SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton's Noah Wood

Junior wins boys individual SWAL cross country title

Noah Wood set the pace in the conference meet, running a 16:59.7 to place first with seven seconds separating himself and Fennimore’s Isaac Henkel (2nd, 17:06.8). (photo by Erin Reddy Wolff)

Noah Wood set the pace in the conference meet, running a 16:59.7 to place first with seven seconds separating himself and Fennimore’s Isaac Henkel (2nd, 17:06.8). (photo by Erin Reddy Wolff)

Published: Oct 20, 2023, 5:00 PM

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

Noah Wood, Jr., Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton boys cross country
LIVINGSTON — Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton Noah Wood headlines this week's SWNews4U Athletes of the Week list after claiming the individual boys' SWAL title at last Wednesday's SWAL Championships at Iowa–Grant High School.

Wood did what he’s done good at all season long, be one of the fastest on the course. He clocked a sub-17-minute 5,000-meter run (16:59.7) for the fifth time this season to beat the entire field of 84 runners to the finish line including fellow junior standouts Isaac Henkel (17:06.8) of Fennimore and Bret Connolly (17:14.7) at Iowa–Grant.

Junior Andy Atten, who ran a 19:48.4 to finish ninth on the day, also finished the top-15 to join Wood on the All-SWAL team to help the Wildcats (120) finish fifth behind Fennimore (27), Boscobel (83), Iowa–Grant (91) and Albany (110).

Wood and the Wildcats will return to action Friday at the WIAA Division 3 Poynette Sectional. The top two teams, and top five individuals not on a qualifying team, will advance to next Saturday's WIAA State Championships in Wisconsin Rapids.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Layne Aurit, Jr., Dodgeville/Mineral Point boys cross country
Aurit won the boys' individual title at last Thursday's SWC Championships at Dodgeville with a time of 17:11.7, more than 20 seconds faster than runner-up Ryan Stadler of Richland Center/Ithaca to lead the Dodgers (27) to the team title over Richland Center/Ithaca (32).

Adalee Berget, So., Darlington girls cross country
Berget won the girls individual title at last Wednesday's SWAL Cross Country Championships at Iowa–Grant with a winning-time of 19:26.8 to beat runner-up Nora Jillson of Boscobel (19:30.8) by four seconds. Berget's victory helped the Redbirds (38) win the girls conference title ahead of Jillson's Bulldogs (62) and Fennimore (80).

Liam Elton, Sr., North Crawford boys cross country
Elton curised to a seven-second victory to win the boys individual title at last week's Ridge and Valley Conference Championship meet at Prairie du Chien with a winning-time of 18:37.7.

Ella McKinley, Sr., Setter, Cuba City volleyball
McKinley surpassed the 2,000 career assist mark with 25 assists in the second-place Cubans' (25–3, 11–1 SWAL) sweep of Fennimore last Thursday night.

Braycee Nelson, Sr., Setter, Fennimore volleyball
Nelson was honored prior to last Tuesday’s SWAL match over Riverdale for surpassing 1,500 career assists. Nelson, who has been the Eagles’ setter since midway through her freshman year during the COVID alternate spring season in 2020, surpassed the career milestone Sept. 30 in a match at the Belmont Tournament. Following, last week’s pregame recognition, Nelson went out and had one of her finest matches of the year with 30 assists, 12 digs and three kills in a 25–12, 25–19, 25–16 sweep of the visiting Chieftains.

Leah Patterson, Fr., River Ridge girls cross country
Finishing 17 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, River Ridge freshman Leah Patterson claimed the individual girls title at last Thursday’s Ridge & Valley Cross Country Championship Meet held at Wisconsin Badger Camp near Patch Grove. Patterson ran the 5,000-meter course in a time of 21:34.2, with North Crawford junior Agnes Carstens finishing second at 21:51.8. With her first-place finish, Patterson also earned first-team all-conference honors.

Ellie Robinson, Jr., Dodgeville/Mineral Point girls cross country
Robinson won the girls' individual championship at last week's SWC Championships with a time of 19:17.8 to lead the Lady Dodgers (23) to the team title over Lancaster (52).

Tyler Sasse, So., RB/DB, Platteville football
Sasse scored the first touchdown at the new $9 million Platteville Activities Complex on a 51-yard touchdown last Friday night, and finished the game with a career-high 196 yards and 3 TDs on 13 carries in the 45–0 rout. The Division 4 #5-ranked Hillmen (8–1, 6–0 SWC) clinched the outright SWC title for the first time since 2004 with the win.

SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Cassville/Potosi's Brielle Fishnick

Cassville/Potosi sophomore wins four events to highlight team's record-setting day at Six Rivers Conference meet

Cassville/Potosi sophomore Brielle Fishnick won the girls’ 100-meter-dash (12.54), 200 (26.61), long jump (17’3.5") and the triple jump (36’6.5") at last Thursday's Six Rivers Conference Meet to finish the day with a meet-best 40 team points. Fishnick established both school and conference meet records in the long jump and triple jump, along with the 100-meter dash. - photo by A.J. Gates

Cassville/Potosi sophomore Brielle Fishnick won the girls’ 100-meter-dash (12.54), 200 (26.61), long jump (17’3.5") and the triple jump (36’6.5") at last Thursday's Six Rivers Conference Meet to finish the day with a meet-best 40 team points. Fishnick established both school and conference meet records in the long jump and triple jump, along with the 100-meter dash. - photo by A.J. Gates

Updated: May 30, 2025, 2:37 AM

Published: May 29, 2025, 7:17 PM

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

Brielle Fishnick, So., Cassville/Potosi girls track and field
PATCH GROVE — The Cassville/Potosi track and field teams set eight school records, broke three conference records, tied one conference record and the boys’ team finished second at the Six Rivers Conference Track and Field Championship Meet held Thursday at River Ridge High School.

Cassville/Potosi sophomore Brielle Fishnick won the girls’ 100-meter-dash with a time of 12.54 seconds, breaking both the school and the conference meet record. The Cassville phenom went on to also win the girls 200 meters in 26.61 seconds, the long jump with a mark of 17’3.5" and the triple jump with a leap of 36’6.5" to finish the day with a meet-best 40 team points. Fishnick established both school and conference meet records in the long jump and triple jump, along with the 100-meter dash.

The C/P girls finished fourth at the conference meet with 112.5 points, behind conference champion Argyle/Pecatonica (137.5), River Ridge (124) and Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg (123.5).

Following the tragic events that unfolded at UW–Platteville last Monday, which caused the cancellation of the Six Rivers Conference Meet along with the closure of the UWP venue for the remainder of the season, the SRC coaches united to find a date and a location where and when the meet could be held. River Ridge High School took the lead and hosted the meet on what turned out to be a beautiful day for the event.

Fishnick went on to qualify for Friday's WIAA Division 3 Bangor Sectional in all four of her events by winning the long jump (18'0.5") and triple jump (35'1.5"), while placing third in both the 100-meter-dash (12.99) and 200 (27.16) at this past Tuesday's WIAA D3 Kickapoo/La Farge Regional. The long jump mark broke her own school record set last week.

HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Casey Dresen, Sr., Fennimore baseball
Fennimore senior Casey Dresen went 8-for-10 with four walks, a team-high nine RBI and twovruns scored in four league victories over the past week to help the Golden Eagles (20–2, 14–0 SWAL) clinch their first outright SWAL title since 2018. Dresen (6–0) also earned his sixth pitching win in last Wednesday's 9–8 victory over Boscobel, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks in six strong innings.

Kyree Fischer, Fr., P, Richland Center softball
Fischer went 3–0 with 50 strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run in 23 innings to lead the Hornets to three more victories in the past week. She struck out 15 and allowed just two walks in a 1–0 one-hit shutout at Platteville last Thursday. Fischer then struck out 16 in a three-hit 8–0 shutout win over Royall a day later. But the cherry on top of the sundae was a 19-strikeout performance in a 2–1 nine-inning victory over visiting Lancaster this past Tuesday. Fisher and the Hornets finished the regular season 14–8 overall and 6–4 in the SWC, good for third place behind Dodgeville (15–8, 8–2). and Prairie du Chien (17–7, 7–3). This is Richland Center’s best season since going 16–9 overall and 8–2 to finish second in the SWC 13 years ago in 2012. The Hornets finished just 3–13 a year ago and 0–10 in the SWC, and have won just 10 conference games (10–100) in the last 11 seasons (there was no season in 2020).

Kalli Hodgson, Sr., Belmont softball
Hodgson went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and earned the pitching win with four strong innings in Belmont's 15–3 rout of host River Ridge last Thursday night. The Division 5 #1-ranked Braves (20–3, 16–2 SRC) clinched a share of a second straight Six Rivers Conference title with the win. Hodgson struck out sixth and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and a walk in a key 2–1 SRC win over Pecatonica Thursday, May 15.

Evan Larson, Sr., Fennimore boys golf
Fennimore senior Evan Larson shot a 6-over par 78 to share medalist honors with Mineral Point senior Eli Lindsey at Thursday’s SWAL Golf Championships at Edleweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus. Larson’s medalist round earned him a seventh place finish in the final individual SWAL standings with 256.5 points, and a spot on the five-player All-SWAL second team. Fennimore finished fourth Thursday with a combined score of 357 strokes, and finished seventh in the season-long SWAL standings with nine points.

Eli Lindsey, Sr., Mineral Point boys golf
Mineral Point senior Eli Lindsey shot a 6-over par 78 at Thursday’s SWAL Golf Championships at Edleweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus to share medalist honors with Fennimore's Evan Larson. Mineral Point’s Reid Acherman and Drew Aschliman shot 79 to tie for third and help the Pointers win the team title Thursday as well as a 10th straight overall conference title. Gaige Godfrey shot an 88 to round out Mineral Point’s winning team score of 324. The Pointers finished 12 strokes better than runner-up Cuba City/Southwestern/Benton (336), which was led by Ben Thill, who shot 81 to finish sixth on Thursday.

Oliver Post, Sr., Cassville/Potosi boys track and field
Senior Oliver Post recorded wins in the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles (15.69), the high jump (5’6”), the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (42.72), establishing a new SRC meet and school record in the 300 hurdles to lead the Cassville/Potosi boys to a second place team finish at last Thursday's Six Rivers Conference Meet at River Ridge. Post was also a part of the school record setting win in the boys 4x400 relay, along with sophomores Hunter White, Myles Helminiak, and Aaron Edge, which posted a time of 3:42.46.

Ruah Franzmann-Simmert, So., Tri-State Homeschool track and field
After dealing with injury and illness throughout the outdoor track and field season, Franzmann-Simmert won her heat in the full mile at Running Lane Track Championships in Huntsville Alabama May 23 and 24 with a time of 5:03.49. Her 7-second PR brakes this event's heat record. Previous highlights this spring included qualifying for New Balance Indoor Nationals, and placing 3rd in the 800M run at the Wisconsin Indoor Track and Field Championships back in April. Franzmann-Simmert is the top distance runner for the local Tri-State Homeschool Falcons team.

Tyson Starkey, Sr., Fennimore baseball
Starkey struck out seven batters without issuing a walk in a dazzling 75-pitch four-hit shutout of third-place Mineral Point in the first game of a split doubleheader last Thursday night. After the early game win at Mineral Point, the Golden Eagles (20–2, 14–0 SWAL) traveled back to Fennimore then beat Boscobel 12–1 in the nightcap to clinch its first outright SWAL baseball title since 2018. Starkey also had a team-high 9 hits in 16 at-bats, scored a team-best 10 runs, and stole 10 bases in four conference wins over the past week. He went 3-for-5 with three RBI, four stolen bases, three runs scored and pitched the final 1.2 innings of Tuesday's 12–11 win over Darlington to record the save to complete Fennimore's first ever undefeated conference season.