PURPLE SAGE - Waunakee Community School District

SPORTSBoys’ basketball remains untouchableAddison PaydenReporterT h e A s s o c i a t e d Pr e s sreleased its second boys’basketball rankings of theseason. The top five Division2 teams, in order, wereOnalaska, Monroe, Waunakee,Seymour and New Richmond.Wissports.net also listedWaunakee as the second bestteam in the state in Division 2.Junior Tim Keenan said, “Wetry to not pay much attentionto those rankings and just tryfocusing on our next game…but it’s pretty awesome to seethat people in the state arenoticing how hard our team isworking. This is probably oneof the best senior classes tocome through our school, sodon’t be surprised if you see usat the Kohl Center in March.”After the first round ofconference games, Waunakeeis 6-0 and sits atop the BadgerNorth Conference.They took on undefeatedMonroe last Saturday for theBadger Challenge. The twoteams have been battlingbetween the number twoand the number three spotin the Division 2 rankings.The beginning of the gamestarted out slow for theWarriors when Monroe scoredeight points in a row to take a9-1 lead.Waunakee cut the deficit to22-19 at the half and duringthe second half went on a16-0 point run in a five anda half minute strech. SeniorZak Hougland scored 15 pointsduring the game, eight of whichcame during the third quarter,to seal the victory 55-40.The team has not hadmany close games thisyear. The boys’are currently12-0 overall. On January 8,Waunakee traveled to DeForestfor a conference game. TheWarriors outscored DeForest51-39 and the game’s leadingscorer was senior Beau Murraywith 15 points. Senior AndrewDorscheid put up nine pointsfor the team, connecting forthree three-point shots early inthe game.On January 14, Waunakeehosted Milton. Junior JoeTagarelli and Hougland led theWarriors, scoring eight pointseach. Waunakee fought backin the second quarter, leadingMilton 21-17. Waunakee heldMilton to under ten pointseach quarter. and securedthemselves another win, 46-28.T h e t e a m t r a v e l e d t oMilwaukee on January 14 toface Milwaukee Washingtonand brought home a victory,68-61.At the end of the season,Staege, the team’s rapper,known as lil jbudda, is releasinghis first album.Freshman Alexa Carl swings on the uneven bars. (Photo by Allie Taylor)Junior Justin Block dribbles the ball down the court during the gameagainst Milton on January 14. The team led Milton in the second quarterand kept them under ten points in each quarter. Waunakee won 46-28.(Photo by Lydia Dorn)Kelly Martin, Sports EditorGymnastics Co-op flips over competitionMandy RiceReporterWa u n a k e e - D e F o r e s tgymnastics has been off toa strong start this season.They started the seasonsending the varsity team tocompete in Waterford toprepare themselves for highercompetition they could seelater in the season.The JV and varsity reservewent to compete in Baraboothe same day. The varsity tookfourth place out of eight teamsin Waterford. They finished theday with 132.125 points. The JVgirls defended their winningstreak with a 102.025 score,and the varsity reserve tookthird place of four teams.Waunakee hosted their firstdual meet against Mount Horebon December 16. The Warriorscompeted well, taking themeet 134.7 to 126.8.Many of the Waunakee girlsdid very well individually.Sophomore Tanner Regaliwon on the beam with a9.050 routine. DeForest’s JessMaiers took second placeon beam with a 8.725. Onthe floor, Maiers won with aroutine worth 8.95 which wasjust ahead of her DeForestteammate Alyssa Cynkkar whohad a routine worth 8.9. Maiersjust missed the first place finishfor all around. The JV teamlost to Mount Horeb 109.15to 105.85. Regali said, “I thinkthe meet went extremely wellconsidering it was a lot of girlsfirst meet ever.”On December 20, the girlscame in a close second placefinish with 131.775 points, justbehind Janesville Craig with a136.975 finish. Maiers tied forfifth on the bars, placed thirdon the beam, and second onthe floor routine. Cynkkar alsoplaced in the meet taking thirdon her floor routine, behindMaiers. Regali took first on barsand placed fourth all around.Regali said, “I think we needto work on cheering duringroutines. I like when peopleare yelling at you. It gives youmore confidence knowingpeople want you to do well.”On January 20, the girls’hosted Milton. Senior CorinneSpiczenski took first placeon beam, closely followedPlayer of theMonth:Randy ClemensPurple Sage: How longhave you been wrestling?Randy Clemens: I’vebeen wrestling since Iwas four.PS: What’s your favoritewrestling memory?RC: Last year Mike Harmanwent to state andmy coach got us passesso I got to be on thefloor.PS: Who has been yourinspiration?RC: Brad Madigan,because he always sawpotential in me evenwhen I had just startedwrestling.PS: What is your personalgoal?RC: To make it to thestate tournament andplace.by teammate Maiers. Regaliand Cynkkar tied for fourthplace behind Milton’s CassieCropp. On the floor, Maiers andCynkkar placed first and secondalong with Regali in fourth. Theonly event Waunakee did notplace first in was the unevenbars, where Milton’s CarleighFelstead took a comfortablefirst place standing. Cynkkarand Regali still found a placeon the podium in uneven bars.In the vaulting event, Cynkkar,Regali and Maiers took the topthree spots. For the all aroundresults Cynkkar and Maiersplaced in the top two followedby Felstead, whereas Regaliwas only points behind infourth. Waunakee beat Milton135.75 to 121.3.The Waunakee-DeForestgirls are looking ahead tomore success in the future.Regali concludes, “I love theDeForest girls. They are a hugepart of our team and everyonegets along. It’s fun to havethe chance to be on a teamwith people from the schoolWaunakee has a rivalry with.People from DeForest areactually nice.”The Purple SageJanuary 26, 2011 Page 13