1

Varsity 8 all under 17:00 at Fondy If there is a defining meet in a season for every team, it might have just beenFriday night at Rolling Meadows Golf Course in Fond du Lac for the Lady Spartans. With the team back at fullstrength and sharpening up for Conference in a few weeks, they placed 3rd in a solid field behind two perennialpowers, 6th ranked Neenah and previously state-ranked Fond du Lac.

It was good to have sophomore Taylor Uebersetzig (13th, 16:08) and freshman Kayla Janto (18th, 16:11) backand racing, as they paced the Spartans attack up front. They got out hard in 6:15 at the mile and ran stride forstride with each other nearly the entire race.

Doing the dirty work in the next group was freshman Molly Hertz (22nd, 16:22), sophomore Candice Wayne (30th,16:43), and senior Cate Virnich (31st, 16:45). This group collectively finished 24 points better at the finish linethan the positions they held at the mile mark, securing a 3rd place team finish instead of a 6th they’d have beenwithout the surge.

Raina Wedeward, Jenny Lemminger and Eden Rogers helped display the Spar-tans’ impressive team depth by also going under 17:00 and pushing scorers forother teams back further. No other team besides Neenah and WBW put all 8runners under 17:00 and in the top half of the field of 84 runners.

Junior Melissa Dock (12th, 17:28) and sophomore Jonelle Ritger (15th, 17:37)led the JVs to a 2nd place finish behind Neenah.

( Lady Spartans Continued on page 2)

Lady Spartans Make Mid-Season Surge3rd at Fond du Lac (10/2/09) and 5th at Port Washington (10/8/09)

Volume 1, Issue 5 October 15, 2009

Girls

Pl Gr @ Fond du Lac Time

13 10 Taylor Uebersetzig 16:08

18 9 Kayla Janto 16:11

22 9 Molly Hertz 16:22

30 10 Candice Wayne 16:43

31 12 Cate Virnich 16:45

34 11 Raina Wedeward 16:51

39 12 Jenny Lemminger 16:57

41 9 Eden Rogers 16:59

Top 5 Average 16:25

1 (6) Neenah 51

2 Fond du Lac 75

3 West Bend West 114

4 Appleton North 123

5 Nicolet 124

8 Appleton East 194

9 Menomonee Falls 218

11 Teams Total

2 JV West Bend West 87

From Top: Candice, Kayla, Molly, Raina, Jenny, Taylor, Eden and Cate

2

Girls Sharpen up at Port Invite Getting their first look at WLT Conferencerival Slinger, the Lady Spartans put in an impressive effort as they sharpenedup for the Conference race next Saturday. Germantown (8th ranked) led thefield, followed by a pair of Division 2 powers Port Washington (6th ranked)and Catholic Memorial (9th ranked), who was led by individual winner MorganSickels in 14:38 for 4k.

Recognizing that Slinger was running without their #3 runner in this meet,Coach Naomi Fulton was pleased with how the Spartans stacked up againstone of the quality teams in the WLT. “We definately had our eyes on Slinger,”said Fulton. “They are in our Conference, so we will be competing againstthem again next weekend.”

Taylor Uebersetzig (17th, 16:02) inched ever closer to her goal of going under16 minutes for a 4k race, setting another PR, as did Molly Hertz (19th, 16:18).Kayla Janto (21st, 16:18) finished close behind. Candice Wayne (30th, 16:37)and Cate Virnich (33rd, 16:51) completed the scoring for the Spartans.

Recognizing that she’s getting a lot out of her underclassmen, Coach Fultonlooked forward to the big meets ahead. “I have been very impressed by theimprovements of the entire freshmen class....they don’t look like rookies any-more. They look like real cross country runners,” said Fulton.

Fulton also looked forward to whatever rotten weather October can bring.“The girls have proved themselves to be strong runners in bad weather. Bringon the snow!”, said Fulton.

(Continued from page 1) Lady Spartans

Girls

Pl Gr @ Port Washington Time

17 10 Taylor Uebersetzig 16:02

19 9 Molly Hertz 16:13

21 9 Kayla Janto 16:18

30 10 Candice Wayne 16:37

33 12 Cate Virnich 16:51

43 11 Raina Wedeward 17:08

45 12 Jenny Lemminger 17:09

59 9 Eden Rogers 17:31

Top 5 Average 16:24

1 (8) Germantown 63

2 (6) Port Washington (D2) 103

3 (9) Catholic Memorial (D2) 115

4 New Berlin Eisenhower 118

5 West Bend West 120

6 Slinger 138

7 Cedar Grove Belgium 162

13 Teams Total

2 JV West Bend West 65

Above: The Spartans got a good look at individ-ual winner, Morgan Sickels, at the start of thePort Invite.

Below: Jenny, Raina, Cate and Candice each haveto dodge a fallen runner on the bridge at Fond duLac.

3

6th at Fond du Lac Invite While the Spartan Boys team now competes in a diffi-cult Sectional to the south of West Bend, they got a reminder of the stiff com-petion from their old Sectional foes to the north at Rolling Meadows golf course inFond du Lac. WB West finished 6th behind #1 ranked Appleton East and #6ranked Neenah - two teams they used to tussle with each year to get a trip to theState Meet.

Appleton East was able to put two runners under 16:00 and another two under17:00 to secure the team title and edged Neenah. Lead Spartan Ben Skurek wasable to crack the Top 25 with a time of 17:40 on the soggy 5k course. RyneGoralski, Sam Eichner, Noah Eichner and Nic Lache all came up with top 40 fin-ishes, but the Spartan total was 50 points higher than 3rd place Fond du Lac.

The JV team was led by Junior Pat Kelley’s 7th place finish in 18:39, as they took4th.

6th at Port Washington Invite The Spartan boys have probably seen enough ofthe #1 ranked team in the state. For the second week in a row, West ran in anInvite where Appleton East ran away from the field.

Also for the second week in a row, West finished 6th in the middle of the pack.This time, the Spartans got a close look at several other teams they’ll be facing atthe WLT Conference Meet in Watertown next Saturday.

West beat conference foes West Bend East and Slinger handily, but were 25points behind Hartford who took 4th. The Orioles are one of the teams the Spar-tans intend to keep in their sights at the Conference Meet. “Their top 4 runnerswere very solid,” said Coach Scott Hammer. “We knew that they were going to

be tough and they did not disappoint.”

Ben Skurek again led the Spartans with a time of 17:40, good for 19th place.Noah Eichner (29th, 17:54) was also under 18:00. The rest of the scoring packof Eric Stoll, Sam Eichner and Nic Lache finished in the mid-places just over18:00.

“The guys were in great position around the mile and a half mark to have thebreakout performance we've been waiting for,” noted Hammer. “But we strug-gled a bit in the final mile while the top four Hartford runners and some other in-dividuals from our Conference had very strong finishing miles.”

Hammer feels that the team may need to rethink their strategy a bit going intothe Conference Meet. “I think we’re going to have to be a bit more patient duringthe first mile in order to have the legs to close up and finish strong,” said Ham-mer.

Coach was extremely pleased with how the JV performed. Senior Aaron Serweclocked an impressive time of 18:18 in winning the individual crown in the JVrace. He ran away from a pack of five Germantown runners down the homestretch. While Germantown won the JV meet with those runners placing 2ndthrough 6th, the pack from 7th through 10th was all Spartan blue. Pat Kelley,Myles Petrin, Josh Ulickey and AJ Emerich all went under 19:00 to secure 2ndplace for the JV team. A total of 13 JV runners set PRs in the race.

Spartan Boys Finish 6th in Pair of Tune UpsAppleton East Proves Worthy of #1 State Ranking

Boys

Pl Gr @ Fond du Lac Time

25 11 Ben Skurek 17:40

32 11 Ryne Goralski 17:53

34 12 Sam Eichner 17:55

36 10 Noah Eichner 17:59

39 12 Nic Lache 18:05

41 11 Mason Petrin 18:11

43 11 Eric Stoll 18:13

58 12 Aaron Serwe 18:41

Top 5 Average 17:54

1 (1) Appleton East 34

2 (6) Neenah 56

3 Fond du Lac 112

4 Sheboygan North 129

5 Nicolet 137

6 West Bend West 162

7 Appleton North 164

11 Teams Total

4 JV West Bend West 102

Boys

Pl Gr @ Port Washington Time

19 11 Ben Skurek 17:40

29 10 Noah Eichner 17:54

32 11 Eric Stoll 18:03

33 12 Sam Eichner 18:04

35 12 Nic Lache 18:06

37 11 Ryne Goralski 18:16

45 11 Mason Petrin 18:36

Top 5 Average 17:57

1 (1) Appleton East 33

2 Cedar Grove Belgium 72

3 Port Washington 77

4 Hartford 123

5 Cedarburg 138

6 West Bend West 148

8 West Bend East 231

12 Teams Total

2 JV West Bend West 35

Photos Needed - If you have a good photo of a Spartan in any up-

coming Boys race, please submit them to wbwspartancc@yahoo.com

4

The Spartan Harrier

Alumni Spotlight - Catching Up with Megan Duwell

One would have to dig deep into city lore to find the number of kids from West Bend, Wisconsin who have gone onto be a part of multiple Big Ten College Championship teams, who have also won an individual Big Ten Title. Afterconducting the search, that short list might have just one name on it…Megan Duwell.

A West Bend West alum and fifth year senior captain of the Minnesota Golden Gopher Cross Country team, Duwellwill lead her team into the championship portion of the 2009 fall season over the next month. The Gophers areranked 8

th in Division I and will be favored to win their 3

rd consecutive Big Ten team title when Penn State hosts the

meet November 1st. Five other Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25 in Division I, so the competition will be stiff.

But Duwell figures to have the team ready and herself in the hunt for the individual title. She’s already won severalraces this season, including the prestigious Roy Griac Invitational on her home course.

Duwell’s running career at Minnesota has been nothing short of spectacular. She was the Big Ten outdoor track10,000 meter individual champion last spring and is a returning All American in cross country. She has severalteam MVPs, All Conference honors, and “Big Ten Runner of the Week” awards…all while contributing towards con-secutive (2007, 2008) Big Ten team championships for the Gophers in both track and cross country. These werethe first two conference championships the women’s cross country team has ever earned (the Wisconsin Badgerslead with 10 titles).

All in the Family Megan grew up on Pine Drivein West Bend, attendingMcLane Elementary and thenBadger Middle School. Herearly memories of runningwere like most ofours…participating with familyand friends at the annual BobCross Memorial Run (now theBoys & Girls Club 5k). Sheloved the community and com-petition the race would bringevery year. But it was partici-pating with family that maderunning special for her. “Icome from a family full of run-ners,” said Duwell. “Runningjust became such a big part ofmy family’s lifestyle.”

Running has always been part of the Duwell family heritage. Megan’s father, John, ran for UW-Stevens Point, andthree of her uncles also ran collegiately. One of those uncles, Donn Behnke, has coached the Stevens Point highschool boys team to 9 Division I State Championships.

Training is always easier with a partner. Growing up, Megan had the ultimate running partner…a twin sister. Katie,who also excelled at the sport, ran collegiately and recently completed her first marathon in the Twin Cities.

The Spartan Years (2001-2005) It didn’t take long for the Duwell twins to make their mark on the West Bend West cross country program. “Myfreshman year, we were a very tight-knit group that ran well together and worked our way to a Little Ten Champi-onship,” recalled Duwell. It was the first title in over 25 years for the Lady Spartans. It was just the first of threeconference championship teams the Duwells would contribute to West Bend West.

The Spartan coach at the time, Brian Heimark, speaks fondly of the years he coached Megan, and still travels outof state to watch her compete in college. While he recalled her magnificent talent and the tireless hours of training

(Continued on page 5)

5

she spent in the summer…it was her high character that he pointed to that made her so special. “The thing that I re-member most about Meg is her work ethic, and always wanting what was best for the team, not just as an individual,”said Heimark. “She had a way of making all teammates feel welcome.”

Heimark was quick to point out that this high level of character rubbed off on the rest of the team. “She lead a teamthat not only excelled in cross country, but also in the classroom,” he mentioned. “Megan was part of a state qualifyingteam that had a team GPA of 4.0! I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to coach such an outstanding individualand athlete.”

Duwell feels lucky to have enjoyed her high school running experience as much as she did. She credits Heimark formaking it fun, and not burning out her running flame like so many coaches do when blessed with a talented athlete.She faces competitors today who trained intensely in high school, some on as much as four times the mileage she did.“I hold Coach Heimark in such high regard in so many ways,” she said. “He always motivated me to improve, andhelped me reach my high school potential, while enjoying the sport and the team aspect that was so important to me.”

Duwell also excelled on the track for the Spartans, placing in the top 3 of the 800m finals all four years at State, win-ning the title twice. She also finished 2

nd twice in the 1600m. Her high school PRs are all school records:

4k CC – 14:44800m – 2:131600m – 5:01

Going for Gold(en Gophers) Choosing a college is never easy. Especially when you have the athletic and academic record that opens just aboutany door you like. But when Duwell toured the University of Minnesota campus and met with Coach Gary Wilson, herdecision got a lot easier.

“I fell in love with the whole program,” said Duwell. “The teammates were extremely welcoming and friendly. Thecoach was knowledgeable, experienced and an overall wonderful person!” It was important to Duwell that she find aprogram where the coach cared about the runner’s whole person and not just their talent. “Coach Wilson had his pri-orities straight. The program was strong and stable…just the type I wanted to be a part of.”

Coach Wilson, like Heimark had five years earlier, feels blessed to have his program touched by Megan Duwell. “Ifevery young person in this world was like Megs, we would have no problems,” gushed Wilson. “The most impressivething is her character and the way she carries herself. Not only on the course, but in the classroom and in the commu-nity. Thanks for sending her this way, West Bend!”

Megan will soon graduate with a double major in marketing and operations management from the Carlson School ofManagement at the University of Minnesota. But before she enters the “real world”, she has a bit more business totake care of on the cross country course. The month of November will finish an incredible high school and college run-ning career from one of West Bend’s finest. Good Luck Megan!!

(Continued from page 4)

Did You Know?Did You Know?Did You Know?Did You Know?

There is a little-known website that tracks Cross Country Meet Results and Honor Roll times by Di-vision and Age? Check out www.wi-track.com.

A few interesting nuggets from that site this week:

* WLT girls teams Oconomowoc (11th) and Wisconsin Lutheran (13th) would have to be consideredfavorites at the Conference meet, given their average of top times by their scoring 5.

* Mandy Prom (Ocon), Taylor Blazei (Slinger), Katryna Williams (Wat) and Erica Spiegelberg (WL)each have average times in the Top 100 runners in the state (average of 3 fastest times).

* WBW Freshman Kayla Janto shows up in the Top 50 list of Freshmen in the State.

* Sam Kitzrow (WL) is the only boy from the WLT in the Top 100 runners in the state at 92nd. Soall-conference honors could be wide open!