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

Brittani Meis, Sr., Platteville girls cross country

     JANESVILLE — Platteville senior Brittani Meis broke her own 5,000-meter school record and finished 14th overall out of more than 800 runners (all female races) at Saturday’s 45-team 2019 Janesville Craig Midwest Invitational. Her new record time of 19:36 paced the Platteville girls’ varsity team which finished 21st out of 35 complete teams with 629 points.

     “Our girls varsity team made a big jump,” said Platteville head coach Rob Serres. “Brit had a fantastic race. Harmony Bell had a nice steady race and is looking stronger, Abigail Goomey had a huge leap, Alexis Thompson was our foundation stone, setting the pace  and Kasey Hammill battled to the end to round out our top five.

     Junior Harmony Bell finished 108th in the girls varsity with a time of 21:33.60. Goomey (22:17.7) and Thompson (22:18.0) finished 167th and 168th, while Hammill (22:57.2) finished 198th. Sophomore Leah Hammill finished 220th at 23:54.60 to round out the Platteville varsity girls lineup.

     Meis led the Platteville girls to the Southwest Wisconsin Conference championship a year ago and a berth at last year's WIAA Division 2 State Championships. Meis finished 53rd individually at 20:39.4, while the Hillmen placed 15th as a team. 

HONORABLE MENTION (In alphabetical order):

Nick Connolly, Sr., Iowa–Grant boys cross country

     Connolly won the boys' small schools division and placed third overall out of 91 runners at last Saturday's 15-team Reedsburg Invitational with a season-best time of 17:11.5 to lead the Iowa–Grant boys to the small schools title. Connolly's Panthers held off River Valley 38–44 to win the small schools crown.

Riley Christensen, Jr., QB/LB, Belmont football

     Christensen accounted for five TDs, led the team with 10 tackles and made an interception in Belmont's 34–14 victory over Kickapoo/La Farge last Friday night. The junior quarterback rushed for 184 yards and three TD, threw for 63 yards and another score and returned a kickoff for a fifth touchdown in the game.

Cole Crubel, Sr., QB, River Ridge football

     Crubel accounted for 277 total yards  in River Ridge's near-upset of top-ranked Black Hawk last Friday night. Crubel scored on a 41-yard TD run in the first quarter, threw a 61-yard TD pass to Brayan Barrita in the second quarter and added a 6-yard TD pass to Archie Cooley with 28.9 seconds left to pull the host Timberwolves (4–2, 2–2) within two points, but the ensuing two-point conversion pass was broken up and Black Hawk recovered an onside kick to escape with the win. Crubel completed 14 of 17 passes for a season-high 201 yards and also caught a 31-yard pass in the game.

John Goomey, Sr., RB/LB, Platteville football

     Goomey rushed for a career-high 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and led the team with seven tackles in Platteville's 34–13 Homecoming victory over Westby last Friday night. The Hillmen improved to 4–2 on the season and 3–1 in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference.

Kaycie Martensen, So., Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton girls cross country

     Martenson turned in a 10th-place finish out of more than 1,000 competitors at the 34th annual Roy Griak Cross Country Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota last Saturday. The meet featured races for both high school and college runners from throughout the Midwest and Canada. The girls' races were broken up into two group — Gold and Maroon — based on seed time. Each group had more than 500 runners. Martensen crossed the finish line of the 5,000-meter race at 18:24 to finish 10th overall out of 1,014 runners in both groups.

Hailey Stitch, So., Cuba City volleyball

     Stitch registered a team-high 25 kills, 19 digs and three aces in a key Southwest Wisconsin Activities League five-set victory over Darlington last Thursday night as the Cubans (15–5, 5–1 SWAL) remained in a first-place tie with Iowa–Grant (15–7, 5–1). Stitch had 11 kills, 18 digs and three aces in a 3–1 over visiting Mineral Point last Tuesday night.