EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
Kyle Pulvermacher, Sr., and Emma Lawrence, So., Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg track & field
Pulvermacher and Lawrence were among the seven Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg athletes that lived out a dream when they competed at the prestigious Kansas Relays last weekend at Kansas University in Lawrence.
In the process, the Benton duo earned this week’s Mast Water Technology swnews4u.com co-Athlete of the Week honors after each setting a new team record.
Pulvermacher broke the Benton school and tri-op team record in the discus with a toss of 161’3” to place 10th on Friday at the exclusive KU relays, then added a 13th-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 50’4”.
Lawrence also had a record-setting effort on the way to the awards stand in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles with time of 46.33 in her heat race to finish seventh overall. She also placed 31st in the 100-meter hurdles (16.57).
“It was a great experience for these athletes,” said B/SM/S head coach Paul Raley, who noted there were athletes from 13 different states at the 89th running of the Kansas Relays. “To be able to qualify, then complete against some of the Midwest’s best can’t be duplicated anywhere else. It’s much tougher than our state meet as there were no divisions. Our kids stepped up and performed really well.”
Prior to leaving for Kansas, Pulvermacher and Lawrence tuned up at last Tuesday’s River Ridge Six Rivers Meet in Bloomington. Pulvermacher won the shot put (48’1”) and the discus (146’6”) and was a part of the winning 4x100 relay (48.16 seconds). Lawrence won the girls’ 200 meters (28.40).
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Elijah Cannon, Sr., Riverdale baseball
The senior right hander struck out 17 batters in a four-hit shutout of Iowa–Grant last Friday afternoon. He also had an RBI single in the 4–0 win for the Chieftains.
Josh Hentrich, Jr., Lancaster golf
Hentrich shot 1-over par 35 to earn medalist honors at last Thursday’s Richland Center SWC mini meet. He then placed third with an 8-over-par 79 at Saturday’s Dick McKichan Platteville Invitational and followed that up with an even more impressive 3-over-par 75 to finish third out of 105 golfers at Monday’s Geneva National Invitational in Lake Geneva.
Alexis Mathis, Sr., Hillsboro softball
For the second time in a week, Mathis played the role of hero. The senior delivered the Tigers’ first win of the season with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 9–8 victory over Brookwood on April 18. This past Monday she did it again, this time belting a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the eighth to lift Hillsboro to a wild 11–10 comeback win over visiting Royall. Last Thursday, Mathis hit a pair of inside-the-park homers in a sweep of visiting Wonewoc–Center. She hit a grand slam in a 16–3 win in the opener, then tied game two at 7–7 with her second four-bagger of the day to spark the Tigers to a 17–7 victory.
Hunter Matye, Jr., Shullsburg/Benton baseball
The Shullsburg junior went 5-for-9 with three doubles and six RBIs in three wins last week as the Shullsburg/Benton baseball team extended its winning streak to four games with victories over Highland on Monday, and a Six Rivers sweep of Argyle on Friday. Matye had two-run double in Monday’s 9-7 win over the Cardinals. He then went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in Friday’s 10–9 game one win. He also picked up the win with two innings of relief.
Vince Momot, Sr., Platteville track & field
The senior standout was a three-event winner as the Hillmen swept the 50th Platteville Relays last Friday at Platteville High School. Momot teamed with junior Dan Iselin to win the 2x3,200 relay in a new record time of 20:12.91. He also cleared 12 feet in the pole vault to win the event with senior teammate Kevin Donovan with a combined height of 22 feet. Momot began his day with a win in the 4x800 relay (8:30.48) with Iselin, freshman Jace Serres and senior Blake Julius.
Jesse Sturtz, Sr., Darlington baseball
The senior drove in the game-tying run, scored the winning run and pitched a complete game to lead the SWAL-leading Redbirds to a 6–5 victory over Mineral Point last Friday afternoon. Struts (3–1) allowed five runs, only one earned, on three hits and four walks. He struck out three. Sturtz also played a key role in Darlington’s game-winning seventh-inning rally. After Tyler Osterday pulled the Redbirds within a run at 5–4 with an RBI single, Strutz drilled a run-scoring double to centerfield to tie the game. Strutz later scored the game-winning run on a walk-off RBI single by Tyler Torstenson-Harris.
Emily Wiederlholt, Sr., Cuba City softball
Wiederholt struck out 16 Boscobel and tossed her second no-hitter of the season in a 3–1 victory over Boscobel last Thursday. Wiederholdt (8–3) also shut down SWAL foe Riverdale twice in the past week, tossing a two-hit shutout in a 6–0 win over the visiting Chieftains last Tuesday, then beating Riverdale on their home field 4–1 on Monday.
Nick Willbron, Sr., Belmont baseball
The senior right hander tossed his first career no-hitter to lead the Braves to an 11–0 five-inning victory over Monticello in game two of their Six Rivers doubleheader las Friday night. Wellborn allowed just three baserunners in the game and finished the game with 10 strikeouts as Belmont improved to 6–2 overall and 5–0 in the Six Rivers Conference.
