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Best for last

WHITEWATER — Tia Nowak saved her best for last Friday night.

The East Troy High junior and one of the state’s top female quarter-miler’s capped off a stellar sectional meet by anchoring the Trojans’ victorious 1,600-meter relay team. Nowak also won the 400 and ran on the winning 3,200 relay team in leading East Troy to a second-place finish at the Division 2 Whitewater Sectional.

The host Whippets won the boys team title thanks to individual wins from Jacob Dennis in the 200 and Tony Bilderback in the triple jump. Whitewater finished with 75 points, while Waukesha Catholic Memorial was second with 65. The top four finishers in each event qualified for state.

Milwaukee Lutheran won the girls title with 67 points, 10 ahead of East Troy, but the Trojans will be well represented at next weekend’s WIAA state meet at UW-La Crosse. Jasmine Haines won the 200 for East Troy, while Alyssa Duncan qualified in the 800. The 800 relay team finished third to give the Trojans three relay teams at the state meet.

Nowak began her night by running on the victorious 3,200 relay team in the meet’s first event. She was joined by Meghan Valentine, Katie Isleb and Alyssa Duncan as the team won in 9:45.52.

As the top seed in the 400, Nowak didn’t disappoint. She coasted to victory in a time of 58.93.

“I didn’t really worry about my time tonight,” Nowak said of her victory in the 400. “I was more worried about where I placed so that I could get a chance to run at state.

“I held my own on the backstretch, and that was the key to the race (400) because that’s my weakest spot. Once I came out of there ahead of everybody else, I knew I was in good shape.”

Haines and Nowak ran blistering 400 splits in the 1,600 relay to rally the Trojans to victory. East Troy came into the race with the fastest seed time at 4:03.46, but saw Lake Mills race out to a fairly sizable lead after the first 800 meters. Haines ran the third leg of the race and made up a considerable distance before handing off to Nowak, who exploded around the first turn and quickly took the lead. The Trojan relay team crossed the finish line with a winning time of 4:03.33.

Whitewater’s Kim Stonewerth finished second in the pole vault to advance to state, along with the Whippets’ Angela McKenzie in the 3,200. Molly Griep will represent Whitewater in both the shot put and discus after finishing second in both events.

Clinton’s Laura Popanz was second in the 100 and Emily Chermack was third in the pole vault. The Cougars’ 400 relay team also advanced to state thanks to a third-place finish.

The Whitewater boys continue to be a Division 2 powerhouse. The Whippets will send six individuals and two relays to the state meet. Dennis won the 200 with a time of 22.51, and Bilderback soared 43-11 to win the triple jump. Other individual qualifiers for Whitewater were Ben Cipriano in the 3,200, Mike Mitchell in the long jump, Mike Gabbey in the discus and Tony Floyd in the 110 high hurdles.

East Troy’s Cory Zaeske qualified in the 400 and high jump, while Walworth Big Foot was fourth in the 400 relay.