EDITOR'S NOTE: The 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
Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, Sr., distance, Tri-State Homeschool girls track and field
WHITEWATER — Tri-State Homeschool junior Ruah Franzmann-Simmert earned two state champion titles at the Wisconsin State Indoor Track and Field Championships held Saturday at UW–Whitewater.
Franzmann-Simmert held a confident lead throughout the girls’ 1,600 meter run, placing first with a time of 4:54. She followed this with a surprise win in the girls’ 800 meters less than an hour later.
Franzmann-Simmert is now ranked 45th in the country with her indoor time in the 1,600. She met her goal of a sub-5 minute mile with races in Chicago and Michigan, a personal best of 10:48 in the two-mile event, and solid races at New Balance Nationals in Boston.
In a recent podcast, Franzmann-Simmert credits great coaching with the Tri-State Falcons and personal dedication for recent outstanding cross country and track seasons.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Drew Aschliman, Sr., Mineral Point boys golf
Aschliman shot an even par 70 to win medalist honors by five strokes over Cuba City/Southwestern's Ben Thill (75) at the season-opening Dodge–Point Early Bird Invitational Saturday, April 5.
Tyler Miller, Sr., P/OF, Boscobel baseball
Miller struck out 14 batters and allowed just two hits in six scoreless innings, and went 3-for-4 with a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning and scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in Boscobel's 3–2 season-opening victory over North Crawford, Tuesday, March 31.
Ben Thill, Sr., Cuba City/Southwestern boys golf
Thill shot a 5-over-par 75 to finish second individually and lead the Cuba City/Southwestern boys golf team (322) to the team title at the season-opening Dodge–Point Early Bird Invitational Saturday, April 5. The Cubans finished three strokes ahead of runner-up Dodgeville (325), five better than Platteville (327) and 10 in front of reigning 10-time SWAL champion Mineral Point (332).
