Plus recap on WHS boys basketball, wrestling and swimming
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Whippets’ gymnastics team had its lone meet this past week on Jan. 12 when the girls faced Jefferson and home. The varsity team won, 121.65-118.325 and the junior varsity team won, 81.1-35.7.
On the vault, Kelly O’Hara scored an 8.3, while two Jefferson gymnasts posted 8.3’s as well. On the bars, O’Hara won the event with an 8.75. In second, was a Jefferson gymnast, scoring an 8.0.
On the beam, O’Hara stayed on top, winning the event with another 8.75. Then on the floor, O’Hara scored a 9.35, also winning that event.
With her dominance throughout the meet, O’Hara won the All-Around with a 35.15. Second and third-place finishers came from Jefferson, with the second-place winner totaling 31.65.
“This is the highest team score recorded in the last three years and the coaches can’t wait to see what the future holds for this outstanding group,” Whippets head coach Jennifer Galbrecht said. “Our beam was spectacular and four of the five varsity girls had no fall routines. Bars is an event we struggled with early on in the season, but we are now finally connecting skills and getting full difficulty which helps boost our score.
“This meet overall was the best the girls have looked and we hope to keep moving in the right direction.”
The Whippets’ next meet is an Invitational that is set to begin at 11 a.m. on Jan. 23 at Southwestern High School.
Hoops tonight at home
On Jan. 5, the Whitewater boys basketball team took on Evansville at home, but lost in front of the Whippet crowd, 70-60. The game was decided from a scoring standpoint in the first half, as Evansville had a 33-23 lead going into halftime.
Daniel Fuller led all scorers with 20, while Bryce Parrish added 15. No other Whippet scored more than six. Whitewater committed 19 fouls in this game compared to Evansville’s nine.
Evansville is now 9-2 overall, while the Whippets are currently in 5th-place in the Rock Valley North. Three days after the loss, the Whippets hit the road to face McFarland.
With the crowd against them, it may have been the screaming fans that helped guide McFarland in its 66-60 victory in overtime over Whitewater. Brodie Runez led all scorers with 23 in this game and Fuller was the only other Whippet to score 10 or more points, with his 10.
The Whippets out-shot McFarland from the 3-point line by making eight 3-pointers compared to McFarland’s two. The Whippets are now 3-6 overall heading into its game against Brodhead.
The game was set for a 7:15 p.m. tip on Thursday at Whitewater High School.
Wrestlers medal
On Jan. 7, the Whippets’ wrestling team faced Evansville and lost, 51-22. The Whippets won five of the 14 total matches.
Tyler Gamble in the 106-weight class, Michael Fernandez in the 132-weight class, Thomas McManaway in the 160-weight class, Max Reid in the 170-weight class and Daniel Soto in the 285-weight class came out victorious. Reid and Soto were 6-0 winners in their respective matches.
Two days later, in an Invitational hosted by Whitewater, the Whippets were one of six teams, competing against five others in the dual meet. The Whippets won three of its five duals, winning the first two over Delavan-Darien and Brodhead-Juda.
The other win came against Big Foot, while the two losses came at the hands of Whitnall and Waukesha South. Three Whippets took home gold medals, going 5-0 in the meet, and those wrestlers were McManaway, Reid and Soto.
Two other wrestlers went 4-1, earning silver medals, which were Gamble and Jimmy DuVal in the 182-weight class. The coaching staff wanted to specially thank the parents and Kath Markham for helping make lunch for the workers room.
The team’s next action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 against Edgerton at home.
Top four for swim team
The Whippets’ boys swimming team competed in the Connor Bourke Relays on Saturday and took 4th-place out of eight total teams competing. Fort Atkinson, the host, won the meet, while the Whippets were three points out of placing in third.
Two races were won by the Whippets, both coming via relay. The 150-Butterfly Relay was won by Andrew Gildner, Seth Bols and Benny Liang. The 300-Breaststroke Relay was swam and won by Dineth Gunawardena, Bols and Liang.
Two other 2nd-place finishes took place, each being Relays, in the 400-Medley and the 400 I.M. The Whippets’ next meet will be at 6 p.m. on Jan. 19 in a tri-meet against Platteville/Lancaster and Jefferson/Cambridge.
