EDITOR'S NOTE: The Suppz.com Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday or Friday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Chloe Thyen, Sr., So., OH, Shullsburg volleyball
SHULLSBURG — Shullsburg sophomore outside hitter Chloe Thyen posted the best stat line of her young career to last Tuesday night to lead the #6-ranked Miners to a five-set victory over #4 Highland.
Thyen posted a school-record 28 kills, a career-high 12 blocks (including nine solos) and 14 digs in the 25–23, 24–26, 25–23, 22–25, 15–11 marathon victory over the visiting Cardinals (21–4, 11–1), who had beaten Shullsburg in the teams' first meeting earlier this year.
Thyen is the Suppz.com Athlete of the Week.
Following last Tuesday's win over the first-place Cardinals, Shullsburg (21–4, 11–1) still needed to beat third-place River Ridge (12–10, 8–4 SRW) Thursday night to earn a share of the program's first Six Rivers West title in six years.
Thyen responded with another great match, posting 10 kills, 15 digs, six blocks and two aces to lead the Miners to a 25–13, 25–17, 25–18 sweep of the Timberwolves.
Thyen has posted a team-high 182 kills with a .236 hitting percentage, 50 blocks, 294 digs and 67 aces in 25 matches this year.
Thyen and the Miners earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the WIAA Division 5 playoffs, which began Tuesday night. Shullsburg will host No. 5 Belmont (12–8) in a D5 regional semifinal tonight at 7 p.m.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Brayden Andrews, Sr., LB, Cuba City football
Andrews interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter sealed Cuba City's dramatic 27–20 SWAL victory over Mineral Point in last Friday's regular season finale. Andrews also recorded a co-team-high seven tackles in the game.
Ingrid Carstens, Jr., North Crawford girls cross country
Carstens won the girls' individual conference title at last week's Ridge & Valley Conference Meet with a winning time of 21:15.9 for the runner-up Trojans.
Owen Drier, So., Richland Center/Ithaca boys cross country
Drier won the boys individual title with a time of 16:24.8 to lead the RC/I boys to the SWC team title by five points over runner-up Dodgeville/Mineral Point, 41–46, at last Thursday's SWC Championship Meet.
Natalie Horsfall, Sr., Fennimore girls cross country
Horsfall became the fourth Fennimore girl to claim individual conference champion honors when she won last week’s girls’ race with a time of 19:08.3 while lead the Fennimore girls to a third-place finish at the SWAL Championship Meet last Thursday.
Sam Knoble, Sr., North Crawford boys cross country
Knoble won the boys' individual conference title by more than a minute with a winning-time of 17:53.4 at last Thursday's Ridge & Valley Conference Meet.
Margaret Lawless, Fr., Richland Center/Ithaca girls cross country
Lawless won the girls individual title by nearly half a minute with a time of 19:04.1 to lead the RC/I girls to a fourth-place finish at last Thursday's SWC Championship Meet at the Prairie du Chien Country Club.
Leah Patterson, Sr., Lindsay Burmeister, So., McKenzie Taylor, Sr., River Ridge girls cross country
Patterson (21:24.8), Burmeister (22:26.3) and Taylor (22:50.6) finished second, third and fourth at last Thursday's Ridge & Valley Conference Meet to lead the River Ridge girls to the conference title.
Lilly Ritchie, Sr., OH, Darlington volleyball
Ritchie posted a season-high 30 kills, 16 assists, three aces and two blocks in the Redbirds 25–22, 25–19, 23–25, 25–27, 15–12 SWAL win over Iowa–Grant last Thursday night. Ritchie also surpassed 200 career aces in the match. The Darlington senior went on to post a team-high 11 kills, 10 assists and three aces in a 25–13, 25–20, 25–10 sweep of Poynette in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal playoff match Tuesday night.
Bobby Schmidt, So., Fennimore boys cross country
Schmidt became the sixth boy in school history to win the individual conference title with a winning time of 16:40.0, which is a new lifetime best by more than 20 seconds, to lead the Fennimore boys to a second straight SWAL Championship Meet last Thursday at Boscobel.
