MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (May 12–19)
TRACK & FIELD: Six Rivers Conference Meet
By Casey Lindecrantz, Tri-County Press / Republican Journal / The Platteville Journal
BSMS Knights break multiple conference records on way to sweep of Six Rivers Conference Meet
PLATTEVILLE — To say the Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg track and field teams saw a higher level of success later at the Six Rivers Conference Champion would be an understatement.
Of the 33 total events with an entry, the Knights had first place athletes in 15 of them. The resulting points all-around saw BSMS claim first on the boys (147) and the girls (164). The former squad did so by a wide margin over Black Hawk (112) and River Ridge (105.5), with Belmont (36.5) in seventh, while the latter edged out Cassville/Potosi (159.5), with River Ridge (100) and Argyle/Pecatonica (81.5) a distant concern. The Braves improved to fifth with 72 points ahead of the Warriors (43.5, 7th).
“Conference track is interesting because you don’t necessarily put everyone in their best events,” said Knights' head coach Kyle Kern. “It’s about total points as well as where you think other teams are going to score points, and trying to cut into those. It’s a true team effort.”
This was especially true on the girls’ side, where Auderer (100, 12.99; 200, 27.10), Williams (800, 2:34.77; 1600, 5:41.04), and Ragotzkie (100m hurdles, 16.78; 300m hurdles, 50.11) led a majority of the BSMS girls’ running events individually, but were unable to separate themselves comfortably from Cassville/Potosi.
“The girls team was only ahead by a point-and-a-half over Cassville/Potosi going into the final race — the 4-by-400 — and we had a couple girls that don’t normally run that race for us put in a great effort,” Kern said. “That locked up the title, but there were a lot of strong performances on both sides that helped seal the team titles up.”
The 4-by-400 crew was composed of Davis, McKinley Russell, Vanessa Vosberg, and Chloe Thyen, and they ran a 4:25.66 to ultimately place second. Other top performances for the Knights included Alexis Alt in the discus (110’0”) and shot put (37’11”), and Chloe Thyen in the high jump (4’10”).
The boys were similarly effective. Sam Klang accounted for a fourth of the co-op’s points as he took first in the 100 (11.09), 200 (22.72), 400 (52.66), and the long jump (20’0.25”). Josh Richardson took over on lengthier runs, posting first in the 1600 (4:49.90) and 3200 (10:44.42). The pair were responsible for all of the BSMS gold performances, with Elliott Searles posting the boys’ only silver in the pole vault (12’0”).
“The boys’ side was another total team effort, but I do have to mention that Benton junior, Sam Klang, won four events, securing 40 team points,” Kern said. “He also set conference meet records in the 100 and 200.”
The 100 record was previously set by River Ridge’s Aidan Gage in 2023 (11.12), while Dyllan Johll of Cassville set the 200 record back in 2016 (22.76).
Six Rivers Conference Meet
(from Monday, May 18 @ UW–Platteville)
(Boys)
Team scores — 1.Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg 147, 2.Black Hawk 112, 3.River Ridge 105.5, 4.Argyle/Pecatonica 104, 5.Cassville/Potosi 92, 6.Albany 89, 7.Belmont 36.5, 8.Monticello 1.
(Girls)
Team scores — 1.Benton/Scales Mound/Shullsburg 164, 2.Cassville/Potosi 159.5, 3.River Ridge 100, 4.Argyle/Pecatonica 81.5, 5.Belmont 72, 6.Albany 52.5, 7.Black Hawk 43.5, 8.Monticello 19.
