Rain couldn’t stop the 49th annual Platteville Relays, no more than the assembled competition could stop the host Hillmen.
     Platteville dominated the all-relays event winning both the boys’ and girls’ team titles at their home event Friday, one day later than originally scheduled.
     Poor weather on Thursday promoted the change in dates.
     The Platteville boys won seven of the contested point-scoring events, finished third in three others and totaled 117 points, 17 more than runner-up River Valley (90).
     “It was exciting for both teams to win our own relays,” said Hillmen head coach Rob Serres. “ The kids ran hard, and there was some excellent competition in both divisions.”
     All 14 events at Friday’s meet were either as a traditional four-person track relay, or a two-person combined relay where a pair of teammate’s total distances or times where added together to determine placement in field events like shot put, pole vault and long jump, as well as the events 2x100 dash shuttle relay, 2x110 shuttle hurdle relay, and the 2x3,200 relay.
     Senior John Skubal and junior Ryan Weber teamed up to win a pair of gold medals in the discus and shot put.
Their combined winning distance of 297–11 in the discus just missed breaking the meet record. They won the shot put with a combined total of 89–5.
     Senior Tanner Ames was a part of three gold medal performances on Friday. Ames and fellow senior Derek Schambow won the triple jump with a distance of 77–4¾.Schambow also teamed with James Bailie to finish first in the long jump relay (38–8).
     Ames teamed with Ben Bahr, Colten Henry and Matt Goodney to win the 4x400 relay (3:38.69). Ames won his third gold medal with Nate Roling, Jacob Bernhardt and Jake Baker in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1:40.15.
     The Platteville boys’ final win was the duo of Dan Iselin and Max Frommelt in the 2x3,200 who had a combined time of 22:00.0.
     “Our boys are tough this year,” said Serres.  “We have a good team balance, and some top performers who continue to step up for us meet after meet, notably Ben Bahr, Derrick Schambow, Ryan Weber, John Skubal and Matt Goodney.”
     In girls’ competition Platteville won four events, finished second in five others and scored 104.5 points to edge runner-up Cuba City (97) and third-place finisher Dodgeville/Mineral Point (82.5).
     The quartet of sophomore Maggie Durni, and junior Julia Evans, Melanie Schaefer and Allie Serres won the sprint medley relay in 1:56.34, which was just .04 seconds off the meet record.
     Senior Danielle Jentz (9–6) and junior Elissa Bahr (9–0) also just missed setting a meet record in the girls’ pole vault, winning the event with a combined height of 18–6, just six inches short of the record.
     Evans also took first place in the high jump relay with sophomore Faye Bailie with a combined height of 10–4, as both cleared 5–2.
     Durni teamed with senior Noah Hoeper to win the long jump relay with a distance of 31–8½.
     “The girls are also doing very well this year,” added Serres. “They are working hard and pulling through with some very fine performances. We have had a few injuries, that we have struggled with, but the girls are mentally tough and pushing themselves to be as tough as possible.”
     Platteville will return to action Friday at the River Ridge Timberwolf Invitational before traveling to Richland Center on Tuesday for a SWC triangular.

Belmont also competes at Platteville Relays
     The Belmont track team also competed at Friday’s Platteville Relays and turned in a number of quality performances despite having just 11 athletes on its boys’ and girls’ teams combined.
     The duo of junior Keegan Kamps and senior Jordyn Kamps won the girls’ discus with a total distance of 197–6. They also placed sixth in the shot put (47–7½).
     Junior Jannie deHaan and sophomore Alie Klein won a bronze medal with a third-place finish in the high jump (9–0).
     Jordyn Kamps, Klein, freshman Maddie Travis and senior German exchange student Sara Pedersen placed fifth in the distance medley relay in 4:50.86. They also placed sixth in the spring medley relay (2:10.0).
     The Belmont girls scored 30.5 points and placed seventh out of nine teams.
     In the boys’ competition junior Tucker Wedig and Jozef deHaan finished third in the shot put relay with a distance of 76–5. Wedig was the top individual thrower at the meet with a toss of 53–10.
Wedig and Declan Crego placed fourth in the discus with a distance of 297–11.

49th Annual Platteville Relays
(from Monday, April 21 @ Prairie du Chien)
(Boys)
Team scores — 1.Platteville 117, 2.River Valley 90, 3.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 83, 4.Lancaster 66, 5.Cuba City 51, 6.River Ridge 48, 7.Cassville 34, 8.Galena (Ill.) 24, 9.Belmont 15.
Platteville’s top finishers
4x800 relay — 2.Platteville (Cullen Bryla, Dan Iselin, Colten Henry, Mike Donovan) 8:58. 200 shuttle hurdle relay — 2.Platteville (Matt Goodney, David Wawrzak) :36.15. 2x100 relay — 3.Platteville (Nate Roling, Jake Baker) 23.58. Distance medley relay (2-2-4-8) — 3.Platteville (Derek Schambow, Bailie, Ben Bahr, Henry) 3:53. Sprint medley relay (1-1-2-4) — 1.Platteville (Roling, Jacob Bernhardt, Baker, Tanner Ames) 1:40.15. 4x100 relay — 2.Platteville (Bernhardt, Roling, Ames, Baker) :45.59. 2x3,200 relay — 1.Platteville (Dan Iselin, Max Frommelt) 22:00.00. 4x400 relay — 1.Platteville (Bahr, Henry, Goodney, Ames) 3:38.69. Pole vault — 3.Platteville (Bahr, Tashner) 13–6. Long jump – 1.Platteville (James Bailie, Schambow) 38–8. Triple jump — 1.Platteville (Ames, Schambow) 77–4¾. High jump — 3.Platteville (Chance Kupersmith, Baker) 10–10. Shot put — 1.Platteville (John Skubal, Ryan Weber) 89–5. Discus — 1.Platteville (Skubal, Weber) 297–11.
Belmont’s top finishers
4x400 relay — 8.Belmont (Declan Crego, Jozef deHaan, Josh Adams, Tucker Wedig) 4:31.62. High jump — 6.Belmont (Crego, Adams) 4–10. Shot put — 3.Belmont (Wedig, deHaan) 76–5. Discus — 4.Belmont (Wedig, Crego) 215–8.
(Girls)
Team scores — 1.Platteville 104.5, 2.Cuba City 97, 3.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 82.5, 4.River Ridge 72.5, 5.Lancaster 62, 6.River Valley 53, 7.Belmont 30.5, 8.Cassville 4, 9.Galena (Ill.) 0.
Platteville’s top finishers
4x800 relay — 2.Platteville (Rachel Emendorfer, Holly Kasper, Bri Updike, Allie Serres) 10:39. 200 shuttle hurdle relay — 2.Platteville (Julia Evans, Danielle Jentz) :26.83. 2x100 — 2.Platteville (Maggie Durni, Noah Hoeper) 26.83. Distance medley relay (2-2-4-8) — 4.Platteville (Sarah Burton, Hoeper, Elissa Bahr, Emendorfer) 4:45. Sprint medley relay (1-1-2-4) — 1.Platteville (Durni, Evans, Melanie Schaefer, Serres) 1:56.34. 4x100 relay — 2.Platteville (Burton, Evans, Bahr, Durni) :51.31. 2x3,200 relay — 2.Platteville (Kasper, Updike) 27:14.00. 4x400 relay — 4.Platteville (Emendorfer, Burton, Schaefer, Serres) 4:29.0. Pole vault — 1.Platteville (Jentz, Bahr) 18–6. Long jump – 1.Platteville (Durni, Hoeper) 31–8.5. Triple jump — 3.Platteville (Faye Bailie, Ashley Budden) 59–3½. High jump — 4.Platteville (Bailie, Evans) 10–4. Shot put — 4.Platteville (Emma Gore, Courtney Jones) 49–8.5. Discus — 5.Platteville (Gore, Budden) 161–11.
Belmont’s top finishers
Distance medley relay (2-2-4-8) — 5.Belmont (Jordyn Kamps, Alie Klein, Maddie Travis, Sara Pederson) 4:50.86. Sprint medley relay (1-1-2-4) — 6.Belmont (J. Kamps, Klein, Travis, Pederson) 2:10.0. 4x400 relay — 6.Belmont (J. Kamps, Keegan Kamps, Travis, Klein) 4:40.0. Long jump — 7.Belmont (Travis, Pedersen) 20–10. High jump — 3.Belmont (Jannie deHaan, Klein) 9–0. Shot put — 6.Belmont (K. Kamps, Klara Drews) 47–7½. Discus — 1.Belmont (K. Kamps, J. Kamps) 197–6.

River Ridge Track Meet
(from Thursday, April 17 @ Lancaster)
(Boys)
Team scores — 1.Benton/Scales Mound 185, 2.River Ridge 169, 3.Albany 125, 4.Pecatonica/Argyle 33, 5.Belmont 29, 6.Black Hawk 10.
Belmont’s top finishers
100 — 2.Tucker Wedig 12.97. 400 — 10.Declan Crego 1:13.63.  800 — 9.Jozef deHaan 3:01.00. 1,600 — 8.deHaan 6:49.00. High  jump — 7.Crego 4–10. Long jump — 11.deHaan 13–2. Triple jump — 6.Josh Adams 28–3¾. Shot put — 1.Wedig 56–9¼. Discus — 1.Wedig 153–9.
(Girls)
Team scores — 1.River Ridge 233, 2.Benton/Scales Mound 128, 3.Pecatonica/Argyle 94, 4.Albany 31.5, 5.Belmont 31.5, 6.Black Hawk 16.5.
Belmont’s top finishers
100 — 10.Maddie Travis 15.87. 200 — 11.Alie Klein 32.64. 400 — 4.Sara Pedersen 1:12.00, 6.Travis 1:21.00. 800 — 9.Klein 3:03.00. 100 hurdles — 2.Klein 18.10. High jump — 2.Jannie deHaan 4–8, 7(tie).Klein 4–0. Long jump — 9.Travis 10–5½. High jump — 9.Klara Drews 23–2½.  Discus — 2.Keegan Kamps 97–3.