Soccer falls to Catholic Memorial, cross country takes sixth and eighth
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The Big Foot High School girls volleyball team will live to fight another day.
Seeded third in the WIAA Division 2 regional, the Chiefs took care of business with sixth-seeded Beloit Turner Tuesday night.
Big Foot edged the Trojans 25-23 in the first set, and then clinched the win with victories of 25-16, 25-21 in the last two.
The victory sent the Chiefs to a regional semifinal Thursday against seventh-seeded Whitewater at Big Foot. The Whippets upset second-seeded Delavan-Darien 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-9 Tuesday.
A win Thursday would send the Chiefs to a regional final Saturday against either top-seeded Edgerton or fourth-seeded Evansville.
Leading the way Tuesday for Big Foot were Ally Mazur with 22 assists, 1.5 blocks and nine kills; Gloria Esarco with 13 digs; and Rachel Heidenreich with nine kills and three aces.
Soccer season ends
The Big Foot-Williams Bay boys soccer season came to a close in last week’s Division 3 regional final.
Host Catholic Memorial, ranked second in the state, scored three goals in each half for a 6-0 victory.
Big Foot, which last week clinched the Rock Valley Conference title, finished the fall at 17-5-3 overall. Catholic Memorial advanced to a sectional semifinal Thursday against top-seeded Delavan-Darien.
“(The loss) was tough,” Big Foot coach Keith Blakeman said. “We didn’t have too many illusions going in. We knew they were a tough team.”
The loss couldn’t diminish what was a solid season, Blakeman said, and that was his message after the match.
“I told them to take pride in what they accomplished, and we spent some time thanking our seniors,” he said.
The seniors will be missed next year, Blakeman added.
“High school teams often depend on their seniors,” he said. “Our team certainly did. They provided most of the team’s ‘spine,’ the players through the center of the field.”
Results of All-RVC voting and a statistical wrap up of the season will run in a future edition.
Girls sixth, boys eighth
The Big Foot girls cross country team finished sixth, while the boys were eighth, at last week’s RVC Meet.
McFarland won the girls’ title with 30 points, followed by Whitewater with 102, Evansville with 120, Jefferson with 122, Brodhead with 145 and the Chiefs with 149.
Rounding out the team scores were East Troy with 165 points, Beloit Turner with 217, Clinton with 220, Parkview with 237, Palmyra-Eagle with 255 and Edgerton with 276.
Freshman Zanzie Demco led the Chiefs in 17th (22:08.4), followed by senior Kathryn Colby, 25th (22:41.13); senior Libby Brooks, 27th (22:55.62); sophomore Olivia Briggs, 37th (24:00.6); junior Katie Oja, 43rd (24:26.59); junior Kalen Gillingham, 50th (24:47.01); and sophomore Brooke Wellhausen, 52nd (24:51.59).
On the boys’ side, McFarland finished first with 28 points, followed by Jefferson with 65, Whitewater with 115, Parkview with 147 and Brodhead-Juda with 149.
Clinton was sixth with 171 points, followed by Evansville with 196, Big Foot with 205, East Troy with 222, Edgerton with 227 and Palmyra-Eagle with 255.
Leading the Chiefs was senior Fletcher Strahan, 16th (18:54.14), followed by sophomore Bernie Lerchegger, 19th (19:11.14); sophomore Travis Berryman, 25th (19:25.39); senior Joe Soberg, 67th (21:55.79); senior Randy Robaczewski, 78th (24:31.99); and senior Jacob Fort, 80th (25:04.01).
The Chiefs travel to Pewaukee Saturday to compete in a Division 2 sectional meet. The boys’ race begins at 10 a.m., followed by the girls at 10:45.
