Posted: May 18, 2010 |(0) Comments

University School boys tennis

Tough competition pays off when the competition becomes important. Just ask the University School boys tennis team.

In the past few weeks the Wildcats have played some of the top Division 1 teams in the state. Consequently, they were well prepared for their competition in the Midwest Classic Conference tournament on Saturday at University School which they won by claiming six of the seven contested brackets.

"It was a very successful day," said USM coach Stephen Bloch. "… Everyone brought his 'A' game."

USM won the tournament with 40 points, 15 ahead of Prairie School, which took second place with 25 points.

The Prairie School's James Stark defeated USM's Sam Walker, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to take the first singles championship. USM won all the other final singles matches including Andrew Hwang at two, Rishi Karri at three and Mike Lukas at four.

The Wildcats sailed through the doubles matches like yachts with a spring storm tail wind as the teams of Matt Hwang and Tyler Parks, Andy VandenBerg and John Rusch and Mike Black and Fitz Stratton all easily claimed titles.

Bloch believed the victory over conference competition was good for things to come. "This was good preparation for [WIAA] sub-sectional and sectionals in a little over a week. We saw many of the teams we'll be seeing at subs and sectionals."

The Wildcats will again challenge themselves with more Division 1 competition on Saturday when they take part in an invitational tournament at Waukesha South beginning at 8 a.m.

Brown Deer track

Ariel Kinlow won both the 100 and 200-meter dashes while Asia Cheeks claimed the 100 high hurdles and the high jump to lead the Falcons girls to a second-place finish in the eight-school Borg Invitational at Delavan-Darien on Friday.

The Brown Deer boys took third in their meet.

The invitational was the final tune-up for the Falcons before the Woodland Conference meet that was held Tuesday. They will now head off to WIAA Division 2 regional competition at Wisconsin Lutheran College at 3:15 p.m. Monday.

The top four finishers in each event advance to the sectional at Whitewater on May 27.

Behind Kinlow and Cheek's victories, the Falcons girls scored 92 points at the Borg as Lakeside Lutheran ran away with the meet with 194 points.

Kinlow was clocked in 12.87 seconds in the 100 and 27.07 in the 200 for her wins. Kinlow also had a hand in the Falcons' winning 800 relay team (1:48.79). Cheeks was clocked in 16.06 in the high hurdles and cleared 4-8 in the high jump.

Tahtyana Peer also won the 400 (1:00.89).

Other top four places included the following: 300 low hurdles: Shannon Wild, third (54.97); long jump: Kinlow, fourth (14-10); shot put: Alexis Sherard, fourth (29-4 1/2 ); 400 relay: third (55.71); and 1,600 relay: third (4:35.32).

The Falcons boys scored 92 points for their place, while Lutheran also won with 124.

Jake Schimenz claimed the 600 (1:28.45), while Lawrence Rabon took the long jump (18-3) and Drew Jones the discus (137-2). Rabon was also second in the 100 (11.59) and the 200 (23.03).

Other top four spots for Brown Deer included the following: 110 high hurdles: Evan Naber, second (17.23); 1,600: Eric Frisch, third (4:53.37); shot put: Scott Richardson, second (40-7 1/2 ); 400 relay: fourth (48.6); and 3,200 relay: third (9:15.58).

Shorewood track

The Greyhounds closed out their regular season on a positive note, as the boys took third and the girls sixth in the Cedarburg Invitational on Friday.

Shorewood, which took part in the Woodland Conference Outdoor on Tuesday, will now look forward to WIAA Division 2 regional competition on Monday at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

Rufus King won the boys meet at Cedarburg. Top finishers for the Greyhounds by event included the following: 400: Oliver Heywood, third (57.25); 800: Peter Drews, second (1:57.25); Ben Tyler, fourth (2:02.64); 1,600: Aidan Mazur, third (4:38.81); high jump: Cameron Hood, third (5-10); and long jump: Bobby Kohl, third (19-0).

For the girls, the best efforts were as follows: 200: Caroline Devitt, fourth (27.57); 800: Nora Waters, fourth (2:38.2); 800 relay: Cara and Emily Jacobson, Sydney Cross and Devitt, third (1:51.96); 1,600 relay: Cross, Cara and Emily Jacobson and Brigitte Sellinger, second (4:13.27); and 3,200 relay: Waters, Elana Lubka, Laura Schroeder and Emily Bachhuber, fourth (10:38.08).

Nicolet boys golf

The Knights prepare to make a run at the North Shore title with a solid second of 12 at the Whitefish Bay Invite at Brown Deer on Friday as Ben Schlossmann tied for medalist honors with an 18-hole score of 78.

"We had a little different lineup or else we might have won," Knights coach Ted Wachs said, "but it also gave two other seniors (David Kerns and Kyle Lurie) a chance to compete."

The Knights entered this week in a tight race for the North Shore championship with Homestead. The final nine-hole meet was Monday at Fireridge which the Knights won with a 155 total, giving them an edge heading into the 18-hole finale at Washington County on Friday. Both Noah Hersch and Aaron Sandock carded nine-hole scores of 38 to lead the way for the Knights.

"I'm proud of the kids at this point," said Wachs. "The key for us is to get fired up but to also stay relaxed."

Nicolet turned in an 18-hole score of 335 at Bay while Eau Claire Memorial won with 331. Schlossmann tied with Memorial's David Walter for medalist honors.

Meanwhile, Schlossmann got support from Hersch and Rob Bamberger, who tied for fourth with 82 apiece.

"Ben (Schlossmann) is playing exceptionally well," said Wachs, "while Noah has been very steady and Robby has been steady as a rock."

Wachs said that normal top five player Sandock decided to stay at school and focus on some pressing studies.

Homestead softball

The Highlanders had no issue with motivation as they remained unbeaten with a series of North Shore wins in the last week.

The Highlanders (12-0 in league and 15-0 overall), beat Whitefish Bay, 10-0, on Monday; blasted Nicolet 18-0, on Friday; and cracked Cedarburg, 15-2, on May 12.

"We're working very hard to keep them on track and just let the games take care of themselves," said Highlanders coach Dave Keel, whose team just learned that infielders Britt Schlaeger and Michelle Zoeller and pitcher Bekah Rennicke were named to the state coaches all-star game in Stevens Point on June 22.

Homestead will be at Port Washington at 4:15 p.m. Thursday and will entertain nonconference opponent Arrowhead at 4:15 p.m. Friday. Then on Monday, they will have their final conference showdown at defending NSC champion Germantown (10-1, 14-5) at 7 p.m.

"They're winning all their games close, but the important thing is that they're winning," said Keel. Homestead beat Germantown, 10-0, on May 4.

In the win over Bay, Rachel Behnken got the win with nine strikeouts and four walks, as Zoeller (home run and three runs scored) and Siena Mitman (two runs scored and two RBI) each had three hits.

Against Nicolet, Schlaeger had four hits including a double and a home run. The home run was one of the longest hits that Knights coach Brad Kuehl said he had ever seen. It one-hopped the very deep Thiensville Park (about 285 feet). To put that in perspective most high school softball parks have fences that are 200-220 feet.

Zoeller had three hits and a home run and Amy Keel had three hits with six RBI. Rennicke got the win.

Against Cedarburg, an eight-run third did the trick, as Zoeller had two hits, including a home run and six RBI, as Behnken got the win despite six walks.

University School boys golf

Throughout the season the golf teams from University School and Lake Country Lutheran have been dueling for the crown in the Midwest Classic Conference North. On Monday, the USM golf team took the conference lead by winning the season's fifth mini-meet held at the Old Hickory Golf Course in Beaver Dam.

USM won the team competition with a nine-hole total of 171 with Lake Country Lutheran being four off the pace with a 175.

On Old Hickory's nine-hole par 36, USM had three of the top-five finishers. Noah Mandel of USM shot a 39 to take the top individual honors, while Greg Booth and Daniel Simonsen of USM each shot a 42 for the fourth and fifth places.

Other USM finishers were Zach Hafeman who carded a 48 and Daniel Mandel who had a 50.

As a result of Monday's mini-meet, USM took sole possession of the top spot in the conference with 56 points, two ahead of Lake Country Lutheran. The league 18-hole finale will be later this week at Scenic View (TBA).

Brown Deer softball

Successes have been few and far between for the Falcons this spring, but they got one Monday night, when they used a seven-run sixth inning to outlast Saint Thomas More, 8-6, in a Woodland Conference game.

The outburst gave the Falcons an 8-5 lead at that point, and pitcher Nicole Bublitz (six strikeouts and four walks) made it stand up as she scattered eight hits in the contest.

Amy Wisotske, Megan Kozak and Darcy McMurtagh all had two hits apiece for the Falcons, who will visit Wauwatosa West on Thursday and Cudahy on Friday in a pair of 4 p.m. Woodland Conference games.

Whitefish Bay boys golf

With one-time state champ Jack Schultz plying his trade for the University of Michigan and new coach Frank Donadlo working with a young but diligent group, the Blue Dukes took seventh in their own invitational on Friday at Brown Deer golf course.

"It actually went great," Donadlo said. "They had a rough week out there (with a lot of rain) but the Brown Deer staff did a great job in getting it ready. We had to play lift, clean and replace, but we had no controversies."

The Blue Dukes, who just took third in the most recent North Shore mini-meet on Monday and who will take part in the league 18-hole finale this Friday at Washington County, are working with only two returning letter-winners in juniors Dan Umland and Sam Richtman.

"They have been good leaders all spring," said Donadlo. "They have our lowest averages and they've really helped the other kids out. We've been trying out a lot of people. We've had 13 different kids play varsity matches including four freshmen."

One freshman, Jack Comiskey, is playing regularly, as is senior Mike Armstrong, who tied for eighth individually at the recently held Port Washington Invite.

"The kids are doing a great job of pulling for each other," Donadlo said.

The Blue Dukes turned in an 18-hole total of 365 at Brown Deer as Comisky led the way with an 88.

Nicolet girls soccer

The Knights showed that they could compete well outside of the North Shore Conference when they went 1-1-1 in the Cedarburg Invite last weekend.

At the peak of that effort, was a 2-2 tie with multi-time state champion Brookfield Central.

"It was just a tremendous game," said Knights coach Tony Quintero. "We took them a little bit by surprise and maybe they underestimated us. We really maintained our quality."

Emily Spector and Erica Lurie had goals for the Knights, who also beat Cedarburg, 3-1, and lost to Waukesha West, 2-0, in the tournament to fall to 7-8-1 overall.

Quintero praised the efforts of Spector and Lurie, along with those of Nicole Dunn and Briana Lopez.

"The girls have really stepped up in the last few weeks," said Quintero.

The Knights will host Greendale on Thursday and will be at University School on Friday.

Whitefish Bay girls soccer

Putting behind the discouraging, 4-0, loss to Homestead in what was effectively the North Shore Conference championship game on May 11, the Blue Dukes got five assists from Abby Starker in routing area rival Shorewood, 7-0, on Friday.

"We tried some different things with a different approach," said Blue Dukes coach Brian Williams. "We tried to put what happened against Homestead behind and focus on peaking for the (WIAA) playoffs."

Bay will host Waukesha West at 7 p.m. Thursday and then will host Bay Port at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Lydia Kaminsky had three scores and Kylie Davidson two for Bay against Shorewood as Kelly Danek was also praised for her effort. Audrey Peterson had nine saves for Shorewood.

Whitefish Bay softball

The Blue Dukes bounced back from a disappointing, 10-8, loss to Grafton on Friday to outlast Milwaukee Rufus King, 5-4, on Saturday.

Bay, which started the new week with a 10-0 loss to unbeaten North Shore leader Homestead on Monday, is now 2-9 in league play and 4-13 overall.

"We had our chances to win against Grafton, we out-hit them, 15-10," said Blue Dukes coach Jeff Trask, "but we committed some costly errors, allowing five unearned runs which ended up costing us the game."

Meridith Ludwig and Jo Ruppa had three hits apiece, while Rachel Whaley hit two doubles and Maggie Hankerd (three RBI) and Kay Burns, each had two hits apiece. Jo Ruppa had five strikeouts with only one walk.

"King played some interesting defense (shifting almost everyone to one side of the field) which helped keep the game close," said Trask. "Our kids really pounded the ball, but their outfielders were playing so deep that we just kept hitting it right at them. We kept trying to hit it where they weren't but we just couldn't do it."

Ruppa had two hits with two RBI while Ludwig had a double and an RBI.

Bay will host Cedarburg on Thursday, Port Washington on Friday and on Saturday will visit Milwaukee Hamilton in a nonconference tilt.

Whitefish Bay boys track

Dominant efforts in the sprints led the Blue Duke boys to a fourth-place finish in the 10-school Grafton Invitational on Friday.

The meet was the final tune-up before the North Shore Conference Outdoor held Tuesday (see WhitefishBayNOW.com for details). Now the Blue Dukes will focus their attentions on the WIAA regional meet Monday at Grafton with qualifiers advancing to the Homestead sectional on May 27.

Bay scored 83 points for its spot as West Bend West and Grafton tied for first with 117 points apiece.

The Blue Dukes went one-two in the 100 and 200 meters and also won the 400 and 800 relays in earning their spot. In the 100, Jevontae Merriwether won in 11.36 seconds while James Stecker was second (11.42), while in the 200, Davontae Johnson (23.23) was victorious with Brandon Threats in second (23.53).

The 800 relay team cruised to a three-second win in 1:33.07, while the 400 team was second, clear in 43.75.

Other top four efforts included the following: 110 high hurdles: Jake Swanson, fourth (19.37); pole vault: Zachary Tazalla, fourth (8-0); and triple jump: Phil Kistler, second (39-2 1/2 ); Paul Davis, third (38-5).

Nicolet softball

The Knights scored five times in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead and then held on for a 6-5 win over Grafton on Monday night.

Nicolet improved to 5-5 in North Shore play and 6-10 overall, after dropping a twinbill to Kenosha St. Joseph's (7-5, 5-4) on Saturday.

"These last few games have the first close games we've played in awhile," said Knights coach Brad Kuehl. "Games where we had to try and protect a lead late. That'll be useful come (WIAA) tournament time."

Amy Popp scattered 10 hits in the win over Grafton and made her coach look smart as Kuehl has been advocating having her throw strikes and then let somebody catch the ball when it is hit.

Carli deFelice (double and RBI) and Lanoira Duhart (double and two RBI) both had two hits apiece for Nicolet.

Kuehl praised the effort of outfielder/pitcher Jessica Kloehn, as well as those of Claire Maxon and deFelice.

The Knights are in the midst of a chaotic, six-game week, including a home tilt against Milwaukee Lutheran at 4 p.m. Thursday and then a nonconference home doubleheader against DSHA at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Nicolet boys track

The Knights picked up five places in taking 16th out of 23 teams in the powerhouse Monona Grove Invitational on Friday.

Nicolet took part in the North Shore Conference Outdoor on Tuesday (see GlendaleNOW.com for details) and now will prepare for the WIAA regional meet at Grafton at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

The top four in each event will advance from the regional to the sectional at Homestead on May 27.

Nicolet scored 22 points at Monona Grove as Stevens Point won with 77.

Earning fourths were Christian Smith in the 100 (11.56) and Nate Frazer in the 1,000 (2:39.01), while fifths went to Mark Taibleson in the discus (152-7), the 400 relay team of Lamar Johnson-Harris, Winston Hermann, Smith and Brandon Kappel (44.14); and the 800 relay team of Jeff McClain, Johnson-Harris, Smith and Hermann (1:32.26).

Homestead, Whitefish Bay and Nicolet tennis

The North Shore Conference tournament will be held at Nicolet and Homestead this weekend, with the Highlanders trying to complete a season sweep and another league title.

Play will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday with singles at Nicolet and doubles at Homestead and will conclude at 4 p.m. Friday with championship and third-place play at Nicolet and the consolation bracket at Homestead.

In the Manitowoc Invitational on Saturday, Homestead defeated Manitowoc, 7-0, Brookfield Central, 5-2, and lost to defending state champion Marquette, 5-2.

Brown Deer boys golf

The Falcons took 19th of 21 at the Morningstar Invitational hosted by Greendale on Friday, turning in an 18-hole score of 366 as New Berlin West won with a 312 mark.

Brown Deer was led by Sean Andryaukas with an 83 while Eric Seonbuchner came in with an 89.

 

- Steven L. Tietz