EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Sadie Willborn, So., P, Belmont softball
Sophomore pitcher Sadie Willborn is this week’s Mast Water Technology SWnews4U.com Athlete of the Week after leading the Braves to a pair of victories in their first two outings of the week.
Monday afternoon, Willborn struck out 10 Flying Arrows and allowed just one earned run on a solo home run in the seventh inning as the Braves defeated visiting Lancaster in the season opener for both teams. A day later, Willborn came on in relief in the bottom of the fifth inning with Belmont clinging to a slim one-run lead and host Cuba City had the tying run on second base. She promptly struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam then ripped an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning and later scored on Lydia Leahy’s RBI single to give the Braves a 4–1 lead. Willborn pitched two more hitless innings to earn the save and finished with seven strikeouts and one walk (the only base runner she allowed), while facing just nine batters.
Willborn and the Braves will return to action Saturday at Platteville at 3 p.m.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Skye Digman, Jr., Platteville track and field
Digman won the girls’ shot put with a toss of 38’2” at last Friday’s Tri-State Large Schools Indoor Invitational at UW–Platteville to help the Hillmen to a fourth-place team finish with 54 points. Earlier in the week, she placed second in the event (39’) at the UW–Platteville Pioneer High School Invitational.
Brianna Leahy, Jr., Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg track & field
The Shullsburg junior won the girls shot put at Saturday’s Tri-State Small Schools Indoor Invitational Saturday at UW–Platteville with a throw of 39’0. Last Tuesday, Leahy set a new program record at the Pioneer High School Invitational with a winning toss of 40’3.5”
Paige Murphy, Sr., Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg track and field
Murphy finished third in the 55-meter-dash with a new program record time of 7.79 seconds and placed fourth in the long jump (15’3.5”) at Saturday’s Tri-State Small Schools Indoor Invitational. She won the 55-meter-dash in 7.82 seconds last Tuesday at the 14-team Pioneer High School Indoor Invitational.
Madison Rizner, Jr., Richland Center track and field
The junior standout won the triple jump with a leap of 36’1.25” and finished second in the long jump (16’1.5”) by less than an inch at Saturday’s Tri-State Small Schools Indoor Invitational at UW–Platteville last Saturday.
Kordell Stillmunkes, Jr., Cuba City track and field
Stillmunkes won the long jump with a spectacular mark of 22’0.5” and added a third-place finish in the 55-meter-dash (6.68 seconds) at last Tuesday’s A.Y. McDonald Indoor Meet at the University of Dubuque last Tuesday night.
