Sports Thoughts

A few weeks ago in this space, I wrote that this had the makings of a special fall for Muskego High School, and the Warrior teams have certainly made that prediction come true.

Muskego took home four (count 'em, four) Southeast Conference championships last week, in most cases simply continuing successes from past years, and the best may be yet to come for these teams.

The Warriors claimed SEC crowns in both boys and girls cross country at Burlington High School.

The girls won for the third time in four seasons, placing three runners in the top six and seven in the top 25. Once again, sisters Taylor and Niki Drolshagen ran neck-and-neck and led the way, with Taylor fourth in 15 minutes, 28 seconds and Niki fifth with 15:29. They have been that close all season, and they are only sophomores.

The Muskego boys captured the first conference title in school history and did it fairly easily, scoring 33 points to beat runnerup Kenosha Bradford's 90. Matt Borneman, who was second, led five Warrior runners in the top 11.

In addition, the Muskego junior varsity teams both won their races, with the boys scoring 17 points and having six of the top seven runners and the girls tallying 22 points and having the top three runners. "It was cool to walk out of there with four trophies," girls varsity coach Richard Raney said.

The soccer team completed its third straight 9-0 run through the SEC, extending its streak to three straight titles. The Warriors outscored their SEC foes, 30-5, posting a .55 goals-against average. Even so, coach Eric Hess said it wasn't easy. "We knew we would see every team's A-plus game," he said. "Who would be the first team to knock off Muskego? This year went a little tougher than past seasons."

Finally, the girls volleyball team claimed the SEC tournament crown with a victory over Burlington in the final, adding that title to their 9-0 dual-meet championship. This makes seven of eight tournament titles for the Warriors under coach Karen Anderson.

Not to be forgotten in all of this is the Muskego swimming team, which also has not lost a conference dual this season and will try for its SEC championship on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Carthage College.

Now those Warrior teams set their sights on WIAA playoff competition. The girls volleyball team holds the top seed in its sectional and will open play at home on Saturday, Oct. 25, against either Waterford or Brookfield East.

The soccer team also has the top seed in its sectional and will begin action Thursday, Oct. 23, at home against DeForest. The cross country teams will run in a sectional Saturday, Oct. 25, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

All would like to close their special seasons with state tournament appearances, and they all appear to have good chances.

This season's Greenfield girls volleyball team doesn't look much like the one that finished second in the Woodland Conference Tournament and advanced to a WIAA sectional championship match a year ago.

These Hustlin' Hawks, however, seem to be headed in the same direction.

Greenfield began this season with a heavy graduation loss, including hitting star Alyssa Evans, and without 6 foot-2 inch standout Stacey Butts, who is still rehabilitating from surgery for a left hand injury she sustained in the 2007-08 basketball season.

The Hawks, though, find themselves at the top of the Woodland Conference at 5-0 in dual meets heading into their match against St. Francis today, Oct. 2. They already own victories over Brown Deer, which is enjoying its best season in years; defending Woodland Tournament champion New Berlin Eisenhower and a tough Whitnall team earlier this week.

Senior captain Jenny Gyurina, a setter, considered this a rebuilding year and admits to some surprise about how well the Hawks have done. "I knew we would be okay," she said, "but we've played some good teams and beaten them."

Gyurina said there are several reasons for the success. "We have good passers and we have a connection between us; we are all close," she said. "Also, everyone still thinks we're the underdogs, and that gives us an urge to do better."

The Hawks have only three seniors on their roster, including Butts, but coach Britany Pfeifer said the younger players have done well. "We are having a lot of underclassmen step up to the challenge this year of filling in the large holes that were left by the senior class," she said. "Our ballhandling and defensive play are stronger than ever. That is something that every team needs to have consistently, and by doing so, we have been able to stay on top of the conference."

After this week, the Hawks have two more Woodland matches, at Greendale on Tuesday, Oct. 7 and home against Pewaukee on Thursday, Oct. 9. Then comes the Woodland Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 18.

The young squad will soon find out if it can continue its unexpected stay at the top of the Woodland.