Midwest Senior Spotlight
Track & Field Championships
Eighty of Wisconsin's best senior athletes – including one or more from your area – competed over the weekend at the 13th annual Midwest Senior Spotlight Track and Field Meet at UW-Platteville. The Spotlight Meet pits the best seniors from Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois against each other in a sendoff competition following the respective state meets.
Bria Halama (Independence/Gilmanton) and Mike Miller (Racine St. Catherine's) were chosen as Team Wisconsin's Most Outstanding Athletes.
The Minnesota-bound Halama was a triple winner, claiming the triple jump, running the 400-meter leg of Team Wisconsin's victorious 1,600-meter sprint medley relay (200-200-400-800), and finishing the day by anchoring Team Wisconsin to a win in the 4x400.
Miller won the 100-meter dash and was runner-up in the 200, and ran the leadoff leg on Team Wisconsin's victorious 4x200-meter relay.
Jaime Ludwigson (Bloomer) was also triple winner for Team Wisconsin's girls, running a leg on three victorious relays. She joined Halama, Briana Dunkleberger (Lake Mills) and Kayla Diffee (Madison LaFollette) on the medley relay, teamed with Laura Popanz (Clinton) and Hudson twins Erika and Angela Tipp to win the 4x200, and helped the 4x400 to a win with Bloomer teammate Brianna Buske, Halama and Beth Dreikosen (Sheboygan North).
Brittni Wirtz (Pulaski), Samantha Blue (Kimberly) and were both double winners for Team Wisconsin. Wirtz claimed the 100 while Blue took the long jump, and the two teamed with Rachael Busjahn (Pulaski) and Cassy Hemmen (Appleton North) to win the 4x100-meter relay.
Team Wisconsin also got victories from Lyndsey Thorpe (Stanley-Boyd) in the shot put, Grace Heglund-Lohman (LaCrosse Logan) in the 400-meter low hurdles, and Kimberlea Stonewerth (Whitewater) in the pole vault, where she led a 1-2-3-4 sweep for her team.
Team Wisconsin's boys got individual victories from Jason Tiedt (Verona) in the high jump, Aaron Thompson (Brookfield East) in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, and Derek Finsterwalder (LaCrosse Central) in the 800. Miller was joined on the victorious 4x200 by Thurgood Dennis (Green Bay Notre Dame), Matt Gerber (Tomahawk) and Norvell Mohammed (Sun Prairie).
The 2012 Spotlight Meet will move to Illinois for the first time. After 10 years in Iowa and the last three at UW-Platteville, next year's competition will be hosted by the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill.
