Cross country, golf seasons begin
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The ninth-ranked Lake Geneva Badger football team squared off with No. 5 Mukwonago last Friday in what turned out to be a game dominated by both defenses. Mukwonago came out on top 9-7.
Last week the Badgers (1-1) rolled up 402 total yards of offense, 342 of it on the ground, in a 28-14 defeat of West Allis Nathan Hale. Mukwonago (2-0) bottled up the Badger offense most of the night limiting it to just 208 total yards. The Badgers managed 195 yards rushing led by Andrew Allen’s 85 yards and quarterback Collin Broderick’s 75 yards.
Mukwonago beat Racine Horlick 43-33 last week and gained 331 total yards in the process. Badger’s defense held the Indians to 211 total yards, 191 of it on the ground.
Turnovers played a big role in keeping either team from scoring as well. Badger suffered three fumbles and an interception while Mukwonago lost two fumbles.
Neither team put any points on the board in the first quarter. The Indians scored all nine of their points in the last two minutes before halftime on a 12-yard touchdown run by Alex Straszewski and a 20-yard field goal by Zach Timmers with eight seconds on the clock.
Badger came within two in the third quarter on a five-yard touchdown run by fullback Tristan Steiner and the extra point by Donald Schnurrer but could not score again.
Badger hosts Waterford on Friday night. Waterford (1-1) beat Racine Case 27-13 at home last week.
In other Southern Lakes action, Burlington (2-0) defeated Racine Horlick 9-7. Elkhorn (1-1) lost at East Troy 41-14. Delavan-Darien (1-1) lost at perennial power Big Foot 35-30. Wilmot (1-1) lost at Oak Creek 27-0. Westosha Central (0-2) lost at South Milwaukee 26-0. Union Grove (0-2) lost to Kenosha St. Joseph 21-14.
Boys’ cross country
The Badger boys’ cross country team finished sixth out of 20 teams at the Jamie Block Invitational in West Bend on Saturday.
Coach Mike Butscher said he was impressed with the way the team competed and worked together. He was particularly impressed by the freshmen, whom he said ran a great first race.
“This is one of our deeper freshmen classes,” Butscher said. “What has really impressed us is how hard these young guys are working.”
Butscher said the freshmen are inspiring the older runners with their positive attitudes. He said the veterans ran one of their strongest races in many years. Junior Alex Martinez led the way with a second-place finish and a personal best time of 16:54.
“Alex is showing such maturity as a runner and has earned everything he is getting,” Butscher said.
Martinez was in 15th place at the mile and closed to second before the race was over.
Freshmen Cody Sadikoff and Will Hamilton finished as medalists among the freshmen with times of 17:42 (third among freshmen and 40th overall) and 18:05 (fifth among freshmen and 67th overall).
Badger races next on Saturday at the Verona Invitational. Butscher said it will be a great opportunity to see how the team measures up against teams in their sectional like Verona and Janesville Craig.
Butscher said his team has hopes of qualifying for the team state tournament. They return a strong cast of runners from a team that finished second in the SLC and fourth in the sectional last year. Returning letter winners include seniors Gavin Denecke, Derrick Buntrock and Nick Trautner; juniors Martinez, Jake Bessenhofer, Jake Pierce and Sam Carmona; and sophomore Sadikoff. Butscher said the team is the largest ever and has a large and talented freshman squad.
Girls’ golf
The girls’ golf team began its season Aug. 15 by finishing ninth at the Elkhorn Invitational. Badger shot an 84 in the four-person scramble format. Janesville Parker set a new tournament record with a 63 to take first place.
On Aug. 16, Badger lost a dual meet to East Troy at Hawk’s View 223-266. Moira Ring led the Badgers with a 61.
Badger finished 13th at the Mukwonago Invitational on Aug. 19 with a total score of 476. Mukwonago won the event with a 355. Rachel Gruenke led the Badgers with a 94.
Badger finished 13th at the Racine Case Brian Schroeder Memorial Invitational on Aug. 26 with a team score of 396.
Badger finished eighth at the Westosha Invitational at Hawk’s View on Aug. 21 with a team score of 354. Waterford won the event with a 307. Badger was led by Ring and Frankie Bobula who each shot 87.
Other results
The Badger soccer team (3-2) fell 2-0 to Kenosha Tremper (3-3-1) at home on Aug. 29.
The Badger volleyball team defeated Monroe in four sets on Aug. 27 – 23-25, 25-12, 26-24 and 25-14.
