NOTE: Each week, the sports editors of swews4u.com; A.J. Gates (Grant County Herald Independent), Jason Nihles (Platteville Journal), Tom "Gunner" Gunnell (Republican Journal) and Erik Olson (The Richland Observer) will vote on the top prep teams of the week. Our combined vote will produce a weekly list of three to four nominees. Vote on this week’s Team of the Week with a comment below.
WEEK 10's TEAMS OF THE WEEK (Oct. 18-25)
Darlington Cross Country – The Redbirds' boys' and girls' cross country teams swept the team titles at the WIAA Division 3 Boscobel Sectional Meet to earn their fourth straight trips to the state meet. It was the fourth year in a row the Darlington harriers have swept the sectional championship. Tyson Miehe (1st, 16:39) and Destin Komprood (3rd, 17:07) pace the boys. Christa Wamsley (16:02) and Hannah Robiolio (16:03) finished second and third in the girls’ race for Darlington.
Platteville/Lancaster Girls Swimming – For the first time in 27 years the Platteville/Lancaster girls swim team finished in the top two at its own invitational, not bad for a team with just 19 swimmers, by far the smallest roster long-time coach Tom Caccia has ever had. The Hillmen earned six top-three finishes and scored 348.5 points, second only to Division 1 power Wausau West (482.5). Junior Claire Friederick won the 100-yard freestyle in 56.62 seconds to put the Hillmen in second place, then freshman Melanie Schaefer and sophomore Maddie Kieler finished second and third in the 500 freestyle to improved Platteville/Lancaster’s cushion. The threesome, along with Sarah Loring combined to win the 200 yard free relay (1:44.74) later in the meet.
Southwestern Volleyball – The Wildcats knocked off fifth-ranked and top-seeded Deerfield, 3-1, to win a WIAA Division 3 regional championship at Deerfield on Saturday. Katelyn Hoppman slammed 22 kills and had six blocks in the win, while setter Molly Wubben dished out 32 assists for the winners. Southwestern also swept Darlington, 3-0, and defeated rival Cuba City, 3-1, last week on the way to a regional final appearance with the Demons.
Hillsboro football – The Tigers rallied from a 32-22 deficit in the final seven minutes of the game by scoring 12 unanswered fourth quarter points to upset the #2-seeded Potosi Chieftains, 34-32, in Potosi for the opening round of the WIAA Division 7 Football Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. Brandon Sebranek jump-started the rally when he returned an interception 44 yards to pull Hillsboro within four at 32-28. A minute and 20 seconds later, after a Potosi fumble gave the Tigers the ball back, halfback James Griffen tossed a 25-yard TD pass to Nothaus. Griffen rushed for 114 yards in the win. Hillsboro quarterback Spencer Treu completed 6-of-11 passes for 144 yards and two scores, and rushed for another TD.
