EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday or Friday throughout the calendar year.
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent
Lynell Miller, Jr., Lancaster girls golf team
COTTAGE GROVE — As the No. 1 golfer on this year’s Lancaster girls golf team, junior Lynell Miller has put together quite an impressive postseason run that will conclude at the pinnacle of all high school golf events, the WIAA State Girls Golf Tournament. Miller’s road to the state meet began with a second-place finish at last Wednesday’s Prairie du Chien Regional, and culminated with medalist honors at this past Monday’s Edgewood Sectional.
Last Wednesday, the Flying Arrows competed at the Sivision 2 Prairie du Chien Regional, held at the Prairie du Chien Country Club. With a team score of 496, the Arrows finished seventh of nine competing teams, while Edgewood (381), Prairie du Chien (428) and Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton (429) finished among the top three and advanced to the Edgewood Sectional.
Miller led the Flying Arrows at Wednesday’s regional meet, shooting an 8-over-par 44 on the front and a 12-over-par 48 on the back. She finished second of 45 total golfers with an 18-hole score of 92, and was just two strokes behind medalist Lexi Clark of Edgewood Sacred Heart. Miller’s second-place finish secured one of three individual sectional qualifying spots, as did Edgerton’s Claudia Jenny with her round of 97.
The third qualifying spot went to Lancaster sophomore Margot Dhyanchand, who with an 11-over-par 47 on the front nine and a 17-over-par 53 on the back, finished seventh overall with an 18-hole score of 100. She was five strokes ahead of Turner freshman Lilyana Loera for the third individual qualifying spot.
As individual qualifiers from the PdC Regional, Miller and Dhyanchand then competed at this past Monday’s Edgewood Sectional, where the top two teams advanced to the state meet, as well as the top three individuals who are not members of a qualifying team.
Playing at The Oaks Golf Course in Cottage Grove, Miller put together her best 18-hole round of the season, and finished first among the field of 54 golfers, punching her ticket to the WIAA state meet.
With five pars, two bogeys and two doubles, Miller shot a six-over-par 42 on the front nine, which was bettered only by Aquinas senior Tennysen Makepeace, who shot a 41. On the back, Miller was on fire with one birdie, three pars and five bogeys to shoot a four-over-par 39, which was the lowest nine-hole score of the day and shared with Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton junior Brooklyn Bussan.
Miller’s 18-hole score of 81 was three strokes better than Makepeace, who finished second of 54 golfers with an 84 to earn the second individual state qualifying spot. Bussan, who finished with an 86, won a playoff hole to capture the third qualifying spot.
With a 51 on the front and a 52 on the back, Dhyanchand finished Monday’s sectional meet with an 18-hole score of 103, which put her 27th overall.
Miller will conclude the season at the WIAA State Girls Golf Tournament, which will be held Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 14–15, at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison.
Nolan Wolf, Sr., QB/DB, Lancaster football
LANCASTER — Lancaster quarterback Nolan Wolf threw his way into the school’s record book last Friday night, while leading the Flying Arrows to a 42–0 Homecoming victory over visiting Dodgeville. By throwing for 249 yards and a school record six touchdowns to six different receivers, Wolf became the All-Time leading passer in school history and is quickly closing in on every other passing record at Lancaster High School.
Wolf, who has completed 97-of-153 passing attempts for 1,428 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, became the all-time leading passer at Lancaster with 2,859 career passing yards, surpassing the previous record of 2,710 yards held by Nate Rolland.
Wolf also holds the school records for career passing attempts (328), career passing completions (197), season passing completions (97), most passing yards in a single game (330), best completion percentage in a single game (19-of-21) and now the most touchdowns thrown in a single game (6).
He also needs just 18 more passing attempts to break the single-season record of 170, and is just 70 yards away from breaking the single-season record for most passing yards of 1,497. With 16 passing touchdowns this season and 32 for his career, Wolf is six touchdowns away from tying the single-season school record and seven away from tying the career touchdown record.
“He’s an extremely accurate passer, he’s a good leader and he’s pretty smart,” said coach Jordon Rolland of Wolf. “He’s working on becoming more of a vocal leader than just a kid who leads by example. He does have the benefit of having a lot of weapons around him, which he’d tell you that too. He’s very deserving of it and I really don’t have one negative thing to say about him."
Wolf’s performance throughout this season is one of the biggest reasons the Flying Arrows remain in contention for a conference title and why they have just clinched the program’s 32nd consecutive playoff berth.
“He’s the one who really kept us afloat with all the injuries that we’ve had this year,” admitted Rolland. “He’s been the one constant in our offense that’s really kept us afloat this year. He’s kind of what makes us go.”
With Friday night’s victory over the Dodgers, coach Rolland’s Arrows improved to 4–1 in Southwest Wisconsin Conference play and 5–2 overall, setting up a regular-season finale against undefeated and league-leading Prairie du Chien (6–1, 5–0) on Oct. 18. The Arrows head to Brodhead/Juda (2–5, 2–3) this Friday night. The Cardinals are coming off a 50–15 loss to Prairie du Chien.
