By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
John Houwers is in his seventh season as the head coach of both the boys and girls track teams at Whitewater High School and knows that after finishing near the top of the Rock Valley Conference (RVC) a season ago, his teams should again be in at least the top-half of the RVC. Both the boys and girls teams lost its highest point scorers from last year in Keagan Stonewerth and Kailey Reynolds.
The boys finished second in the RVC last year while the girls took fourth. Houwers talked about some of the athletes who should contribute greatly on a consistent basis and started with Sarah Ziolkowski for the girls.
“[Ziolkowski is] the conference record holder in the 1600, but she is dealing with an injury currently and hasn’t competed yet,” Houwers said. “Miranda Reynolds was injured a good part of last year, but is healthy now and looks ready to do well. For the boys, Xhonatan Shahollari looks to be a big scorer for us this season, as does Connor Rupke and Matt and Mike Mattingly.”
Houwers mentioned that in the RVC, Jefferson and East Troy should be really good on the girls’ side, with Jefferson possibly contending for a state title. The head man in charge also said a number of athletes have started right where they left off from a season ago.
“I am looking forward to seeing how everyone progresses this year,” Houwers said. “Xhonatan Shahollari has set high goals for himself and I think he can get there. Sarah Ziolkowski has also set high goals for herself, and I want to make sure she deals with her injury properly so she gives herself a chance to reach those goals later in the year. I don’t want her to rush back only to make the injury worse and not have the chance at all.
“That will be a challenge since she is such a competitor and has a high pain threshold. Timmy VanderPlyum will also be interesting to see progress this season. He’s out for the first time as a senior and is figuring things out still right now. But he looks like he can just keep on motoring forever. He’s smooth and quick. I’m curious to see how he develops with experience.”
Both teams’ next meet is slated for an 11:30 a.m. start on Saturday in an invitational featuring 11 other schools at Clinton Middle School. The first true home meet will take place on April 19 against East Troy.
