Track competes at Beloit Invite, softball wins 5
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School boys and girls track teams each had four first-place finishes at Friday’s Beloit Daily News Invitational at Beloit Turner.
East Troy’s girls tallied 105 points to finish second overall behind champion Brodhead-Juda’s 142.5. Beloit Turner was third with 92, followed by Clinton with 91 and Palmyra-Eagle with 57.5.
On the boys’ side, East Troy had 91 points, behind Brodhead’s 138.5 and Turner’s 126. Rounding out the top five were the Home School Eagles with 85 points and Parkview with 62.5.
Rachel Bottum won both the 400 (1:01.49) and the 800 (2:27.1) to lead the East Troy girls. Also finishing first were the 1,600-meter relay team of Alexis Olson, Morgan Bartlett, Christina Nolting and Julie Chase (4:19.08) and the distance medley team of Bartlett, Ella Rondeau, Nolting and Bottum (13:21.63).
Also winning two events for the East Troy boys was Nate Fox in the 800 (2:02.38) and the 1,600 (4:26.66). Hunter Cliffgard was first in the 110-hurdles (16.32), while the distance medley relay team of Austin Depuydt, Patryk Wawro, Tommy Larson and Henry Chapman was first (11:11.83).
Finishing third for the East Troy girls were Nolting in the 400 (1:03.62), Mackenzie Lindow in the 3,200 (12:56.55) and Taylor Schmitt in the triple jump (31-5 ¾).
Second-place efforts on the boys’ side were recorded by Jake Dessart in the 400 (55.32); Depuydt in the 3,200 (10:34.8); and Cliffgard in the 300-hurdles (41.72).
Placing third were Miles McCarthy in the 200 (24.45) and the 1,600-relay team of Cliffgard, Dessart, McCarthy and Fox (3:38.34).
Both East Troy squads were back in action Tuesday night at the Elkhorn Invitational, followed by the Rock Valley Conference Meet on Saturday at Brodhead.
Softball wins five straight
The East Troy softball team bounced back quite nicely from a 15-1 loss to Jefferson last week to reel off five straight wins and improve to 15-3 overall and 13-3 in the RVC with just two conference games remaining.
East Troy opened play with an 11-0 win over Edgerton on May 1, followed by a 20-0, 6-5 sweep at Brodhead on May 2, a 10-2 win over Big Foot on May 3 and a 6-4 win Monday at Evansville.
On Monday, the Trojans rallied from behind twice and took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the sixth, followed by an insurance run in the seventh.
Isabella Atkinson led the offense with two hits, a run scored and two RBI. Sarah Gilpatrick earned the win, as she allowed a walk and struck out one in five innings in the circle.
East Troy broke open a close game with Big Foot on May 3, thanks in large part to a six-run fifth inning to take control. Sophia Heimos earned the win, as she allowed six hits, two earned runs, a walk and struck out seven in 6-2/3 innings.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Jefferson continues to lead the conference standings at 12-1, followed by East Troy at 13-3, Whitewater at 10-3 and Turner at 10-3-1.
East Troy hosted Whitewater on Tuesday and travels to Edgerton on Thursday. The Trojans travel to Hamilton on Saturday for a non-conference doubleheader to wrap up their regular season.
The WIAA Division 2 regional tournament opens May 16. Pairings will be announced next week.
