/Germantown on Dec. 16.

"The girls had a slow start but finished off better on floor (the last event of the night)," Knights coach Chris Dempsey said. "We had a great time and the spirit is high. Greet meet for our first of the year."

Nicolet swept the top three spots in all but the floor exercise event. Senior Leah Fischer won all the events, including the all-around with a 35.375 mark. Fischer, who was fourth in state in floor exercise, had her best mark in that event with a 9.15. She also turned in an 8.9 on uneven bars.

Senior Lexi Stevens, another letterwinner from last season, was second in the all-around with a 34.125 mark. Her best mark was a runner-up score of 8.87 in floor exercise.

Another returnee, junior Alicia Berroug, was third in the all-around with a 33.9 mark. Her best effort was an 8.6 runner-up score on bars.

The Knights will get a powerful challenge for Greater Metro/North Shore Conference honors from defending titlist and state Division 2 champ Whitefish Bay. Nicolet was second in league action last season, and its biggest loss to graduation was Beth Huang, who was fifth on the bars at the state meet in March.

Arrowhead is the defending state Division 1 champ, with Franklin/Muskego the returning runner-up.

"We look forward to working hard and fixing the mistakes," Dempsey said.

Nicolet boys basketball

Recovering from their first loss of the season to Port Washington, 62-47, on Dec. 15, the Knights ratcheted up their intensity in a big way last weekend, routing Grafton, 84-44, on Friday and then coming up with a signature win Saturday in a 58-47 decision over defending state Division 2 champion Wisconsin Lutheran.

"We want our guys to think that they can be an elite team," Knights coach Paul Hepp said. "To do that, you have to beat other elite teams. They were undefeated and they are the defending state (Division 2) champs, so I think this qualifies."

The Knights started the week at 2-1 in North Shore play, tied for second with Port and Whitefish Bay. Homestead is the surprise leader at 3-0. Nicolet is 5-1 overall and will take part in the Luke Homan Memorial Tournament at Brookfield Central on Dec. 29 and 30.

They will play Bay View at 6 p.m. on Dec. 29 and then will play at either 6 or 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30. The other semifinal pits Central against Hartford.

The Knights fell behind 14-7 at the quarter against Lutheran (5-1), but then outscored the Vikings 34-15 in the second and third quarters to take control for good. All-state forward Flavien Davis had 27 points for Lutheran, but no one else got into double figures.

"He's a special player and we knew he'd get his points," Hepp said. "We just wanted to make sure no one else hurt us."

The Knights had five players score between eight and 15 points as Tre Kinlow had 15, Clem Robinson 12 and Myles Henry 11.

A 29-13 run in the second quarter allowed Nicolet to put the game into cruise control against Grafton. A total of 10 players scored, led by Henry with 16 and Cameron Smith with 13.

Nicolet was done in by a 21-9 second-quarter run by North Shore favorite Port. It left the Knights down 34-24 at the half, and they could never quite recover. Henry had 14 and Robinson 13 for Nicolet.

Josh Gasser, a Wisconsin recruit, led Port with 26.

Homestead girls gymnastics

Marisa White, who led the Waukesha co-op team to three consecutive WIAA state championships from 2006 to 2008, will take over a rebuilding and hopefully soon-to-be healthy Highlanders team this winter.

"It's coming along, slow but steady," White said. "We've had some injuries and we haven't been able to field a full lineup yet, but we're hoping to soon."

White, who lives in the North Shore area and whose vast gymnastics experience includes work with the high-powered Whitefish Bay Recreation Department program, takes over for Melissa Marsack this winter.

She takes over a young team that will be led by two meet veterans. Senior Katelyn Wright, who was impressive in winning the all-around title at the Emerald Classic Invitational on Dec. 12, finished seventh in the all-around competition and eighth in the floor exercise at the state Division 1 meet last season.

Sophomore Cori Sandusky was 11th on the uneven bars at state last season. Sandusky has not had a chance to compete yet this winter due to a stress fracture. Sophomore Alex Holtz will also be a strong all-around competitor on the 17-person team.

"I've worked with a lot of these kids at other levels, so we're in a good position that way," White said.

Shorewood girls gymnastics

Several steps ahead of where they finished last season, the Greyhounds have several milestones under their belt already this winter.

After scoring only in the 90-plus point range at its best last season, Shorewood has broken into triple digits twice already this month. They scored 111 in a dual meet loss to Homestead on Dec. 10 and 113 in a sixth-place finish at the Oconomowoc Invitational on Dec. 12.

In addition, the Greyhound junior varsity squad won a dual meet over Homestead. Coach Sarah Paul believes it is the first ever dual meet win for the unit.

"So it's been a great start to our season," she said. "We have more depth than we've ever had on both JV and varsity."

Shorewood will be led by sophomores Erin Valusek and Eve Bennett and freshman Asia Cruz. Bennett is still recovering from an injury and will hopefully be back in January, said Paul.

Brown Deer/University School boys swim

After a slow, start, the Falcons came back to record a solid fifth place in the six-team Watertown Invitational on Saturday.

"We had a real wolf-pack mentality those last four events," co-coach Bob Van Lieshout said. "We really executed down the stretch."

The Falcons, who are now off until a home dual against New Berlin on Jan. 6, scored 176 points at Watertown. McFarland won with 415.

BD/USM contenders placed in the top 10 17 times and in the top six on five occasions. In the 100-yard backstroke, BD/USM had three top-ten finishers as Steve Lillie took fifth, Jack Ladd seventh and Mike Short 10th.

In the 100 breaststroke, BD/USM had four of the top 10 finishes. They included Bill Wong (second), Andrew Burant (seventh), Geoff Gilles (ninth) and Rob Davis (10th). In the meet's last event, BD/USM earned a sixth- and seventh-place finish in the 400 free relay.

Overall, BD/USM individuals had 17 season-best times in the meet.

"We have two good weeks of practice coming up," Van Lieshout said, "and that's good because we still have some mental mistakes to clear up. We have a lot of work to do on our starts and our turns."

"While we continue to be a work in progress, I can't help but be very proud of the efforts and improvements of each one of our athletes," added co-coach John Douglass.

North Shore hockey

The North Shore area co-op team based in Whitefish Bay has struggled out of the gate this winter with a 1-7 record.

The team has only four seniors on the roster, including forwards Mike Christenson of Nicolet (three goals and five assists) and Joe Richter of Shorewood, defensemen Anthony Aiello (Bay) and goalie Chris DeGraff (Nicolet), who has the team's only win on the season.

Junior forward Joe Aiken (Bay) leads the team with seven goals and three assists, while junior forward Matt Goelz (Shorewood) has two goals and two assists.

There are three sophomores and four freshmen on the roster. The team has scored only 16 goals on the season and has allowed 53.

They will be at the RBC Holiday Classic on Sunday through Tuesday at the Bradley Center and MSOE's Kern Center.

Homestead hockey

The Highlanders have been competitive so far this winter with a 3-6 record.

They most recently scored a 5-4 overtime decision over Oshkosh on Saturday.

Homestead is led this winter by senior captain and forward P.J. Connolly (one goal and four assists). Assistant captains are junior defenseman David Trebatoski and sophomore forward Peter Schmitz (six goals and one assist).

The leading scorer is freshman forward Adam Connolly (six goals and three assists), while freshman forward Thomas Fazio has five assists.

Other seniors include defensemen Dylan Drozdowicz and forwards Kyle Fischer and Kevin Gawronski. The Highlanders have nine sophomores on the varsity roster.

Homestead will be at the RBC Classic on Sunday through Tuesday at MSOE's Kern Center.

Brown Deer boys basketball

The Falcons ended the week on a frustrating note, burying Cudahy, 67-47, on Dec. 15 before falling to Woodland Conference power New Berlin Eisenhower, 81-45, on Friday and losing a 60-52 nonconference decision to Ripon on Saturday.

Brown Deer opened the week with a 67-47 win over Cudahy. They closed their 2009 portion of the season against Wauwatosa West on Dec. 22.

The busy Falcons entered the West game with a 4-2 mark in Woodland games and a 4-5 overall record.

In the loss to Ripon, the Falcons trailed 25-14 at the half and couldn't quite catch up, as Joziah Mallett had 18 points and Kierre Ogbanna 10.

Eisenhower (6-0) used a 24-7 explosion in the second quarter to run away from Brown Deer. The Lions had an impressive 15 players score in the contest. Mallett had nine for the Falcons.

Against Cudahy, the Falcons trailed 25-17 at the half but then went on a 22-9 run in the third quarter to take the lead for good. Keone Moore had 20 for Brown Deer.

Shorewood boys basketball

On less than a 12-hour turnaround, fatigue caught up with the Greyhounds as they dropped a 69-44 decision to Valders in the Converse/East Bay Classic on Saturday at the Al McGuire Center.

The 9 a.m. tip-off was a rude awakening for Shorewood after a 65-54 Woodland Conference loss to Pewaukee the night before, but Greyhounds coach John Hoch thought the experience was worth it.

"It wasn't the greatest of scheduling," he said, "but it was a great experience, to play in a high-profile tournament in a venue like this. We just couldn't pass it up."

The Greyhounds (1-6 overall) started the week with their first win of the season, a 64-37 decision over St. Francis on Dec. 16.

After a game with Cudahy on Dec. 22, the Greyhounds now will be off until Jan. 5, when they visit New Berlin Eisenhower.

Valders hit Shorewood with a 16-4 run in the first quarter, and the Greyhounds could not catch up. Austin Malone-Mitchell had 14 points and Chase Miller 10.

After falling behind 31-20 at the half, Shorewood played Pewaukee even in the second half, but couldn't get the margin under eight.

Deion Jackson-Body scored 15 points, Alex Najieb 14 and Miller 11 for the Greyhounds.

The win over St. Francis was a rare romp for the Greyhounds. They went up 38-16 at the half and saw all 11 players that suited up score, led by Miller with 16, Najieb with 11 and Jackson-Body with 10.

"The kids really bought into the game plan," Hoch said. "We were really able to clamp down defensively."

Whitefish Bay girls basketball

After absorbing a discouraging 51-38 loss to Germantown on Dec. 15, the Blue Dukes bounced back with a 38-34 win over Port Washington on Friday.

"We went up 21-8 in the first 16 minutes, and we played about 20-22 minutes of really good basketball," Blue Dukes coach Greg Capper said. "We got our swagger back a little. We had lost a bit of focus (against Germantown), but we got some of it back."

The Blue Dukes (1-2 in North Shore play and 3-3 overall), will now take part in the Griffin Holiday Classic at Milwaukee Vincent against some imposing competition. They will take on state tournament participant Brookfield Central at 6:15 p.m. Dec. 28 and then face either three-time defending state champ Vincent or Sheboygan North on Dec. 29.

Against Port, the Blue Dukes had to hold on after a furious Pirates rally. Maggie Rice's two free throws with six seconds remaining finally clinched the deal. Lyida Kaminsky, Alexa Herasimchuk and Jessie Switzer all contributed big points down the stretch.

Herasimchuk had 13 to lead the Blue Dukes.

Homestead boys swim

A clinching win by the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Ben Sjulson, Cody Burkard, Erik Erlandson and Will Schlageter helped give the Highlanders a 96-90 North Shore Conference dual meet victory over Cedarburg on Dec. 17.

The quartet was clocked in 3:30.87 for its effort.

Another Highlanders win came from the same group in the 200 free relay (1:35.78).

In addition, Sjulson claimed the 200 free (1:52.45), Burkard the 200 individual medley (2:11.27) and the 100 breaststroke (1:06.32) and Erlandson the 50 free (24.58).

Homestead took on powerful Arrowhead on Dec. 22 and will now be off until the Metro Swim Officials Invite at Homestead at 10 a.m. Dec. 29.

Shorewood boys swim

Using a balanced effort, the Greyhounds cruised to a 130-53 Woodland Conference dual meet win over South Milwaukee on Dec. 16.

"This was a good meet and victory for our guys," Greyhounds coach Rob McCabe said. "I told the team beforehand that tonight they had to be racing themselves for certain meet and relay spots later this season. That statement was to ensure them to leave their efforts in the pool."

Shorewood won every event. Double winners included Isaac Flegel-Mishlove in the 200 (1:59.61) and 500 freestyles (5:17.57), Stephen Meyer in the 200 individual medley (2:09.27) and the 100 free (54.59) and Jay Tomasiewicz in the 100 butterfly (58.29) and 100 breaststroke (1:06.53).

Other individual wins went to R.J. Hayes in the 50 free (24.35) and the 100 backstroke (1:05.17).

In addition, the Greyhounds claimed all three relays, including the 200 medley (1:50.84), the 200 free (1:37.1) and the 400 free (3:41.7).

"The relay swims were strong allowing our lineup to have many different to have many different movable parts," McCabe said.

Nicolet wrestling

Coach Gus Kaufmann took a gamble late in its dual meet with Grafton on Dec. 17, but it didn't quite work out for the Knights, as they lost the final two matches to drop a heartbreaking 39-36 North Shore Conference decision to the Blackhawks.

"We moved Bobby Herrick up to 152 (from his accustomed 145) to try and get a few more points, and he looked good early and got a takedown, but then he tried to go upper body with his guy and got put right to his back (and pinned)," said Kaufmann.

Herrick's match was the second-to-last of the night and reduced the Knights lead to 36-33. The Nicolet competitor at 160 was overmatched and pinned, clinching the match for Grafton.

Kaufmann said his team wrestled well otherwise, but three forfeits greatly damaged their chances, as did the fact that veteran wrestler Chris Rinehart was recently lost for the season when he reinjured the same knee he recently had surgery on.

"It really wasn't fair for Chris," Kaufmann said. "He had really put the time in and this was supposed to be his year."

Earning wins for the Knights were Ethan Klein at 112 (decision), Tamir Klein at 119 (pin), freshman Austin Bay at 125 (pin), Dakota Mitchell at 135 (pin), Matt Dineen at 140 (pin) and sophomore first-year wrestler Jon McKay at 215 (decision). Freshman Brian Dineen lost a tough 10-9 decision at 130.

Nicolet will be in the Mid-States Invitational at UW-Whitewater Monday and Tuesday.

Homestead wrestling

It was a disappointing showing for the Highlanders at the Battle on the Fox in Kimberly on Saturday, as they had to settle for a 15th-place showing, going 1-4 on the day.

"In all of our matches we gave up forfeits at 103 and 285," Highlanders coach Barry Bernstein said, "plus to avoid another forfeit we stretched our lineup."

The Highlanders lost to Tri-County, 39-25; Appleton North, 57-20; Sun Prairie, 48-27; and DePere, 43-28, before beating North Fond du Lac, 64-3.

Jason Findling and Nick Weyker went 5-0 on the day, winning championship medals. Pat Farrell, who was fighting a cold, went 3-0, and Spencer Bold and Ryan Greve each went 3-2, losing to state-quality competition. Conley Brown went 2-1, while Alex Fischer finished at 2-2 and Nolan Cohen finished at 1-1.

The Highlanders beat Cedarburg, 48-24, in a North Shore dual on Dec. 17 as Weyker (130), Brown (152), Farrell (171), Greve (215) and Chris Gust (285) all earned pins, while Bold and Mike Kress each won close decisions.

Nicolet swimming

Using a balanced effort, the Knights picked up a 111-72 North Shore Conference dual meet win over Grafton on Dec. 17.

"We swam well and the kids had a pretty good time," Knights coach Dwight Davis said.

Shreya Patnaik won the 50 freestyle and anchored the 200 free relay team that included Sean Mannion, Alex Walker and Grant Wikle to victory. Konrad Holtz also won the 500 free, and Chris Squire won the 100 breaststroke.

Whitefish Bay wrestling

The Blue Dukes hung in the best they could against multi-time North Shore champ Port Washington, dropping a 65-18 decision on Dec. 17.

Bay got pins from Jake Beckert at 171 and Joey Davey at 103, while Andrew Reidy claimed a forfeit at 125.

The Blue Dukes will take part in the powerhouse On-The-Water Classic at UW-Oshkosh on Dec. 29 and 30.

 

- Steve Tietz