Track teams sixth, seventh at Fort Invite
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater High School girls soccer team was 2-3-2 overall with three games on its schedule coming into this week. The Whippets had a chance to get its record to .500 with a road game against a conference foe in East Troy and they did just that.
By the game’s end, the team won its first conference game of the season, despite being on the road, 7-0. Meikayla Korf started the scoring early in the third minute of the contest.
Holly Hough recorded a hat trick in the game. Whippets assistant coach, Richard Gunter, said outside of goal-scorers, players that made notable contributions were Brittany Piper, Carmen Kraavanger, Abby Center, Caleigh Judd, Milena Maroske and Autumn Bultman.
“The Whitewater midfield and defense dominated play and controlled the possession time,” Gunter said. “The defense allowed only two shots on goal the entire game. Coach Menager was very pleased with the ball control and time of possession in the first half and was then able to get his bench some valuable game time.”
A day later, the team hosted Lake Geneva Badger and won a tight, 1-0 match. Hough scored the lone goal off a rebound in the 16th minute thanks to a shot by Korf.
Menager noted that the momentum from the East Troy game continued and that the team played with more confidence. Allison Sedmak recorded 15 saves in net over the course of her shutout.
“[After Hough’s goal], the momentum went back and forth with each team having multiple scoring attempts but no one was able to score,” Gunter said. “The defense and midfield played very well, controlling the pace of play and creating 20 shots on the Badger goal.”
The Whippets are now 4-3-2 overall.
Track teams notch several best times
Whippets head coach John Houwers said the boys and girls track teams competed in a strong field at the Fort Invite on April 29. The girls team finished in sixth-place out of nine total teams, while the boys finished in seventh.
Two of the teams’ wins came by a combined total of .03 seconds. For the girls, Nicole Frison ran the 100-meter finals race in 16.82 seconds, besting Casey Reily from Monroe, who had a time of 16.84.
For the boys’ photo finish, the 4×800-meter relay team of Matt Mattingly, Mike Mattingly, Connor Laue and Timmy Vander Pluym came out on the right end. Houwers said the race was gutsy.
“Matt Mattingly led off with a strong leg, getting the team into third position,” Houwers said. “He handed it off to his brother, Mike Mattingly. Mike did a nice job maintaining our position before handing off to Connor Laue. Connor went after the two runners in front of him, and was able to close and eventually pass both runners.
“Timmy Vander Pluym ran the fourth leg and had to hold off a strong Monona Grove. Timmy held the lead going into the final stretch. Coming around the final curve, he drifted out to lane two, opening a door for Monona Grove to try to get by on the inside. MG’s final runner was charging hard and even threw himself over the finish line to try and get the win. The camera showed Timmy held him off and the team won the relay by .01 seconds.”
Also for the boys, Xhonatan Shahollari won the high jump. The girls’ 4×100-meter relay team of Morgan Widenhoeft, Ali Ketterhagen, Kelly O’Hara and Morgan Radaj ran a season-best time for their win.
Allisan Barrett and Nicole Tomomitsu both earned personal records for the girls, while Jacob Korf ran a personal-best as well.
