‘Uncharacteristic’ day behind West’s Johnson

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 3, 2016

‘Uncharacteristic’ day behind West’s Johnson

Senior eager for last routine

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Alexis Johnson is grateful she has one more opportunity — and she’ll have it at the WIAA individual state gymnastics championship Saturday at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids.

The team competition is Friday.

Johnson, a senior at West Bend West, qualified for state after scoring a 9.075 at the sectional. She will be joined by teammates Jenna Heimark and Jessica Butters, as both qualified for state in the all-around.

West Bend East’s Maddy Boss qualified on floor exercise and Zoey Roberts won the sectional championship on beam to also qualify for state.

West and East didn’t qualify for the team competition.

“I’m very excited,” Johnson said. “It’s sunk in by now. It’s been fun to come back to practice and get to do that routine one more time.”

Almost three weeks ago — Feb. 13 — at the Whitefish Bay Invitational, an uncharacteristic day caught Johnson by surprise.

Normally solid on the balance beam, Johnson had three falls, which knocked down her score to a 6.95 — 36th place.

Throughout the season, she averaged between an 8.7 or an 8.8.

“That was an uncharacteristic meet,” Johnson said. “It definitely wasn’t a typical beam routine for me.” So what happened?

“I don’t really know what happened, to be honest,” Johnson said.

“Everybody can have a bad meet,” West coach Jackie Vorpahl said. “For whatever reason, she lost the focus for that meet.

“I look at that as a fluke,” she added.

The meet at Whitefish Bay is considered by those in the state gymnastics circle to be a “mini-state meet” because of the caliber of talent there.

Arrowhead, Grafton/ Cedarburg, Madison Memorial, Manitowoc Lincoln and Whitefish Bay were among the teams at the meet — all are state-qualifying teams this season.

Johnson doesn’t believe she was intimidated.

“It had been a long day,” she said. “It was our last rotation, so I don’t know if I had the right mindset going into beam that I usually have.”

After the routine, though, she remembered thinking to herself, “What in the world just happened?”

“I was shocked,” Johnson said. “I looked at Jackie and said, ‘I don’t know what happened.’” Vorpahl knew Johnson had it in her to get back on the beam and get back to the level she knew Johnson could perform at.

And a part of that was because Vorpahl believes Johnson has a similar trait to what former state medal winner Bailey Wagner had: a short memory.

Wagner took fifth on vault at state in 2014. Johnson was a sophomore that season and competed with West on beam during the team competition.

“She was a great teammate and had a positive attitude, which made gymnastics more fun for me while she was on the team,” Johnson said of Wagner, who is diving at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Vorpahl never worried about Johnson’s confidence. “She got a lot out of Bailey and has kind of taken on that persona that Bailey did that I’m going out and just going to do it,” Vorpahl said. “I think for her that was the best thing that ever happened to her.”

Johnson scored a 7.95 at state in 2014 on beam during the team competition. More importantly, Johnson had no falls. Afterward, Vorpahl knew she had something special with Johnson.

“You already saw you could handle the pressure,” Vorpahl said.

Johnson knew she needed a good routine at conference and didn’t doubt she could do it. Vorpahl had no doubts, too. Johnson scored an 8.85 to take third place.

“I did feel like I didn’t do as good as I could’ve done (at Whitefish Bay),” Johnson said. “I was excited to get another chance to show what I could do.”

Then at the sectional, she put together a lifetime-best performance on beam: her first 9.

“It was very exciting,” Johnson said. “I’ve been working for it all season. I finally had a routine where there weren’t any wobbles. I was pretty excited when I got off.”

Those two performances helped put the Whitefish Bay meet behind her. She has also learned something from that meet: Don’t let the guard down when it comes to focus.

“What happened at Whitefish Bay won’t happen again,” Johnson said. “I’m just going to go and do it (at state), knowing it’s my last routine. I’m just going to be confident and have fun with it.”

And hopefully go out with a bang.

“I just want to have a good routine so I can say bye to high school gymnastics on a high note,” Johnson said.

OUTDOORS: Sturgeon numbers down in ’16

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 2, 2016

Sturgeon numbers down in ’16

Preliminary numbers released by DNR

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Fish biologists were worried about water clarity heading into this season’s sturgeon spearing season, which wrapped up Sunday.

According to preliminary data released Sunday by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the harvest was almost 80 percent below the 2015 harvest on Lake Winnebago.

There were 396 fish harvested on Lake Winnebago and 307 from the Upriver Lakes. The 396 from Lake Winnebago is 55th all-time, according to DNR state records. Last season, 1,870 sturgeon were harvested on Lake Winnebago — sixth most all-time.

“Overall, I think that this season went as we would have predicted,” said Ryan Koenigs, DNR senior fisheries biologist in Oshkosh. “Water clarity conditions were not ideal and I was predicting a 16-day season on Lake Winnebago.”

“I think that this season was a success given the conditions,” he added.

The largest fish speared was 77 inches long and 147.9 pounds at Indian Point. There were 19 fish harvested that weighed at least 100 pounds — 11 on Upriver Lakes and eight on Lake Winnebago.

In the days before the season started Feb. 13, several spots on Lake Winnebago reported water clarity at about 7 feet. With spots of the lake as deep as 15-20 feet and with the sturgeon being a bottom-dwelling fish, the chance of repeating the successful 2015 season was slim.

Through six days of the season, less than 15 percent of the harvest cap was captured by spearers.

On Sunday, the last day of the season, eight sturgeon were speared — all on Lake Winnebago.

The adult female cap on the Upriver Lakes of the Winnebago system was met. Otherwise, all other harvests fell way short of the cap.

This year, the harvest was raised for a second straight year. At this point, it’s too early to tell what that’ll mean for next season.

“Luckily we did get some cold weather to make ice, but then the water was extremely dirty at time of ice formation,” Koenigs said.

He added some spearers reported they couldn’t see the bottom of the ice.

Water clarity was reported to be at best 9 to 10 feet on Lake Winnebago and 7 feet on the Upriver Lakes, according to Koenigs.

A record 13,674 licenses were sold for the 2016 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago System (13,190 licenses for Lake Winnebago and 484 licenses for Upriver Lakes). License sales were a 4.1 percent increase from the 2015 season and a 15.6 percent increase from 2014.

“The overall increase in effort is attributable to the overall spearing success of the last two spearing seasons where spearers benefited from strong ice conditions and clear water,” Koenigs said.

Boss’ score holds up, advances to state

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 1, 2016

Boss’ score holds up, advances to state

Suns’ junior, plus 4 from county qualify

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

MANITOWOC — Maddy Boss had so much adrenaline for her first tumbling pass on floor exercise at Saturday’s WIAA Division 1 sectional meet at Lincoln High School, when she hit the ground with two feet her momentum nearly forced her to run off the floor in order to collect herself.

“I had a lot of power going into it,” the East junior said. “I didn’t fall, but it was probably a three-tenth deduction.”

She thought that was going to haunt her. Boss got an 8.775 on the event.

“I had a gross feeling that it was going to haunt her and be the reason she’s not going to make it,” East coach Haley Ransom said. “I knew she scored well. It was a good routine.”

But would it hold?

“I knew a lot of people could score 9s for our sectional so I kind of blew it off,” Boss said. “I didn’t think a lot of it.”

It held up.

Boss qualified for the WIAA state gymnastics meet with a fifth-place finish on floor during Saturday’s sectional. She is one of five gymnasts from the area to qualify, including teammate Zoey Roberts, who scored a 9.15 on balance beam to win the sectional.

West Bend West’s Jenna Heimark and Jessica Butters were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the all-around to qualify for state and teammate Alexis Johnson tied for fourth on beam with a 9.075 to also qualify for state.

For Johnson, it was her first 9.

“I never expected to make it to state,” she said. “I’m here for the team, hoping we would go as a team.”

West fell short of qualifying for the state meet for the third time in four years, taking third place with a season-high score of 136.125. The top two teams qualify for state.

Manitowoc Lincoln scored a 139.925 — a school record — to win the sectional and Grafton/Cedarburg was second with a 136.75. East was fourth with a 132.575 and Hartford was seventh (102.575).

“We did not do what we needed to do on floor,” West coach Jackie Vorpahl said. “We had three girls miss some connections, two-tenths, two-tenths, two-tenths equals six. That would’ve been second place.

“That makes it kind of rough knowing they had the ability.”

Still shocked by hearing her name called as a state qualifier, Boss teared up as she tried to describe that moment.

“I’m so happy,” Boss said with her eyes quickly turning red and tears rolling out of her eyes. “I had no idea ... that I qualified.

“When they called my name I was so surprised.”

Boss was the fourth gymnast to compete on floor in the competition. There were 35 others after her, but only four posted a better score. The top five in each event qualify for state.

The first time she was informed of where her floor scored ranked, she was in second place heading into the sixth of eight rounds. That’s when Manitowoc Lincoln took to the floor and it sizzled. Freshman Brynn Tackett posted a 9.325 and Alyssa DeZeeuw got a 9.25.

“Then I was like, ‘Oh, if only I had done this on floor or done this to be better,’” Boss said.

Only one score out of the final two rounds bested Boss’ — Sheboygan North/South’s Peta Silva with a 9.0.

Boss’ teammates were thrilled for her.

“I’m so excited,” Roberts said. “I can’t wait to be able to ride up there with her and experience state with Maddy because she’s my best friend.”

Ransom was equally thrilled.

“I burst into tears,” she said. “I was so happy for her. That girl works the hardest in the gym. She completely deserves it. We’re super-excited for her.”

Getting to state on floor wasn’t an unlikely scenario for Boss. After all, she scored a 9.025 on Feb. 2. But she thought the steps after her landing on her first tumbling pass were going to keep her out of state, especially in a meet where tenths or hundredths of points matter.

Manitowoc Lincoln’s Breanna Reinhart was sixth on floor with an 8.75, a difference of 0.025, and Oshkosh co-op’s Gabby Tagliapietra was seventh with an 8.675, a difference of 0.1.

For Roberts, a sectional championship is the cap of a season that started with a bang two months ago. In the season’s first competition, she broke the school record on balance beam with a 9.25. Since then, the score has fluctuated for Roberts on the event, which she qualified for state on last season.

Roberts finished fifth at the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference championship Feb. 20 with an 8.475.

“It’s awesome,” Roberts said of winning the sectional. “I’m not saying I wasn’t expecting it, but the pressure was definitely there, having made it last year. So I wanted to perform well. And performing well enough to win sectionals is icing on the cake.”

The Suns also broke a school record on beam with a 34.925.

It is the first time West will have two gymnasts compete in the all-around at state for the third time in four years.

“Jess Butters was the one that surprised me,” Vorpahl said. “I was like, ‘Really? That’s awesome.’ She had a good day. It’s really kind of a plus to have two all-arounds going.”

For Heimark, it was a relief to qualify for state. She didn’t place in the top five in any event. On beam, she listened to Johnson’s name get called as having the fifth-place score with a 9.075. Heimark’s beam score was 9.05.

“I didn’t know if it was enough to make it,” Heimark said, adding it was hard to sit and wait to see if she qualified for state in something.

“It was a big relief,” she said.

Kenseth not contemplating retirement

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 20, 2016

Kenseth not contemplating retirement

6-time Slinger Nationals champ feels good

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Matt Kenseth is not deterred by the retirement of Jeff Gordon and the pending retirement of Tony Stewart, despite the similarity in age among the three.

“Age is just a number,” Kenseth said. For Kenseth, that number will be 44 on March 10. And this season, the number is 17 — his 17th full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Gordon retired after last season. He will turn 45 in August. Stewart has indicated this season will be his last. He turns 45 in May.

Kenseth shrugged off the notion that retirement is close.

“I haven’t thought about it,” said Kenseth, who will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 on the outside of the front row next to 20-year-old rookie Chase Elliott. Elliott turns 21 in November.

In a historical connection, Kenseth’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut came in 1998 as a substitute driver for Bill Elliott so he could attend his father’s funeral. Bill Elliott is Chase Elliott’s father.

Again, according to Kenseth, age is just a number.

“I’m where I want to be,” Kenseth said. “I love racing. I have great sponsors, a great team and great teammates. I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time.

“I’m still capable of winning races.”

Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013 after a 14year run with Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth has won 12 races in 106 starts. He won 14 races from 20062012. There were those who thought Kenseth was losing his competitiveness.

Instead, Kenseth has found a different gear and is in potentially the best three-year stretch of his career, showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches his mid-40s.

How long can Kenseth go? He doesn’t know.

Kenseth is approaching the age where most of the sport’s greatest drivers either called it a career or won what turned out to be their last race.

Richard Petty was 55 when he retired, but was 47 when he won his last race. David Pearson was 46 when he won his last race before retiring five years later. Darrell Waltrip was 45 when he won his last race. He retired at age 53. Cale Yarborough was 49 when he called it a career in 1988. His last victory was in 1985.

On the flip side, Bobby Allison was 51 when he retired in 1988. His last victory was the 1988 Daytona 500.

Mark Martin won five races after he turned 50 — all in 2009. In that year he finished second in the points for a fifth time. Martin retired after the 2013 season at age 54.

“You just need to work at it,” Kenseth said. “A lot of people think you just show up and drive a race car. You get back what you put in.”

In Kenseth’s first season with JGR, he won a career-high seven races and finished second in the points for the second time since winning the 2003 series championship. He also finished second in 2006.

After a winless 2014 season, Kenseth bounced back with five victories in 2015. Had it not been for an on-track dispute with Joey Logano at Kansas and later Martinsville — which got Kenseth suspended two races for intentionally crashing Logano while he was leading — Kenseth would have been in the thick of the championship picture.

“There’s always things you can look back on no matter what it is that you wish you’d do different,” Kenseth said. “Sometimes it happens every lap. Overall, it was a great year. Throughout the year, we were in position to win races.”

He doesn’t have to look far for motivation. One of his teammates is the reigning series champion, Kyle Busch.

Kenseth, along with teammates Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards, all made the Chase — NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Those four drivers won 14 of 36 races and qualified on pole position in 11 races.

“We’re really excited,” Kenseth said. “We ended the season strong last season. It’d be tough not to be excited.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” he said when asked how the JGR program has become as competitive as it is. “We’re working hard, making the cars better. We’re unselfish as teammates.”

Kenseth is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 (2009 and 2012). If he wins Sunday’s race, he’ll join Petty, Yarborough, Allison, Gordon and Dale Jarrett to win the 500 at least three times. Petty won it a record seven times.

Kenseth is one of four drivers in this year’s field trying to win the 500 for a third time — Michael Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Kenseth said. “It’s my 17th try, but I’ve only won two of them. I feel like we’ve had a chance to win a few of those.

“It’s a big deal any time you can win this race.”

Kenseth still likes to win the big races and when it comes to the short-track scene, he’s won the Slinger Nationals a record six times.

He didn’t compete in last year’s Nationals and was second in 2014. Kenseth last won Nationals in 2012.

Kenseth said he is interested in competing in this year’s race, which is slated for July 12. He said there is talk of being in this year’s race.

Germantown to welcome 2 new members to its Hall of Fame

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 19, 2016

Germantown to welcome 2 new members to its Hall of Fame

Ceremony is tonight

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

In his last days as an eighth grader, Ron DeLong had the same aspiration as most young lads in Germantown: to play football for the Warhawks.

So he signed up.

It wasn’t until his first days as a wide-eyed freshman in the halls at Germantown High School he realized something: Football practice had already started.

When he signed up and in the months that followed, he was never told when practice started.

Disappointed and shocked by the news, he looked for something else to do.

“It wound up being a blessing in disguise,” DeLong said.

The 56-year-old will be one of two inductees into the Germantown Athletics Hall of Fame tonight. Joining him is Tracy Howard (nee Tesch), Class of 1983.

DeLong earned eight varsity letters while competing in cross-country and track for the Warhawks — four in cross-country and four in track. He set several school records, including the 3,200meter run in track with a 9:28.4 in his final race in 1977. It’s a record that stands today.

DeLong also led the Warhawks track team to a conference championship in 1974.

Howard earned seven varsity letters in track and gymnastics. She was also the gymnastics coach at Menomonee Falls from 19892003, then continued as coach with Menomonee Falls combined with Germantown in 2004.

She retired from coaching in 2013.

“I’m very humbled and honored,” Howard said. “It’s very nice.”

As coach, Menomonee Falls won the 1991 regional title and the Menomonee Falls/Germantown co-op won the 2007 sectional title. She led three conferencechampionship winning teams, helped 18 individuals advance to state in 52 events and coached Kristi Kitzman, who won the floor exercise state titles in 1996 and 1997, and the balance beam title in 1997.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie with the kids,” Howard said. “It was fun to help them perfect high school gymnastics.”

DeLong will join former classmates in the school’s Hall of Fame.

“It’s quite a privilege and honor to be included with the other athletes that have been inducted, including Lew Potter and Wilbert Henry,” DeLong said. “I had the privilege of being on same track team as Lew Potter.”

Potter (Class of 1975) was a member of the first induction class in 2007. Henry (Class of 1972) was a member of the 2013 Hall of Fame class.

“It’s been a flattering and humbling experience,” DeLong said.

Football was DeLong’s first choice. Football was in the family blood. His father played football at Glenwood City High School in northwest Wisconsin.

“Like most kids, we all dreamed of being the star,” DeLong said. “If you wanted to be a star, you had to be in the spectator sports — football and basketball.”

So when it came time to get ready for football practice his freshman year at Germantown, he got the news he never expected.

“When I went to the first classes of the year, some of my friends who were out for the football team said that I already missed practice,” DeLong said.

So what now?

“I saw a post on the wall inviting students to try out for the cross-country team,” he said. “I always liked running.”

After the first several practices, that’s not what he thought. He wondered what he got himself into.

“Practices were grueling,” DeLong said. “I don’t know if I had ever worked so hard in my life.”

He stuck with it.

“I’m not a quitter,” DeLong said. “I wasn’t going to quit because it was difficult or challenging.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was good at the sport.”

After three weeks or so on the junior varsity team, DeLong surged onto the varsity team and, in his sophomore year, the accolades piled up.

As a sophomore, he was second at the cross-country conference championship meet. The next year, he was third, which was a disappointment. He believed he was the heir apparent to win the title as a junior.

“I had my sights set on winning the championship my senior year,” DeLong said.

That’s what he did.

On his biography for the Hall of Fame, DeLong is described as a “focused and determined competitor known for his sharp elbows, jack rabbit starts and ‘DeLong Stride.’” That determination and focus led him to the conference championship and an eventual Hall of Fame tenure with the Warhawks.

From 1974-76, he was in the top-10 in all invitationals, including a three-time invitational champion, and a state qualifier in 1976. When he graduated, he was the school record-holder for best time by a sophomore, a junior and a senior.

In track, he set school records in indoor mile run, two individual meet mile run and two-mile run.

The two-mile run time of 9:28.4 was set in his final race as a Warhawk — the sectional. He finished third at the sectional, which was short of qualifying for state.

However, the two runners ahead of him at the sectional went on to be 1-2 at state.

“It’s brought me a lot of pleasure,” DeLong said of the school’s two-mile or 3,200-meter run record. “All records are meant to be broken. I hope the next person who has it enjoys holding it as much as I have.”

Despite football being at the forefront in the family household growing up, there was always a curiousity with running.

“I always had a fascination with numbers,” DeLong said. “Running is about numbers and it’s about competing with not just against other people, but also against times, numbers.”

He also never drifted far from the possibility of being a runner. And the same went for him putting together a Hall of Fame resume at Germantown.

“I enjoyed it quite a bit,” DeLong said.