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Platteville sweeps SWC titles
pla track Iselin
Senior Dan Iselin (front) finished second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at last Tuesdays SWC meet at Richland Center, while sophomore Jace Serres (back) placed third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 800 to help the Platteville boys repeat at conference champs.

RICHLAND CENTER — The Platteville track and field program’s dominance over the Southwest Wisconsin Conference continued last Tuesday evening.

The boys and girls teams ran past the competition, sweeping the SWC titles for a second straight year. The Platteville girls crowned eight champions and scored 196 points to hold off runner-up Dodgeville/Mineral Point (169) and win the 21st girls track and field conference title in program history, the 11th since Rob Serres became the girls’ head coach in 2000.

The Platteville boys only had one individual champion, but used superior team depth a host of second, third and fourth-place finishes to outscore runner-up Dodge–Point 178–147 to win Platteville’s 69th boys track conference title and 28th in Serres’ 32nd year as head coach.

“I’m extremely proud of these young ladies and young men,” said Serres. “They were completely focused on what they needed to do to achieve this goal.  The girls team far surpassed their expectations for the meet.  They just seemed to be hitting on all cylinders and rallied each other to perform at another level. The boys team was the same way.  We told the kids it was going to be a battle and that we were going to be thrown some punches as the meet progressed, but that we needed to be able to take those punches and also throw a few of our own. The kids did just that. It was a great day for these kids, their families, the school, and the community.”

Off all the shinning performances, senior Brelynn Updike’s led the way, with a hand in winning three events.
Updike won individual titles in the 800 (2:13.37) and 1,600 (5:29.43) and teamed with freshman Becca Hoyer and Makayla Rooney and sophomore Clare Drefcinski to win the girls’ 4x400 relay (4:14.65).

“Brelynn had a tremendous meet,” noted Serres. “At the conference meet, we sometimes take athletes out of their more regular events in hoping to score or counteract the scoring that takes place from other teams.  We doubled up Brelynn in the 800 and 1,600 and she won them both, beating some kids she hasn’t beat all season. Then she also went on to be a part of our winning 4x400 relay as well.”

Junior Skye Digman was a double winner, sweeping the throws. She won the girls’ shot put with a toss of 36’1” and won the discus with throw of 114’2”. She also placed fourth in the high jump (4’8”).

Rooney set a new Platteville freshman record to win the high jump by clearing 5’4” and finished third in the 800 (2:33.43). Senior Grace Hammermeister won the 300 low hurdles in a winning time of 51.55 seconds and finished second in the 100-meter high hurdles (17.79).

Hoyer surprised the entire field in the 400 meters by upending a couple of season long champions to win the event in 1:02.37 seconds. She also placed fourth in the 200 (28.56) and the triple jump (30’2½”).  Freshman Sara Langmeier earned a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles (18.91) and the . Freshman Izzy Carroll placed third in the shot put (29’7”).

Junior Brock Schambow was the only individual winner for the Platteville boys, winning the triple jump with a leap of 40’1½”.

Senior Dan Iselin finished second in both the 1,600 (4:40.44) and the 3,200 (10:17.20) to score 16 team points. He was also a member of Platteville’s third-place 4x800 relay.

Senior Logan Weaver finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles (17.44), Sophomore Quinn Kafter was second in the high jump (5’10”), sophomore AJ Barner took second in the 100 meters (11.7) and sophomore Calvin Wernimont a surprise second-place finish in the pole vault clearing a personal-best 12’0”.

The Platteville boys also finished second in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

The Hillmen also had a host of individual third-place finishes; Weaver in the 300 hurdles (44.75), sophomore Gabe Tashner in the 110 hurdles (18.08), sophomore Jace Serres in the 1,600 (4:43.33), freshman Miles Steckling in the long jump (19’5”), sophomore Tyler Moss in the triple jump (39’4”) and juniors Caleb Lueder in the discus (134’9”).

Monday’s WIAA Division 2 Lancaster regional was suspended due to severe thunderstorms and concluded Tuesday afternoon. The top four finishers in each event will advance to Thursday’s D2 McFarland Sectional.

SWC Championships
(from Tuesday, May 16 @ Richland Center)
(Boys)
Team scores — 1.Platteville 178, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 147, 3.Prairie du Chien 133, 4.River Valley 125, 5.Lancaster 67, 6.Richland Center 35.
Platteville place winners (top 8)
100 — 2.A.J. Barner 11.7, 5.Nick Mewhirter 12.06. 200 — 5.Donovan Blevins 24.53, 6.Tyler Moss 24.70. 400 — 4.Liam Reinicke 54.61, 6.Osaze King 55.68. 800 — 4.Jace Serres 2:06.73, 5.Alex Sonsalla 2:06.95. 1,600 — 2.Dan Iselin 4:40.44, 3.Serres 4:43.33. 3,200 — 2.Iselin 10:17.20. 110 hurdles — 2.Logan Weaver 17.44, 3.Gabe Tashner 18.08. 300 — 3.Weaver 44.75, 5.Tashner 46.17. 4x100 — 2.Platteville (Barner, Blevins, Mike Mussara, Weaver) 46.62. 4x200 — 2.Mewhiter, Moss, Blevins, Barner) 1:34.41. 4x400 — 2.Mewhirter, Moss, Serres, Reinicke) 3:34.0. 4x800 — 3.Platteville (Logan Henry, Iselin, Sonsalla, Reinicke) 8:41.05. High jump — 2.Quinn Kafer 5’10”. Pole vault —2.Calvin Wernimont 12’0”. Long jump — 3.Miles Steckling 19’5”, 4.Blevins 18’9¾”, 7.Brock Shambow 18’4”. Triple jump — 1.Schambow 40’1½”, 3.Moss 39’4”, 4.Steckling 39’2”. Shot put — 5.Ian Carter 43’10”, 7.Austin Jentz 38’3½”. Discus — 3.Caleb Lueder 134’9”, 6.Jentz 126’1”.
(Girls)
Team scores
— 1.Platteville 196, 2.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 169, 3.Prairie du Chien 103, 4.Lancaster 87, 5.Richland Center 78, 6.River Valley 44.
Platteville place winners (top 8)
100 — 4.Katherine Kasper 13.85. 200 — 4.Becca Hoyer 28.56. 400 — 1.Hoyer 1:02.37, 5.Makayla Rooney 1:04.56. 800 — 1.Brelynn Updike 2:31.37, 3.Rooney 2:33.43, 4.Renee Momot 2:33.62. 1,600 — 1.Updike 5:29.43. 3,200 — 6.Cori Kettler 13:44.89, 7.Momot 15:30.19. 100 hurdles — 2.Grace Hammermeister 17.79, 3.Sara Langmeier 18.91, 4.Talitha Goomey 19.22. 300 hurdles — 1.Hammermeister 51.55, 4.Goomey 57.6, 7.Ashli Vesbach 1:01.26. 4x100 — 2.Platteville (Lauren Becker, Hannah Langmeier, Emilie Busch, K. Kasper) 53.3. 4x200 —2.Platteville (Rachel Burkard, H. Langmeier, S. Langmeier, Clare Drefcinski) 1:53.76. 4x400 — 1.Platteville (Hoyer, Updike, Rooney, Drefcinski) 4:14.65. 4x800 — 3.Platteville (Momot, Julia Kasper, Kettler, Courtney Jentz) 11:01.16. High jump — 1.Rooney 5’4”, 4.Skye Digman 4’8”. Pole vault — 4.Busch 8’6”. Long jump — 6.H. Langmeier 14’1”. Triple jump — 4.Hoyer 30’2½”, 7.H. Langmeier 29’0½”. Shot put — 1.Digman 36’11”, 3.Izzy Carroll 29’7”, 5.MJ Stephens 28’1”. Discus — 1.Digman 114’2”, 4.Carroll 91’6”, 6.Anna Skubal 85’2”.