Posted: June 9, 2009

Greendale track

Taking third at the WIAA Division 1 State Track and Field Meet would bring a smile to most athletes' faces.

Greendale senior long jumper Ben Ericksen, however, could not help but be disappointed.

Ericksen, who owns the state's best mark in the event this year at 23 feet, 5½ inches, registered a 22-1¾ at the state meet in La Crosse on Friday. He finished behind Marshfield's Oladipo Fagbemi's 23-1 and Milwaukee Washington's Nicholas Hill's 22-4¼.

"It didn't go so well," said Ericksen, who was also 22nd in the 200-meter dash in 22.97 seconds. "Just not so hot. I'm usually around 23 feet but I just didn't feel it. Last year I got 22-7 (at state) but it just didn't seem to work out. I'm not sure what it was."

Ericksen, the NOW All-Suburban Football Player of the Year in the fall, will play football at Illinois State next year and, according to Greendale boys track coach Corey Binnebose, he might attempt track as a sophomore.

Senior Bobby Laabs, who will be running at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse next fall, pulled off a difficult triple in the distance events and finished 12th in the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 39.37 seconds; 20th in the 800 in 2:02.91; and 22nd in the 1,600 in 4:31.24.

"We knew it would be tough to be good in all three at state," Binnebose said. "He was hoping at least one event would bring a medal, but it wasn't meant to be."

Senior Jared Hinsenkamp was 12th in the pole vault at 13-6 and senior Jon Itzenhuiser ran 13th in the 400 in 50.94.

For the Greendale girls, senior Lizzy Klar was 23 at 9-0.

Franklin tennis

Brad Heale and CJ Malek made sure they earned their special qualifier selection at the WIAA Division 1 State Tennis Tournament.

The Franklin tandem won two of three matches, including an upset over a seeded team, and ended their season 22-6.

"To make it to the round of 16 as special qualifiers, I'm proud of that," Franklin coach Gail Champion said. "They came in with a good attitude. They were looking forward to the experience. They were hoping to win at least a round, and were thrilled to win the second one. With another year ahead of them, we hope for good things in the future."

The juniors began the tournament with a tough 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over Waukesha South juniors Max Finke and Jordan Freitag on June 4.

But the excitement was just beginning. In the second round against 10th-seeded Mitch Polelle and Bennett Mortensen, juniors from Madison West, Heale and Malek pulled out a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-4 upset Friday. The Sabers trailed in the second set early and then at 6-5 before forcing the tiebreaker.

The match lasted nearly three hours.

Later that day, Heale and Malek's ride came to an end with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat to Homestead's Bryce Toburen and Jake Bodner, the fifth-seeded team that eventually placed fourth.

Franklin seniors Nathan Fons and Omar Dakwar, who went 1-1 at state last spring, ended their prep careers with a first-round 6-3, 6-2 loss to Madison Memorial seniors Kyle Deignan and Nate Musser on June 4. Fons and Dakwar finished 20-8.

"It was a little disappointing to them to lose in the first round," Champion said. "We just didn't match up serving-wise consistently with as much depth and spin as they had. I know they wished they had gone another day, but that opponent was better that night."

Oak Creek track

Senior Ricky Berumen capped his prep career in fine fashion by taking fourth in the 800 at the WIAA Division 1 State Track and Field Meet in La Crosse on Saturday.

Berumen's time of 1:55.62 was just slightly off Arrowhead's Tim Hucke's winning time of 1:54.64.

Senior Zak Lotharius was eighth in the shot put at 52-0¼, good for one point to help the Knights tie for 37th in the team standings with six points.

Berumen also ran 19th in the 400 in 51.53 and teamed with Andy Mertz, Thomas Overland and Rey Overland for 25th in 3:35.54.

For the girls, Katie Edwards was 19th in the 100 hurdles in 16.63; Lauren Carranza and Carly Fehler ran 21st and 22nd in the 100 dash in 13.07 and 13.10, respectively; Fehler was 20th in the long jump at 15-11¼ and Carla Edwards did not register a height in the high jump.

Oak Creek golf

Seniors Adam Schumacher and Michael Fischbach advanced to the WIAA Division 1 State Golf Tournament.

Schumacher's 75 was one behind meet medalist Adam Vanderheyden of Racine Horlick and Fischbach was one stroke behind Schumacher at the Westosha Central Sectional at Brighton Dale on June 2. The two Knights played at University Ridge in Madison in the two-day state tournament Monday and Tuesday.

Schumacher and Fischbach were the first Knights to advance to state since 2000, when the entire team qualified.

"Adam has been one of the best players in the state for a couple of years now," Oak Creek coach Joe Cota said. "He was absolutely fearless with his driver (June 2), hitting some of the narrowest of fairways while other kids were hitting long irons and 3-woods.

"Michael is a little more of a late bloomer. From his sophomore year you could tell that he had a chance to become a real solid player - and he did. ... When he keeps his focus he is as good as anybody the state."

The top two teams and the top three individuals not on those teams moved on to state. The Knights finished tied for sixth with a 343 at the eight-team sectional.

Whitnall boys track

The Falcons were shut out in terms of medal earners (top-six) and point scorers (top-eight) at the WIAA Division 1 State Track and Field Meet in La Crosse on Friday and Saturday.

The 400-meter relay of Jacob Streim, Nikolai Miskov, Luke Garven and Jon Loesche came the closest to both by running 13th in 43.65 seconds.

Scott Erickson was consistent in his two events. He placed 17th in both the discus (130-2) and shot put (48-3½).

Loesche and Miskov teamed with Bobby Grim and Shane Horne for 19th in the 800 relay in 1:31.60, and Joel Stave tied for 19th in the high jump at 6-2.Only five underclassmen finished better than the Whitnall sophomore in the event.

Oak Creek baseball

So far, so good.

That is how Oak Creek Knights coach Scott Holler feels after the first two hectic weeks of the season.

The Knights, ranked first in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association's preseason poll, brought a seven-game winning streak into their Greater Metro Conference game with Hamilton on Monday.

"We're right where I expected to be at this point," said Holler, whose team was 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the GMC as of Monday. "Our experience and depth has been evident during our recent seven-game winning streak, with guys stepping in and contributing up and down the roster."

During the winning streak, the Knights have outscored their opponents, 75-23.

Senior Eric Semmelhack is 2-0 including a recent eight-strikeout, complete-game win over visiting South Milwaukee on June 2. Brandon Charney picked up a two-out save, his second of the season, with runners on second and third in a 6-5 home win over Muskego on June 4.

The Knights have nine seniors who will be playing baseball in college next season.

Greendale baseball

Despite having eight seniors, the Greendale Panthers are inexperienced and have stumbled out to a 3-5 record, including 1-2 in the Woodland Conference.

"A couple of the seniors are guys that don't play too much," Greendale coach Ted Brzenk said. "We're not playing really well. We're making too many errors and our pitchers are walking too many hitters. But it's early and maybe we can turn it around."

Brzenk said the first base/designated hitter combo of Andrew Thompson and Jeremy Mikula, who alternate the positions, have been hitting the ball well, and Chris Ridgway, despite leading the team with three losses, has been the Panthers' best pitcher.

Ridgway hit one of his two home runs this season and struck out five batters in a complete-game, 3-2 victory at two-time defending Woodland champion New Berlin West on June 2.

"That's been the best game he's pitched so far," Brzenk said.

Whitnall baseball

Alex Jaskulski is off to a good start for the Whitnall Falcons.

The junior first baseman entered this week batting .571 with 12 hits in 21 at-bats including four doubles, one triple and one home run. He has driven in five runs for Whitnall, which has started 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Woodland Conference.

"So far we have been competitive in five out of the six ballgames we have played with three one-run losses," Whitnall coach Brian Johnsen said. "We have played hard and have had some tough, close losses that could have gone either way.

"We expect to compete for the (Woodland South) division. We have an experienced team and if we made one or two extra plays in those close losses we could have been off to a good start."

The Falcons lost three games in a row after starting 2-1. Included in that stretch were 4-3 losses at Arrowhead on May 30 and against visiting New Berlin West on June 4, and a 12-6 home loss to St. Thomas More on Friday.

 

- Compiled by David Cotey