Ashley Bares "best of the rest?"

Ashley Bares, who twice scored a state-record 69 goals in a season, who set the all-time state scoring record with 226, who ranks seventh all-time nationally with that total, was named a "best of the rest" player in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association's All-State Team.

Now, the WSCA coaches who vote on things seem to be all right when it comes to their weekly state rankings; the top teams are usually right there on top.

(This is the opposite of the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association, by the way, which often times doesn't have the state's best teams even represented in its weekly poll.)

But leaving Bares off the All-State team - and the second-team All-State squad - is pretty mind boggling.

It can't be due to a lack of team success. Bares helped lead Ozaukee to four WIAA Division 3 state tournament appearances. The Warriors won two state titles in that span, and thus she should be pretty well-known at this point.

It can't be because colleges aren't looking at her. She signed a national letter of intent with NCAA Division I Marquette University before the season began.

Can it be because she plays on a Division 3 team? This must be it, but the WSCA should be embarrassed to simply make this kind of statement, that there are no worthy players on any Division 3 team, ever.

Or maybe the association just doesn't get it. One player from the Appleton area, who earned a full ride to Iowa State University, received no mention. According to the WSCA, she's not even a "best of the rest."

--Adam Thompson

Post 83 looks good in DH sweep

Sheboygan Post 83 rebounded from its season-opening losses to Neenah by sweeping previously unbeaten Pulaski in a doubleheader.
Post 83 cruised to 7-2 and 9-2 wins on the road.
Taylor Schwarz threw a two-hitter, striking out three with four walks. Ben Hendricks went 2-for-3 with two runs and two runs batted in.
In the nightcap, Mitchell Gardner struck out six in five innings of work for the win. Matt Hendricks scored three times for Post 83.

--Adam Thompson

Too bad Ozaukee Warrior couldn't score

One unique tidbit from the Ozaukee-Racine St. Catherine's game today:

The only goal scored in the game, by the St. Catherine's Angels, was in the 76th minute, by a girl named Catherine Angel.

With a name like that, it would have been a shame if she had gone to Racine Horlick.

--Adam Thompson

Ozaukee's title hopes dashed

Ozaukee’s bid for a third straight WIAA Division 3 girls state soccer championship came to an end Friday afternoon in a semifinal game at Uihlein Park in Milwaukee.
Racine St. Catherine’s Sara Carney found teammate Catherine Angel in the 76th minute, and the Angels held on to upset the Warriors 1-0.
It was Ozaukee’s fifth straight trip to State; the team had won three of the last four D3 state titles.
Ozaukee’s season ends at 21-1-1. Also ending is the prep career of Warriors standout Ashley Bares, who leaves Ozaukee as the state’s all-time leading scorer (226 goals) and the all-time single-season scorer (69 goals, in 2007 and in ’05). Bares will reunite with sister Brittany Bares on the field, herself a former Ozaukee star, and play at Marquette University next season.

Wanna be a coach? Call North!

Just about anybody looking to coach at the Division 1 high school level can look right at Sheboygan North.
According to the Sheboygan Area School District Web site, North currently has a whopping nine coaching openings for the 2007-08 school year.
Among the openings are a head varsity coach for girls tennis, and an assistant girls tennis coach.
The other assistant openings are: volleyball coach, boys basketball, football, boys swimming, girls swimming and cheerleading (fall and winter).
Boys diving is also in need of a coach.
Sheboygan South, meanwhile, has just two openings listed, for an assistant boys soccer coach and a girls diving coach.
For more information on each opening, visit www.sheboygan.k12.wi.us and follow the links for employment.

Kiel wins 1,600 relay; Lutheran boys finish second

Zach Schneider of Kiel chased down two runners in the last 150 meters of his split to lead the Raiders' 1,600 relay team to the Division 2 state championship.

The team of Eric Hoefler, Ramsey Wusterbarth, Adam Eckardt and Schneider ran a school-record time of 3:23.74 to erase a mark that stood since 1988.

Sheboygan Lutheran's boys also took home their second straight runner-up trophy in Division 3, falling short to Wausau Newman for the second straight year.

Lutheran's Thiel wins another gold

Sheboygan Lutheran is definitely THE local story of the state track meet.

Senior Stacey Thiel won her second gold of the weekend, rolling to victory in the 3,200 in Division 3.

Thiel won in 11:12.88, almost 12 seconds better than Pardeeville's Samantha Bluske.

Thiel edged Bluske in winning the 1,600 on Friday.

- Dave Lubach

Sheboygan Falls soccer team defeated

The Sheboygan Falls girls' soccer team's bid for its first-ever trip to the WIAA Division 2 State Tournament fell short Saturday. The Falcons lost to Green Bay Notre Dame, 4-1.
Falls finishes the season 20-4-1.

Meanwhile, Ozaukee (20-0-1), the two-time defending Division 3 state champion, plays Winnebago Lutheran, a state qualifier a year ago, at 7 tonight in Fond du Lac in a sectional final.

Bolgert gets third gold

If they had a meet most valuable athlete award at State track, Lutheran's Peter Bolgert would have to be a lead candidate in Division 3.

Bolgert won his third gold on the weekend, taking the 800 after holding off a late charge by Frederic's River Karl. Bolgert finished in 1:58.32.

Teammate Zach Hasenstein was third in 1:59.42.

- Dave Lubach

More 400 medals

Area athletes won two more medals in the 400, with Chris Hokanson of Oostburg taking 4th in the Division 2 400 (50.73) and Kiel's Zach Schneider taking 6th.

Kohler's Fiorini medals in 400

Kohler's Dominic Fiorini earned a medal in the Division 3 400.

Fiorini was fifth with a time of 51.13 seconds. That's seventh-tenths of a second better than his sectional qualifying time.

Fiorini tries for another medal later in the day in the 200.

Could Lutheran's distance teams have been even better?

Watertown's Andrew Perkins won the Division 1 1,600 Saturday.

Normally, we wouldn't report much on out-of-the area results, but that name might sound familiar to some locals, especially those who attended Trinity Lutheran School in Sheboygan.

Perkins was in sixth and seventh grade with Lutheran standout Peter Bolgert, who won the Division 3 1,600 and has been part of two state-record setting 3,200 relay teams.

Perkins was born in Watertown and moved to Sheboygan with his family for a couple of years. He eventually moved back to Watertown, but said he follows his distance friends from Trinity and tracks their success.

"I've thought about (what might have been) if I'd have been there now," said Perkins. "They are great in cross country too, and I'm happy they have been successful."

- Dave Lubach

Lutheran's Bolgert golden again

Sheboygan Lutheran's Peter Bolgert won another gold medal this afternoon, with his repeat championship in the Division 3 1,600 run.

Bolgert never trailed and won going away, with a time of 4:20.38, an improvement of .56 off his winning run last year. The state record time is 4:19.04, set by Sean Currie of Cambridge in 1983.

Bolgert also won gold on Friday, when he ran the anchor on Lutheran's record-setting 3,200 relay team, which also defended its 2006 crown.

He goes for a third gold in this meet later today in the 800, which he holds the top qualifying time in.

- Dave Lubach

Today's finals at state track

It's should be a busy day for locals at the WIAA State Track and Field Championships in La Crosse.

The weather is sunny (for now, and warm), so it should be prime for some nice times.

Here are today's local finalists:

Division 1

Girls

Shot put: Rachel Breunig, Sheboygan South

Boys

800: Mike Granke, Sheboygan North
Pole vault: Cesar Raygoza, Sheboygan North

Division 2

Girls

800: Dan Glewen, Chilton; Alex Steiner, Chilton
3200: Ashlyn Mauer, Sheboygan Falls
3200 relay: Chilton
Pole vault: Jessica Steffes, New Holstein
Triple jump: Anna Holzwart, Howards Grove; Kelsey Mauer, Sheboygan Falls
Discus: Stephanie Hennings, Kiel

Boys

400: Chris Hokanson, Oostburg; Zach Schneider, Kiel

800 relay: New Holstein

High jump: Matt Borchardt, Random Lake

Long jump: Andrew Verfuerth, Howards Grove

Shot put: Kyle Roy, Random Lake

Division 3

Girls

3200: Stacey Thiel, Sheboygan Lutheran

1600 relay: Cedar Grove

3200 relay: Kohler

Triple jump: Casey Hasenstein, Sheboygan Lutheran

Boys

200: Dominic Fiorini, Kohler

400: Dominic Fiorini, Kohler

800: Peter Bolgert, Sheboygan Lutheran; Zach Hasenstein, Sheboygan Lutheran

1600: Peter Bolgert, Sheboygan Lutheran; Myles Galloway, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah

1600 relay: Sheboygan Lutheran

High jump: Ryan Mulloy, Cedar Grove-Belgium

South baseball team defeated

Fond du Lac, which seems to be the postseason nemesis for North and South, regardless of sport, upset Sheboygan South 9-8 in a WIAA Division 1 baseball regional final today at Wildwood Baseball Park.

The Redwings trailed 3-1, but rallied for six runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-3 lead. But the Cardinals answered with a six-run sixth inning for a lead they would not relinquish.

Kohler doubles team reaches state semifinals

Kohler's doubles team of senior Kyle Wuthrich and sophomore Michael Knabel won their two matches Friday during the WIAA Boys State Individual Tennis Meet and reached the Division 2 semifinals.

Wuthrich and Knabel, the No. 3 seed and now 30-2 on the season, play the No. 2-seeded team of senior John Paradise and junior Dirk VanRybrock of Madison Edgewood (24-2) at 9:30 Saturday morning.

The winners advance to the D2 championship.

-- Sheboygan Press staff

Highlights from D2 and D3 action

In addition to the medal winners this morning and afternoon, here are a few more highlights from the action:

* Kohler's Dominic Fiorini qualfied for two finals in Division 3 - the 200 and 400. He qualified ninth in the 200 in 23.46 seconds and fifth in the 400 in 51.41.

* Two area runners qualified for the Division 2 finals in the boys 400: Chris Hokanson (6th) of Oostburg and Zach Schneider (7th) of Kiel. Hokanson finished in 51.10, off his area-best mark of 50.77, while Schneider lowered his second-best area time from 51.39 to 51.15.

* Sheboygan Lutheran's nice day was completed in the Division 3 1,600 relay, where it qualified third in 3:31.72. Relay members were Josh Kasinskas, Peter Buck, Alex Maxon and Zach Hasenstein.

* Cedar Grove-Belgium's girls 1600 relay team qualified sixth in Division 3 with a time of 4:12.57. The foursome bettered its area-best time by nearly 2 seconds (4:14.13). Team members are Aimee Large, Allie Anderson, Jackie Obbink and Ali Paul.

Division 1 starting at 4:30 p.m.

The first day of action in the Division 2 and 3 meets has concluded for the day. We'll provide a list of highlights shortly.

As a light rain continues to fall in La Crosse, the Division 1 slate is set to begin at 4:30, weather permitting. Here's a list of the area Division 1 athletes competing today:

Megan Bruckschen, Sheboygan North, high jump
Rachel Breunig, Sheboygan South, discus
Seth Rooker, Plymouth, high jump
Abby Ausloos, Plymouth, 1600
Craig Dekarske, Sheboygan South, 300 hurdles
Clare Schmidt, Plymouth, 800

- Dave Lubach

Sean Hasenstein takes 5th

Sheboygan Lutheran's Sean Hasenstein finished fifth in the boys' 3,200. He was disappointed with that result, because he entered the race with the best seed time.
He employed a good strategy early, running comfortably in about fourth place, just behind the leaders. But that group took off a little more than four laps into the eight-lap race, and Hasenstein couldn't answer.

Ramel sixth in shot put

Random Lake junior Jessica Ramel finished sixth in the Division 2 shot put with a toss of 36-7.25 inches, which was good for a medal in the event.

Lutheran's Thiel wins gold in D3 1,600

Sheboygan Lutheran senior Stacey Thiel won the gold medal Friday morning in the WIAA D3 girls' 1,600-meter run.
She ran the fastest time for that event in the Press coverage area for at least 12 years, clocking a fast 5:05.54.
Thiel made a powerful move around the final turn and built up a strong lead, but had to hold off a hard charge by Pardeeville sophomore Samantha Bluske at the finish line.
Thiel won the event by just one tenth of a second.
--Pete Barth

Another 3200 gold

Chilton's 3,200 relay team followed up Sheboygan Lutheran's gold medal in Division 3 with one of its own in Division 2.

Chilton's Dan Glewen broke away from Shorewood's Andrew Erickson in the last 150 meters to win the relay in 7:52.39, more than 25 seconds better than their qualifying time.

Damian Hilbert, Alex Steiner, Dylan Schmidt and Glewen's previous best time was 8:09. They came into the event seeded sixth.

New Holstein also competed in the event, taking 11th place. Sam Skurupey, Greg Skurupey, Mike Schmitz and Nate Jenkins finished in 8:15.56, almost 7 seconds better than their qualifying time.

- Dave Lubach

Lutheran 3,200 relay team sets new state record

Sheboygan Lutheran's 3,200-meter relay team just broke its own record in the D3 3,200-meter relay team, running a 7:57.64 and defending its state title with gusto.

Anchor runner Peter Bolgert ran an unbelievable leg, clocking a hard-to-believe 1:55.6 split for his 800-meter dash. What made it even more amazing was that he wasn't pushed at all. Nobody was ever near him.

Lutheran's quartet was comprised of, in order, Peter Buck, Zach Hasenstein, Sean Hasenstein and Bolgert.

The old record, set by Lutheran last year, was 7:58.55.

--Pete Barth