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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Abri Brown
Boscobel freshman wins D3 girls' title at 19-team Smiley Invite
Abri Brown
Boscobel freshman won the girls' D3 title and finished third overall out of 359 runners at last Saturday's 62nd annual Smiley Invitational in Wausau with a time of 19:02.55.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

Abri Brown, Fr., Boscobel cross country

     WAUSAU — Boscobel’s Abri Brown is a wonder. The freshman sensation has burst upon this high school cross country scene this fall as one of the best runners in the entire state. 

     Last Saturday, Brown was again amazing leading the Boscobel girls to the Division 3 team title at the 62nd annual Smiley Invitational in Wausau with a division-winning time of 19:02.55. Brown’s winning-time was better than 105 other runners in D3 and 30 seconds better than D3 runner-up Savannah Schley of Loyal (19:32.61). Overall, Brown finished third out of 359 runners in all divisions behind only Division 1 champion Roisin Willis (18:36.58), a freshman from Stevens Point, and D2 winner Dana Feyen (17:59.48), a senior from Gale–Ettrick-Trempeleau.

     Brown’s sensational performance Saturday led Boscobel to the D3 title with 63 points, finishing better than the other 18 teams in the field, including runner-up Auburndale (92), which was ranked number two in the state in Division 2 behind the Lancaster entering the race. Boscobel was ranked third, but has since jumped to number 2 behind the Flying Arrows. 

     Brown is the clear favorite to win the Southwestern Wisconsin Activities League conference title this fall and a contender for a Division 3 individual state championship.

     The Bulldogs will host the Fennimore Relays this Saturday morning at the Ryan Zimpel Memorial Course (due to course conditions at Fennimore's course).

 

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):

Alexis Adkins, Jr., MH, Fennimore volleyball

     Adkins smashed a team-high 16 kills and had 17 digs to help Fennimore (7–6, 2–2 SWAL) outlast visiting Darlington last Thursday night in five sets. It was Fennimore’s second straight SWAL victory after going just 1–11 in conference a year ago. Adkins had six kills, 12 digs, three aces and a block in last Tuesday’s 3–1 win over Mineral Point. 

 

Colby Argall, Sr., RB, Black Hawk football

     Argall rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns, and scored four two-point conversions in Black Hawks’ 64–38 conference victory at Benton/Scales Mound last Friday night.

 

Wyatt Bastian, Sr., QB and Brooks Tiedeman, Sr., WR, Benton/Scales Mound football

     Six Rivers-leading Black Hawk had its hands full with Wyatt Bastian and the Benton/Scales Mound Zephyrs last Friday night. Bastian completed 19-for-43 passing for 345 yards and five touchdowns  (59, 24, 14, 88 and 31) in a 64–38 loss to the Warriors.

     Tiedeman was Bastian’s favorite target in Friday’s shootout loss to Black Hawk, catching five passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns in the wild 63–38 Six Rivers Conference game at Benton High School.

 

Courtney Busch, Sr., S, Cuba City volleyball

     Busch passed out a tea-high 119 assists and served up 10 aces in seven matches to earn All-Tournament honors and lead the Cubans to a 5–2 13th-place finish at last weekend’s two-day UW–Oshkosh Showdown. Busch also led seventh-ranked Cuba City (17–5, 5–0 SWAL) to a pair of conference victories over Southwestern last Tuesday and Riverdale last Thursday with a combined 56 assists in the two matches.

 

Nick Connolly, So., Iowa–Grant cross country

     Connolly won the boys title at last Tuesday’s Goat Hill Classic in North Crawford with a winning time of 18:30.57. He passed Wauzeka/Steuben’s Jake Reichmann with roughly 400 meters left in the 5K race to pull away for the win and lead the Panthers to a fourth-place finish at the nine-team event.

 

Sophie Dougherty, Sr., OH, Benton volleyball

     Dougherty led the undefeated Zephyrs to seven victories in the past week, including a trio of SRW conference wins over Cassville, Shullsburg and Belmont, an a 4–0 record at the five-team Benton Invitational on Saturday. Dougherty had 22 kills and three blocks in last Thursday’s 3–1 decision over Shullsburg, then posted 16 kills in Monday’s sweep of Belmont. She also led Benton (17–0, 5–0 SRW) to straight-se 2–0 victories over Southwestern, Argyle, Waren and Barneveld on Saturday.

 

Jared Payne, Sr., QB, Wauzeka/Seneca football

     Payne threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Nate Benish with 1:26 left to lift Wauzeka/Seneca to a wild 36–33 comeback victory over River Ridge, keeping the Blugolds perfect on the season at 5–0. Payne accounted for 296 yards and four total touchdowns in the victory. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 150 yards and two TDs, and rushed for 146 yards and two more scores on 20 carries.