12
Sports
Friday, December 11, 2020
The
Fitchburg Star
For more sports coverage, visit: ConnectFitchburg.com
Mark Nesbitt, sports editor 845-9559 x237 • ungsportseditor@wcinet.com Fax: 845-9550
Atterbury hooked on speed skating Verona Area International School fifth-grader takes on challenge of races in Oregon MARK NESBITT Sports editor
If 10 year old Leah Atterbury’s grandfather could see her speed skating around the ice now, he would be smiling. Atterbury, of Fitchburg, is a fifth-grader at the Verona Area International School who has been hooked on speed skating since taking a one-month lesson offered by the Madison Speedskating Club last year, where she learned the basics. “It’s a lot of different motions than hockey,” Atterbury said. “In speedskating, you have to go as fast as you can and skate a lot lower.” Atterbury’s late grandfather, David Medaris, who grew up in Madison with U.S. Olympian speedskater Eric Heiden, who won five gold medals, set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Wisconsin has a long tradition of speed skating in the Olympics that includes Heiden, Verona native Casey FitzRandolph, the 2002 gold medalist who owns the Olympic record in the 500 meters, Dan Jansen (West Allis), Dan Immerfall (Madison) and Chris Witty (West Allis). Shortly after that, Atterbury joined the club and has been competing in intrasquad speed skating races the final Monday every month at the Oregon Ice Arena. Each race
Turn to Speedskating/Page 14
Photo submitted
Leah Atterbury, 10 of Fitchburg, a fifth-grader in Verona, has been speed skating for 1 1/2 years. She started last year after taking a lesson with the Madison Speedskating Club. She races in intrasquad club races once a month at the Oregon Ice Arena.
Women’s college basketball
Badgers can’t rally past Hawkeyes MARK NESBITT Sports editor
Graduate transfer Estella Moschkau, a 2017 Madison Edgewood alumnus, scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in the Badgers’ 85-78 loss to Iowa in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Saturday, Dec. 5, at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. With the loss, the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team drops to 1-1, 0-1 Big Ten. Moschkau, a transfer from Stanford, is averaging seven points and three assists in two games. She was named Wisconsin co-Miss Basketball and the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017 after leading the Crusaders to a WIAA Division 3 state championship. Wisconsin tied Iowa at 41 with under 8 minutes to play in the third quarter but the Hawkeyes went on a 20-10 run to lead 61-51 after three quarters. It was a see-saw game in the first half. Wisconsin trailed by 14 points with less than 5 minutes to play before going on an 11-0 run over the next 3 minutes to cut the Hawkeyes’ lead to 35-32 with 1:59 to play in the half. Iowa got its lead back up to eight points with 13 seconds to go before Moschkau drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut the Iowa lead to 40-35 at the half. UW redshirt junior Alex Luehring scored one point and had one rebound against the Hawkeyes. She scored 11 points and hit two 3-pointers in the season-opening 73-66 win over Northern Iowa Nov. 29. Luehring, a 2017 Verona Area High School graduate, is averaging 6 points per game for the Badgers. Wisconsin will host Rutgers on Friday, Dec. 11, at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Boys hockey
Verona playing club season Not affiliated with VAHS and not WIAA-sanctioned
Did You Know?
MARK NESBITT Sports editor
Many Verona Area High School hockey players didn’t know if they would hear those sweet words, “drop the puck.” A group of 20 VAHS players has formed a Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association club team not sanctioned with the WIAA or affiliated with VAHS. The team is being run by parent volunteers. Former Verona junior varsity hockey coach Scott Mirwald is serving as the head coach and senior Nathan Jurrens’ father, Jay Jurrens has taken on the scheduling aspect for the club. The team split two games in the opening weekend of play. On Friday, Nov. 27, Verona beat West Bend 6-1 in the season opener. On the next day, Kettle Moraine skated past Verona 2-1. The Verona varsity club hockey team is practicing at the Sauk Prairie Ice Arena and is playing all of its 20-game season on the road outside of Dane County. “From hearing the rumors,
File photo
The Verona boys hockey team started playing a varsity club season last weekend. The team has 20 games scheduled and plans to play all of them on the road outside Dane County unless COVID-19 gathering bans are lifted by the county. we didn’t know if there was going to be a hockey season,” Nathan Jurrens said. “It’s definitely really exciting to get back on the ice. Even though it’s not a regular WIAA season, the seniors are excited to have the opportunity to represent the Wildcats. Everyone is really fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to play right now.” The Verona boys hockey team was the last high school sports team to play an official game, winning the WIAA Division 1 state championship 2-1 in overtime over
Notre Dame de la Baie. It’s been almost nine months since the Wildcats won the program’s second state title. Public Health Madison and Dane County still has an order in effect banning all indoor gatherings until Dec. 16. If the Verona hockey team remains a club team throughout the winter season because of COVID-19 restrictions, it would not be eligible for the WIAA postseason or the state tournament. “The goal is to get back into
Turn to Hockey/Page 14
Five of the six Verona players named to the Division 1 Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association AllState team last year return this season. That includes first-team all-state selections Nathan Jurrens (defenseman) and Kaden Grant (goaltender). The other honorable mention all-state selections last year from the Wildcats are seniors Walker Haessig (forward), Leo Renlund (forward) and Josh Osting (defenseman). The Wildcats (25-4) won their fourth consecutive Big Eight Conference championship by going 14-0 last season. Verona coach Joel Marshall was named the conference’s coach of the year.