The 49th running of the Platteville Relays was one of the toughest weather conditions in the history of the event.

     It was cold, windy, and raining at times off and on throughout.

     “I felt bad for our workers,” admitted Hillmen head coach Rob Serres. “The athletes were running around staying active and generating some heat. Our workers had to persevere the wet and cold throughout the evening. 

     Even with the challenging conditions, the meet ran smoothly, and Platteville dominated the competition, sweeping both team titles.

     The Platteville girls won four events and finished second in six others at the relay-only meet to cruise to the team title with 104 points. Dodgeville/Mineral Point finished second with 86 points.

     The boys’ competition was much tighter, but the host Hillmen edged out the Dodgers, 71–65, to complete the sweep.

     “I was proud of our Platteville athletes for maintaining their composure and really battling in each and every event,” added Serres. “The relays are unique in that each and every athlete really matters.  With every event being a relay, if one person let’s up, it jeopardizes the entire relay.”

     Each event was contested as a relay, even the field events with total distances or heights added together to determine event winners.

     Standouts for the Platteville girls included senior Julia Evans’s comeback victory in the 200-meter shuttle hurdle relay.  Evans chased down the leaders at the finish line as she and Ashley Budden won the event with a combined time of 36.21 seconds.

     Evans and junior Faye Bailie both cleared 5–0 to win the high jump relay for a third straight year with a combined height of 10–0.

     Bailie (31–0) teamed with her freshman sister Rachel Bailie (29–3) to capture first place in the triple jump relay with a distance of 60–3.

     Seniors Melanie Schaefer (9–0) and Elissa Bahr (8–0) were gold medalists in the pole vault relay with a combined height of 17 feet.

     The Platteville girls’ finished second in the 2x100 relay, 4x400 relay, 4x800 relay, 4x800 relay, the sprint medley relay and the distance medley relay.

     “For the boys, it was very much a team effort as we placed second in many events, but that consistency helped us garner enough points to capture the victory,” said Serres.

     The biggest highlight for the Hillmen boys was the record-setting performance of junior Vince Momot and sophomore Dan Iselin in the 2x3,200 relay.

     Momot (10:03.34) and Iselin (10:18.17) ran the two best times in the event and set a new meet record with a combined time of 20:21.51.

     Iselin and Momot also teamed up to win a pair of silver medals in the 4x400 relay and the 4x800 relay.

     The duo combined with Colton Henry and Nate Roling to finish second in the 4x400 relay (3:50.53).

     Iselin, Momot, Henry and Blake Julius finished second in the 4x800 at 8:56.97.

     Senior Ryan Weber (44–5) and junior Chandler Meisen (37–11) combined to finish second in the shot put relay.

     Weber (145–7) earned a silver medal in the discus relay (241–0) with freshman Caleb Lueder (95–5) and tied for second in the high jump relay with Kevin Donovan (5–0) with a combined height of 10–4.

     Platteville will return to action at Friday’s River Ridge Invitational. The Hillmen will travel to Richland Center on Tuesday for another SWC triangular.

49th Annual Platteville Relays
(from Friday, April 24 @ Platteville)
(Boys)
Team scores — 1.Platteville 71, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 65, 3.Galena 57, 3.River Valley 57, 5.Cuba City 54, 6.Lancaster 51, 7.Cassville 32.5, 8.Belmont 20, 9.River Ridge 22, 10.Richland Center 8.
Platteville’s top finishers (top 8)
2x3,200 relay — 1.Platteville (Vince Momot 10:03.34, Dan Iselin 10:18.17) 20:21.51. 2x100 relay — 5.Platteville (Jake Baker, Mike Mussara) 26.64. 4x100 relay — 5.Platteville (Mussara, Nick Mewhirter, Baker, Nate Roling) 47.87. 4x400 relay — 2.Platteville (D. Iselin, Colton Henry, Roling, Momot) 3:50.43. 4x800 relay — 2.Platteville (Iselin, Henry, Blake Julius, Momot) 8:56.97. Sprint medley relay (100-100-200-400) — 4.Platteville (Mussara, David Kaiser, Baker, Roling) 1:43.28. Distance medley relay (200-200-400-800) — 4.Platteville (Mewhirter, Kaiser, Colin Thiele, Henry) 4:07.24. 2x110 shuttle hurdle relay — 3.Platteville (Cole Gore, David Wawrzak) 37.67.  High jump relay — 2(tie).Platteville (Ryan Weber 5–4, Kevin Donovan 5–0) 10–4. Long jump relay — 5.Platteville (Baker 19–2, Logan Weaver 15–4) 34–6. Triple jump relay — 6.Platteville (Gore 34–5½, Thiele 31–5) 65–10½. Shot put relay — 2.Platteville (Weber 44–5, Chandler Miesen 37–11) 82–4. Discus relay — 2.Platteville (Weber 145–7, Caleb Lueder 95–5) 241–0.

(Girls)
Team scores — 1.Platteville 104, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 86, 3.Cuba City 81, 4.Lancaster 46, 5.River Ridge 42, 5.River Valley 42, 7.Richland Center 18, 8.Cassville 16, 9.Belmont 5.5.
Platteville’s top finishers (top 8)
3,200 — 6.Holly Kasper 13:29.46, 7.Brelynn Updike 13:29.49. 2x100 relay — 2.Platteville (Maggie Durni, Theresa Eglin) 27.39. 4x100 relay — 3.Platteville (Eglin, Julia Evans, Melanie Schaefer, Durni) 54.46. 4x400 relay — 2.Platteville (Schaefer, Rachel Emendorfer, Elisa Bahr, Allie Serres) 4:26.34. 4x800 relay — 2.Platteville (Serres, Emendorfer, Updike, Kasper) 10:37.85. Sprint medley relay (100-100-200-400) — 2.Platteville (Baker, Katherine Kasper, Eglin, Durni) 2:01.41. Distance medley relay (200-200-400-800) — 2.Platteville (Baker, Schaefer, Serres, Emendorfer) 4:36.20. 2x100 shuttle hurdle relay — 1.Platteville (Ashley Budden, Evans) 36.21. High jump relay — 1.Platteville (Evans 5–0, Faye Bailie 5–0) 10–0. Pole vault relay  — 1.Platteville (Schaefer 9–0, Bahr 8–0) 17–0. Long jump relay — 2.Platteville (Serres 15–6½, Durni 15–5½) 31–0. Triple jump relay — 1.Platteville (F. Bailie 31–0, Rachel Bailie 29–3) 60–3. Shot put relay — 3.Platteville (Skye Digman 28–6, Budden 22–10) 51–4. Discus relay — 6.Platteville (Digman 74–3, Budden 66–1) 140–4.