Friday, May 30th and Saturday, May 31st

WIAA State @ UW LaCrosse

Team Scores

1. Kettle Moraine 42

2. DC Everest 40.5

3. Port Washington 39

4. Appleton North 37

5. Milwaukee Vincent 36

6. Milwaukee Tech 26

7. Racine Park 24

8. Muskego 23

9. Madison Lafollette 22

9. Waukesha West 22

9. Neenah 22

12. South Milwaukee 18

Individual Results

Long Jump Trey McKinney-Jones 2nd 22' 9" (PR, School Record)

Triple Jump Trey McKinney-Jones 1st 47' 11" (PR, School Record, #10 all-time in Wisconsin prep history, #6 all-time in state meet history)

Coach's Comments

What a tremendous weekend for a tremendous athlete! With his performances alone, Trey McKinney-Jones boosted South Milwaukee boys track team to their state meet highest place finish in 47 years (tied for 6th in 1971) and tied for the second highest point total over that same span (20 points in '04 - 13th place, 18 in '99 - 13th place). But the team totals don't even begin to tell the story of the tremendous individual performance that now ranks Trey McKinney-Jones among the best jumpers in Wisconsin prep history.

The weekend did not come without its anxious moments. As he has on a few occaisions in the past, Trey had some trouble finding the board in the preliminaries of the long jump. On his first two jumps that were estimated to be over 23 feet each, he scratched. With only one jump left to make the finals, Trey was able to find the board and registered a 21'5" jump. At first, it appeared that he had not made the finals. Our jumps coach, Coach Turner was shaking his head and did not think he had made the top nine with that jump. Our fans started to move on to watch other events when the judge announced that Trey was the 9th place jumper and had made the finals. We found out later that it was by only one inch over Tyler Gollakner from Milwaukee Pius XI.

On his first jump of finals, Trey leaped 21' 11" to put him into 5th place. Another jumper passed him on a subsequent jump and moved him down to 6th which still put him on the platform. After failing to move up on his second attempt, Trey put everything he had into his last jump, hit the board perfectly with a 22' 9" jump putting him in 2nd place overall. All of the other jumpers had one more chance to pass him, but we're unable to do so. An exciting accomplishment and finally a school record. He had previously been 4th on the all-time list. Just moments after the event ended, I asked him why it took him so long to finally break the school record he responded, "I just wanted to make everyone nervous." Then laughed knowing that he was just as nervous and wanted it more than anyone else.

On Saturday, the wait for the big jump was only slightly less. As the number one jump going into the final, Trey would be the last jumper to make an attempt in the triple jump. In the second flight, the jumper from Madision LaFollette put out a big 47 foot jump - a three foot improvement over his sectional performance. He would prove to be the one to beat. As Trey lined up for his first attempt and the crowd began it rythmic clapping, Trey had a look in his eye that something big was about to happen. As he came down the runway and the clapping became faster, he hit the board with only an inch spare. With each phase, he got great push until he took his final leap into the pit. His feet landed just past the state record of 48' 11", but he dragged his backside just a bit and recorded a leap of 47' 11" to take the lead.

As it turned out, that was all he needed. Trey's remaining preliminary jumps were all over 47 feet (a first for him), but no one else jumped over 47 feet for the remainder of the competition. Winning a state title in an event is difficult enough. To be a repeat champion is even tougher. Everyone is gunning for you or taking shots at you throughout the entire year. Throughout the whole process, Trey stayed mentally tough, never lost confidence, and never lost site of his goal. He is the 5th athlete in school history to repeat as state champion in the same event, but the first since 1939 - 1940 when Robert Murphy won consecutive titles in the mile. It is certainly a rare feat. We are all proud of him and the way he has handled himself throughout the entire season. He has been a great example of a leader to all and he will certainly be missed.

Thursday, May 22nd
WIAA Sectional @ South Milwaukee

Team Scores
1.      Mukwonago               132.5           9.      Milwaukee South 23
2.      Racine Park             94              11.     Greenfield              22
3.      Oak Creek               72              12.     Franklin                        19
4.      Muskego         65              13.     Whitnall                        16
5.      Wisconsin Lutheran      60              14.     Milwaukee Bay View      7.5
6.      Greendale               56              15.     Milwaukee Pulaski       6
7.      South Milwaukee 51              16.     Cudahy                  4
8.      Racine Horlick          49              17.     Racine Case             1
9.      Pius XI                 23

State Qualifiers
1st Place
        Trey McKinney-Jones             Triple Jump             47' 0.5"
3rd Place
        Trey McKinney-Jones             Long Jump               21' 7"

Other Places
4th Place
        Michael Lewis                   Triple Jump             43' 9.75"
        David Feather                   3200m Run               9:52.03
6th Place
        Joe Denk, Alex Flanagan, Tyler Vivian, Vince Totka                      4x800 Relay     9:02.59
        Max Molzahn                     1600m Run               4:40.26 (PR)
        Pat Wucherer                    300 IH                  41.31 (PR)
        Chris Diamond                   800m Run                2:03.67 (PR)
        Andrew Zimmerman                3200m Run               10:12.25 (PR)
        Jake Rozenberg, Brett Bellesbach, Chris Diamond, Pat Wucherer           4x400 Relay     3:35.11 (season's best)
7th Place
        Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Erron Kingsby, Trey McKinney-Jones          4x100 Relay     45.47
        Pat Wucherer                    110 HH                  17.23
8th Place
        CJ Calteux                      110 HH                  17.31
        Michael Burkett                 HJ                      5' 6"
        Joe Weirich, Sam Rozenberg, Alan Seto, Michael Burkett                  4x200 Relay     1:36.65

Coach's Comments
        It was very exciting to be able to get as many athletes through to the sectional as we did.  We took a total of 19 athletes to the sectional meet in 12 events.  Not too many schools could make that claim.  I believe the younger athletes who made it through to sectionals gained a lot from the experience and that will help us next year.  Trey had another outstanding meet.  He will be the number one ranked triple jumper at the state meet based on sectional performances.  We know he can go further in the long jump as well and has a chance to score a lot of points. 

        It is a difficult time of year as well as we see a number of athletes compete in their last meet of their high school careers.  Some of them battled injuries up until the end.  CJ Calteux pulled his hamstring at the conference meet, but was still able qualify for sectionals.  Max Molzahn's hip injury from cross country began to bother him at the end of the season, but he was able to run his personal record at sectionals.  Pat Wucherer had a great meet running a personal record in the 300 hurdles and then coming back to anchor the 4x400 relay with a 51.6 split.  This was almost two seconds faster than his previous best in that race.  David Feather put in a good effort for four years and qualified for state last year, but just couldn't hold on at the end of his 3200.  Chris Diamond finished with a personal record in the 800 and Erron Kingsby was a very valuable member of our relays at the end of the year. We will also be saying "good bye" to seniors Tyler Vivian and Alex Miller who have provided great leadership this year and a tremendous effort over the last four years.  Thanks to people like this, we have a solid program on which to build in previous years. 

        Overall, this has been a good season for the South Milwaukee Rockets.  We handled a lot of adversity throughout the year and improved tremendously.  I am proud of all of the boys for the time and effort they put in.  We look forward to seeing Trey succeed at the state meet next year and bring home the gold!!!

Tuesday, May13th

Southeast Conference Outdoor Championships @ Burlington

Team Scores
1.      Racine Park             106
2.      Muskego         88.75
3.      Oak Creek               83
4.      Kenosha Tremper 82.5
5.      Burlington              77.25
6.      Racine Horlick          73
7.      South Milwaukee 71.25
8.      Kenosha Bradford        54.50
9.      Franklin                        39.75
10.     Racine Case             25

South Milwaukee Place Winners
1st Places
        Trey McKinney-Jones     Triple Jump             47' 7.5"         (Breaks own school record and conference record.  Currently ranked #2 in state.)

                                Long Jump               21' 1.5"
        David Feather           3200m Run               9:57.54
2nd Places
        Patrick Wucherer        300m IH         42.73
        Michael Lewis           Triple Jump             44' 4.5"
3rd Places
        Michael Lewis           Long Jump               20' 4.5"
5th Places
        Max Molzahn             1600m Run               4:43.05
        Joe Denk, Andrew Zimmerman, Alex Flanagan, Vince Totka  4x800m Relay            8:48.93
6th Places
        Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Erron Kingsby, Jake Rozenberg       4x200m Relay            1:37.07
7th Places
        Jake Rozenberg, Brett Bellesbach, Max Molzahn, Patrick Wucherer 4x400m Relay    3:42.29
        Chris Diamond           800m Run                2:02.94 (PR)
        Rudy Betancourt 110m HH         17.91
8th Places
        Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Erron Kingsby, Trey McKinney-Jones          4x100m Relay            58.11
        Michael Burkett         High Jump               5' 6"

Coach's Comments
        At first glance, it was a little disappointing to finish in 7th.  We're a better team than that.  However, when I looked at the scoring again, we were not that far out of it.  There is a 17.25 point difference between 1st and 2nd place.  There is only a 17.5 point difference between 2nd place and 7th.  It was a hotly contested conference meet in one of the best conferences in the area if not the state.  With a few slight changes in the results, we could have been as high as 2nd.  We weren't as far off as the places suggest.

        I cannot fault out team on effort, however. Sometimes you can give your very best effort and fall short of your goals.  There were some things that happened that were not totally under our control.  CJ Calteux went down with a pulled hamstring in the prelims of the high hurdles, so he was done for the day.  If healthy, he would have scored in both the high and intermediate hurdles and would have helped out 4x400 relay.  Some of our athletes performed very well and just missed making finals or scoring points.  Our relay handoffs definitely need to get better.  That is one thing we will need to work on and can definitely control.

        On an individual basis, it looks like the extra rest we gave Trey really paid off.  He popped off the record jump on his first attempt.  On his second attempt, he was well over 46 feet.  That was big, because we were able to keep him out of the finals and rest him for the long jump.  He needed every attempt in the long jump as he won the event on the sixth and final attempt of the competition.  Michael Lewis is staying right on Trey's heels in both events as he continues to put the pressure on Trey to perform.  We look forward to seeing both of them compete for the right to go to state next week. 

        Patrick Wucherer was able to take a disappointment and turn it into a success.  In the trials of the high hurdles, Patrick tripped over another athlete's hurdle that had been kicked into his lane.  It should have been a violation and a rerun, but none of the officials saw it.  As a result, he did not make the finals.  Another instance of something we couldn't control.  However, Pat saw it as an opportunity to do even better in his next race.  I don't think I've ever seen him so determined.  He ran a tremendous race and ran a great time despite stuttering on the last two hurdles.  I can only imagine how good his time would have been had he been able to run a clean race.  What a gutsy performance!

        David Feather ran a very smart and tactical race in the 3200m run.  He stayed on pace very nicely in the first mile.  With a heavy wind from the south, he used the backstretch to push the pace in the final mile, while staying consistent going into the wind on the homestretch.  David was able to pull away in the final two laps to win a conference championship.  A nice "feather in the cap" for the senior.

        We are looking forward to the end of the season for many of our athletes who have an opportunity to qualify for sectionals and then state.  The athletes have put in a lot of hard work and effort into the season and are looking for it to all pay off at the end of the year.   

Monday, May 19th
WIAA Regional @ South Milwaukee

Team Scores
1.      Oak Creek               170
2.      South Milwaukee 123
3.      Greendale               115
4.      Franklin                        86
5.      Greenfield              60
6.      Milwaukee South 57
7.      Milwaukee Bay View      35
8.      Cudahy                  27
9.      Milwaukee Pulaski       18

Sectional Qualifiers
1st Places
        Trey McKinney-Jones     Triple Jump             46' 4"
2nd Places
        Michael Burkett         High Jump               5'8"
        Vince Totka, Alex Flanagan, Tyler Vivian, Joe Denk              4x800 Relay     8:55.91
        Jake Rozenberg, Brett Bellesbach, Chris Diamond, Max Molzahn    4x400 Relay     3:39.54
3rd Places
        CJ Calteux              110m HH         16.92
        Pat Wucherer            300m IH         42.35
4th Places
        Pat Wucherer            110m HH         16.60
        Max Molzahn             1600m Run               4:47.39
        Andrew Zimmerman        3200m Run               10:17.09
        Michael Lewis           Triple Jump             42' 8"
        Joe Weirich, Jake Rozenberg, Alan Seto, Michael Burkett         4x200 Relay     1:37.94
        Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Erron Kingsby, Trey McKinney-Jones  4x100 Relay     46.01

Friday, May 9th

Hartford Invitational @ Hartford HS

Team Scores

1. Oak Creek 125

2. Milwaukee Tech 122

3. Hartford 120.5

4. Janesville Craig 102.5

5. Slinger 90

6. South Milwaukee 69

7. Milwaukee South 47

Point Scorers

1st Places

CJ Calteux 300m IH 42.02 (PR)

Andrew Zimmerman 3200m 10:24.27 (PR)

2nd Places

Patrick Wucherer 300m IH 42.67 (PR)

3rd Places

Chris Diamond, David Feather, Joe Denk, Max Molzahn 4x800 8:30.65 (season's best)

4th Places

Patrick Wucherer 110m HH 16.57

5th Places

CJ Calteux 110m HH 16.58

Joe Weirich 100m 11.71

Michael Lewis Triple Jump 43' 3.5"

Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Erron Kingsby, Tim Hall 4x100 46.15

Michael Lewis, Tim Hall, Dan Smith, Chris Diamond 4x400 3:42.76

6th Places

Alex Flanagan 1600m 4:47.88

Alex Miller Shot Put 42' 10.5"

8th Places

Vince Totka 800m 2:14.76

Coach's Comments

After 10 days without a meet, we were a bit rusty in terms of technique and race strategy. However, this meet served its purpose. The kids have been pounding it in workouts as a last big push before the end of the season. We rested a few athletes who have some minor bumps and bruises. With the rest, we asked for quality efforts and not necessarily quantity in terms of points. As a result, we didn't enter every event, nor fill every slot available.

Our top performers in this meet were definitel our hurdlers. Between CJ and Pat, they scored almost a third of our points. The competition between those two has been outstanding and they are really coming on together at the same time. I can't say enough about their work ethic and leadership throughout the entire season. Between those two and our jumpers, we have had plenty of good examples of how to practice and how to compete.

Andrew Zimmerman also had a nice race in the 3200. After two slow laps with the field, Andrew broke away to take a commanding lead and win going away. I think he would have broken 10:20 if had someone to race against him throughout. Joe Denk also had a great split in the 4x800 running a 2:08.5. He has now dropped his time almost seven seconds in that race in the last month. He put in a lot of miles in the off season and it is really paying off at the end of the season.

We look forward to putting everyone back on the track on Tuesday and expect a big performance from our athletes in the SEC Outdoor Championships at Burlington.

Saturday, April 26th

Marquette Invitational

Team Scores

1. Green Bay Preble 108

2. Mukwonago 70

3. Wisconsin Lutheran 57

4. Menomonee Falls 52

5. Milwaukee King 49

6. Racine Park 48

7. West Bend East 36.5

8. Marquette 31

9. Nicolet 30

9. Pius XI 30

11.South Milwaukee 28

11.Verona 28

South Milwaukee Point Scorers

1st Places

Trey McKinney-Jones LJ 21' 1.75"

2nd Places

Michael Lewis TJ 43' 8.5" (PR)

6th Places

Chris Diamond 1000m Run 2:46.07 (PR)

CJ Calteux 300m IH 42.30

Erron Kingsby, Michael Lewis, Joe Weirich, Trey McKinney-Jones 4x100m Relay 45.67

8th Places

Patrick Wucherer 300m IH 42.42 (PR)

Other Notable Performances

Max Molzahn 1600m Run 4:40.63 (PR) 10th

Joe Weirich, Michael Lewis, Jake Rozenberg, Trey McKinney-Jones 4x200m Relay 1:35.56 (08 best) 10th

Coach's Comments

Outside of the state meet, this is undoubtably the toughest meet we will see in the outdoor season. Marquette does a tremendous job of assembling some of the best teams in the state and running a first class meet. Combined with the cool and windy conditions, I felt it was a great experience for our kids in terms of the challenges the meet presented. For the most part, we did a good job handling those challenges. Three weeks ago, I felt we were behind where we should have been by about three weeks. We're still not where we need to be as a team, but we have made some very good progress. The kids are more focused and the competitiveness is coming around.

Individually, Trey showed great competitiveness hitting the winning jump on his last attempt. I was also very please with Chris Diamond and Max Molzahn. They have really been coming on as of late. The best part of their races was they stick to the plan that Coach Paul Hiegel (distance coach) gives them and they respond at the right times. They have been great examples for the younger distance runners.

Hurdlers CJ Calteux and Pat Wucherer also had a great meet especially in the intermediate hurdles. Looking at their times and considering the heavy winds, I would have to say that this was their best meet of the year. Rudy Betancourt (high hurdles) and Brett Bellesbach (intermediates) also had PR's. As a group, they are really coming around at the right time. With conference relays on Tuesday, the timing couldn't be better.

Coach's Comments

We are extremely please with the outcome of our first outdoor meet. We ran almost everyone in multiple events and in many cases did not put them in their "best" events. Even so, we were still able to compete at a relatively high level. What makes this especially encouraging is that we just completed a two week stretch of very difficult workouts without a meet. We still need to shake off the rust and improve in a number of areas, but we'r making progress.

Saturday, April 19th

Viking Invitational @ Wisconsin Lutheran HS

Team Scores

1. Wisconsin Lutheran 154

2. Marquette 150

3. West Allis Hale 86

4. South Milwaukee 85

Coach's Comments

There were some very good individual performances in this meet that helped lead us to some great performances. CJ Calteux leads in that category with a very gutty come-from-behind victory in the 300m IH. He had that "refuse to lose" look in his eye and really laid it out there in that race. I was also pleased with the competitiveness of Alex Miller who had a huge improvement in his shot put. Michael Lewis and Trey McKinney-Jones continue to battle in the jumps. The competition between the two can only make us better as the season progresses. Our hope is that the rest of the team will look to these individuals and the competitiveness they showed to continue our improvement as a team. We have a number of individuals who are a hair away from having the "lightbulb go on." Is just a matter of confidence and belief in themselves to put us in a position to compete with the best teams around. It will be on the shoulders of our coaching staff to provide challenges in practice for our athletes to overcome and develop that confidence and competitiveness that we will need to achieve our potential. We know the athletes can do. We need to make them believe they can do it.