SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: River Ridge's Aidan Gage

River Ridge senior account for 38 points in boys' team victory at North Crawford

Senior Aidan Gage won the 100, 200 and triple jump and finished second in the long jump to lead the River Ridge boys to the team title at last Tuesday's North Crawford Invitational. He then won the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump to lead the Timberwolves to a team title at last Thursday's Cassville/Potosi Invitational.

Senior Aidan Gage won the 100, 200 and triple jump and finished second in the long jump to lead the River Ridge boys to the team title at last Tuesday's North Crawford Invitational. He then won the 100, 200, long jump and triple jump to lead the Timberwolves to a team title at last Thursday's Cassville/Potosi Invitational.

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

By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial

Aidan Gage, Sr., River Ridge boys track and field
SOLDIERS GROVE — River Ridge senior speedster Aidan Gage appears to already be in midseason form with his performance at last Tuesday’s North Crawford Invite.

Aside from finishing first in three events and second in another, his winning time of :23.02 is currently the fastest in the state among division 3 athletes so far this season. For those wondering, Gage’s time was 0.32 of a second away from the school record of :22.7 set by Jon Martin.

Gage also finished first in the 100 (:11.43) and triple jump (39’11’) last Tuesday evening, while finishing second in the long jump (19’3.75”).

Fellow senior Braden Crubel, who made the jump from baseball to track this season, has also been a valuable addition to coach Shane Sperle’s squad. At Tuesday’s meet, Crubel finished first in the 400 (:53.85), high jump (6’2”) and long jump (20’0”), while finishing second to Gage in the 200 (:23.35).

Together, Gage and Crubel accounted for 76 of their team’s 191 points, which was tops among the seven competing schools.

Thursday at the Cassville/Potosi Invitational, Gage won four events and scored 40 team points to lead the Timberwolves to another team title. Gage scored first-place finishes in the 100 (:11.72), 200 (:23.53), long jump (18’3.25”) and triple jump (38’05”).

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Eli Adams, Jr., P, Potosi/Cassville baseball
POTOSI — Junior Eli Adams was nearly perfect Thursday afternoon when he struck out 13 of the 17 batters he faced and allowed just one walk in a 75-pitch no-hitter to lead the Chieftains to a 10–0 five-inning victory over Black Hawk in the Chieftains’ Six Rivers Conference opener. Senior Logan Kruser went 3-for-3 with a double, triple, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the offense.
“Eli threw well Friday night, he was getting ahead in the count,” said P/C head coach Tony Leibfried. “He threw 65 percent strikes. He had good command, velocity, and he threw his breaking ball for strikes as well. Throwing a no-hitter is a great moment for any pitcher no matter the team. It is not easy to do, he ended up with 13 Ks as well out of the 15 outs we needed to finish the game in five innings.”

Payton Johnsen, Sr., P, Belmont softball
BELMONT — Belmont senior Payton Johnsen missed most of her junior season with an injury after earning first-team All-Six Rivers West honors two years ago as a sophomore. The Braves’ ace is back and better than ever this spring. Johnsen (5–1) hurled a pair of shutouts last week to lead Belmont to a pair of Six Rivers Conference victories. Johnsen has allowed just three runs — only one earned — in 43 innings so far this year for a 0.16 ERA with 36 strikeouts and just three walks.
The Braves (6–2, 3–0) blanked River Ridge 5–0 last Tuesday as Johnsen struck out six and allowed just four hits in her fourth win of the year. Two days later, Johnsen again tossed a four-hit shutout, striking out five without a walk, in a 5–0 win over visiting Juda/Albany (3–3).