By Andrew Horschak
Sports Correspondent
Elizabeth Klein is entering the WIAA Division 3 State Track and Field Meet on a high note.
Or, make that a school record-tying high mark.
The Catholic Central sophomore tied her own school high jump record when she cleared 5 feet, 2 inches in the sectional meet on Thursday, May 25 at Hilbert High School.
The top four in each event qualified for the State Meet, which is Friday and Saturday, June 2-3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of UW-La Crosse.
Algoma junior Elizabeth McClure was the sectional high jump champion with a height of 5-3. Two other competitors also cleared 5-2, but Klein ended up taking fourth with more missed jumps at the height.
Klein, who took 13th in her State debut last year, will compete 9:30 a.m. Friday in La Crosse. As a freshman, Klein cleared 4-10 at the State Meet after having a season-best jump of 5-0.
“Elizabeth has been consistent in her jumps,” BCC coach Rick Koceja said.
At the sectional, the Hilltoppers had three other near-misses at qualifying for State.
The 400-meter relay of Abigail Sheehan, Emma Klein, Elizabeth Klein and Kelly Aldrich placed fifth in 53.34 seconds. Living Word Lutheran’s fourth-place time was 53.01. The same foursome also placed seventh in the 800 relay in 1:52.33 – less than one second behind Deerfield, the fourth-place finisher.
“Both relays ran their best times of the season and should be proud of their effort,” Koceja said.
In addition, Aldrich advanced out of the preliminaries in the 200 dash and ended up taking fifth in the finals in 27.39 seconds.
“The coaching staff was impressed with the leadership of Kelly Aldrich during the season,” Koceja said. “As a senior, her character and accomplishments were positive and valuable to the track program at Catholic Central High School.”
Season ends for Lady Toppers
Fifth-seeded Catholic Central had its bats quieted by fourth-seeded Argyle in a 2-1 loss to the host Orioles in a WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal on Wednesday, May 24.
The Metro Classic Conference runner-up Hilltoppers finished 12-7 overall.
“It was a real tough loss,” longtime coach Bill Greskiw said. “I’m probably the worst loser that money can buy. The only games that I seem to remember are the losses.”
BCC scored its lone run in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Emily Swanson slapped a single to right center, Erin Schwenn walked and Swanson scored when Amanda Hintz reached on an error.
Argyle scored the tying and go-ahead runs – both unearned – with two outs in the bottom of the third.
Junior Sydney Robson was tagged with the hard-luck loss. She walked none and struck out nine in her six-hit complete game.
Haile Weis, the only senior starter, doubled for one of BCC’s five hits.
“It was a fairly young team — we started three freshmen,” Greskiew said. “We still should’ve been able to go a little further than we did and win conference. I was disappointed about that because we don’t lose conference too often.”
Argyle ended up losing to top-seeded and seventh-ranked Johnson Creek in the regional final, 17-2 in four innings.
Sectional streak snapped
Catholic Central had its sectional streak snapped in a WIAA Division 3 regional on Wednesday, May 24 at Ives Grove in Sturtevant.
Vying for its fourth consecutive sectional appearance, BCC finished seventh out of eight teams with a team score of 411. The top four teams – Racine Prairie (321), Williams Bay (323), Lake Country Lutheran (343) and Kenosha Christian Life (362) — advanced to the sectional.
Sophomore Luke Sassano was low for the Hilltoppers with a 97 (49-48). Junior John Pum also broke 100 with a 98 (45-53). Rounding out the team score were sophomore Jack Clifford (101) and Nick Hoffman (115). Hoffman was the only senior on Matt DeLorme’s young squad this season.
Williams Bay senior Grant Germano won medalist honors by four strokes with a 69 (33-36).
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