EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Brianna Kirsch, Sr., Lancaster girls golf team
DARLINGTON — Lancaster senior Brianna Kirsch shot a 1-over-par 71 to blow away the field at Tuesday's Southwest Wisconsin Conference championships on a rainy afternoon Tuesday at the Darlington Country Club. Kirsch fired a 2-under 33 on the front nine, then shot 38 on the backside to repeat as individual conference champion by 16 strokes over runner-up Madchen Ewing (87) of Wisconsin Dells.
Kirsch's victory also led the Lancaster girls (356) to the SWC team title, well ahead of Prairie du Chien (400), Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton (410), Wisconsin Dells (412) and Darlington (415), and officially wrapped up another SWC Player of the Year honors, by finishing first in the season-long individual SWC title. Kirsch won the season-long SWC Player of the Year award two years ago as a sophomore. Last year, she missed one conference mini meet and finish a half-point behind Ewing for the 2022 Player of the Year award.
Kate McWilliams (88), Lynell Miller (93), Evy Dhyanchand (104) and Margot Dhyanchand (122) rounded out Lancaster's SWC championship team on Tuesday at Prairie du Chien.
Kirsch and the Flying Arrows will return to action Wednesday when they travel to Prairie Chien for a WIAA Division 2 regional. The top three teams and top three individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the D2 Arcadia Sectional the following week.
Kirsch, a three-time state qualifier, led shot a two-day 166 (+22) to lead the Lancaster girls to a fifth-place team finish at last year's WIAA Division 2 State Championships at University Ridge Golf Course in Verona.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Aleya Kliesner, Sr., Boscobel girls cross country
Kliesner ran the fifth-fastest girls 5K time in Boscobel girls history at 19:21 to place fifth out of 214 runners in the girls meet to pace the Lady Bulldogs to a fourth-place team finish at last Thursday's Boscobel Greg Bell Memorial Night Meet.
Isaac Henkel, Jr., Fennimore cross country
Junior Isaac Henkel placed second out of 185 runners in the boys race at with a new school record time of 16:12.5 to lead the Fennimore boys to a second-place team finish at the 23-team Boscobel Greg Bell Memorial Night Meet last Thursday.
Gavin Hinderman, Jr., QB/DB, Iowa–Grant football
Hinderman rushed for a team-high 114 yards and three TDs and completed 8 of 11 passes for 75 yards in his first varsity start at quarterback to lead Iowa–Grant to a wild 38–36 Ridge & Valley Conference victory over visiting Riverdale last Friday night.
Mallory Olmstead, Sr., and Kylie Olmstead, So., Lancaster girls cross country
Lancaster's Olmstead sisters each ran top-15 finishes — Mallory (9th, 19:47.4), Kylie (14th, 20:16.3) — to lead the Flying Arrows to a second-place team finish at last Thursday's Greg Bell Memorial Night Race in Boscobel.
Owen Seffrood, Jr., RB/DB, Black Hawk football
Seffrood rushed for a game-high 118 yards and two TDs on 19 carries, caught a 26-yard pass, and returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown with 39 seconds left to put the finishing touchdowns on Black Hawk's 32–20 win at Southwestern/East Dubuque last Friday night.
Gavin Vasssen, Jr., WR/DB, Cuba City football
Vaassen caught seven passes for 74 yards and a touchdown, intercepted three passes — and returned one for a TD — and recorded three tackles in the Cubans' 28–0 victory over Belleville last Friday night.
