Rinaldi solid again for UW-W; Warner 2nd-team all-conference

COLLEGE ATHLETES SPRING REPORT

On the collegiate level this spring, athletes from local high schools improved their times and distances in track and field and had some success pitching for their baseball and softball teams.

Here are some of the highlights from the spring season: Victor Rinaldi, a 2018 Medford graduate, had another solid outdoor season as a sprinter for the UW-Whitewater men’s track and field program. Plus, he was one of 59 UW-W student-athletes recognized by the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and interim chancellor John Chenoweth as 2021-22 Chancellor’s Scholar-Athletes. Rinaldi is majoring in general business.

To be recognized as Scholar Athletes, UW-W student-athletes must have maintained a 3.25 cumulative grade point average or above through the end of the 2021 fall semester. Honorees must have participated in a varsity sport for two years, must be of senior academic status and must have accumulated at least 90 degree credits.

Rinaldi set personal-best times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes during his fourth year in the program and competed in some 400-meter relay races as well.

Officially, his best time in the 100-meter dash was 10.76 seconds set May 13 at the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open. That came in the preliminaries, where he placed third out of more than 30 competitors. He was sixth in the final at 11.21 seconds.

However, Rinaldi posted some windaided times that were even faster. The fastest of those was 10.47 in the final during UW-W’s Warhawk Invitational April 23. He placed second behind UW-Parkside’s Nic Davy (10.39). In the preliminaries, Rinaldi was timed at 10.66 seconds, 0.13 seconds behind Davy.

Rinaldi had a wind-aided time of 10.72 seconds while taking second in the Warhawks’ first outdoor meet of the spring, the April 2 UW-Platteville Opener. He was 0.23 seconds behind Cade VanHout of UW-Platteville. He qualified for the final with a second-place time of 10.96 seconds.

He again had a wind-aided time of 10.76 seconds and placed second in the final of the April 10 Rex Foster Twilight meet hosted by UW-W. Rinaldi was just 0.04 seconds behind Benedictine’s Matt Fleming. Back at Platteville for UW-P’s Outdoor Invitational on April 15, Rinaldi was third in the preliminaries with a wind-aided time of 10.72 seconds and was fourth in the final at 10.76 seconds, 0.32 seconds behind winner Sam Blaskowski of UW-La Crosse.

Rinaldi was 12th in the event at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (WIAC) league meet at UW-La Crosse May 6-7. His preliminary time was 10.92 seconds, just 0.06 seconds away from qualifying for the final.

Rinaldi’s best 200-meter dash time was 21.97 seconds set May 19 in the Augustana College Twilight Qualifier. He placed fifth, 0.49 seconds behind the winner, Jayden Sloan, a freshman from McMurry. Rinaldi was third in 22.07 seconds at Warhawk Invitational, 0.43 seconds behind Davy and 0.08 seconds behind runner-up Landon Keefover of UW-Whitewater.

Rinaldi was on the fourth-place 400-meter relay team at the WIAC championships. D’Angelo Dear of Green Bay Preble, Carsen Rindt of Fox Valley Lutheran, Lindsey Henderson-Zintz of Madison LaFollette and Rinaldi finished in 41.51 seconds, the fastest time of the spring for a team Rinaldi was part of. UW-Oshkosh won the race in 40.72 seconds, followed by UW-La Crosse (41.05) and UW-Eau Claire (41.09). The Warhawks were fifth in the final team standings with 88 points. UW-Oshkosh eked out a 174-173 margin over host UW-L to win the title.

That same relay foursome won in 42.0 seconds at the May 13 UW-L Open. Dear, Rindt, Rinaldi and Shelvin Garrett of Beloit Memorial were second in 41.73 at the Rex Foster meet, 0.12 seconds behind Benedictine.

Franny Seidel, a 2020 Medford graduate, set two personal-best times during the outdoor season while competing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s women’s track and field team.

Seidel opened the outdoor season by setting a personal record in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:56.14, which was good for ninth place at the April 1 Wartburg Outdoor Select meet in Waverly, Iowa. She did even better on April 23 at the Holst Invitational, hosted by Concordia-St. Paul, taking ninth in 4:51.39. Her best 1,500 time in 2021 was 5:01.1. Seidel most frequently competed in the 800-meter run for the Bulldogs this spring, an event she didn’t run last spring, and lowered her time to 2:18.22 in the May 6 Deb Schulz Open, hosted by Minnesota State-Mankato. That put her in third place that day behind teammate and former Loyal star Savannah Schley (2:13.59) and Minnesota State’s MaKenna Thurston (2:14.95).

Seidel competed in the 800 at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) outdoor championships, hosted by Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., and placed 16th with a time of 2:22.72. The Bulldogs were ninth in the team standings with 32 points. Minnesota State won with 191.

Seidel was fourth in the 800 at 2:20.08 during the April 30 Drake Alternative meet hosted by Gustavus Adolphus and was seventh at 2:20.04 in the April 8-9 at the Minnesota State Open.

Seidel ran a leg in the 1,600-meter relay in two meets. Her team placed fifth in 4:13.66 in the Minnesota State Open and seventh in 4:15.38 at Wartburg.

Former Prentice-Rib Lake cross country standout Peyton Enders finished his 2022 season with the Concordia-St. Paul men’s track and field program by competing in the decathlon at the NSIC championships. He was ninth out of 13 competitors with 5,202 points. The 10 events in the decathlon include the 100-meter dash, 110-meter high hurdles, 400-meter dash, 1,500-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, discus, pole vault and javelin throw.

The sophomore and 2020 Prentice grad won the 1,500-meter race in 4:39.05, finishing 8.96 seconds ahead of Northern State’s Jackson Willis. He tied for sixth in the long jump at 19-11.5, was seventh in the pole vault at 11-1, tied for seventh in the high jump at 5-9.25, was eighth in the 100-meter dash at 11.95 seconds, took ninth in the high hurdles at 17.52 seconds, placed 10th in the 400-meter dash at 54.79 seconds and was 11th in the javelin at 110-8, 12th in the discus at 65-4 and 13th in the shot put at 28-5.

Enders scored 3,825 points in his first decathlon April 14-15 at the William Penn University Statesmen Invite and had competed in the heptathlon in the NSIC’s indoor meet and placed 14th.

Enders had a personal-best 110-meter high hurdles time of 16.84 seconds and finished in eighth place at the April 30 Drake Alternative meet, threw the discus a personal-best 71-1 at the Holst Invitational and cleared a personal-bet 11-1.75 in the pole vault at the April 2 Hamline Invitational.

On the diamond

Addison Warner, a 2021 Gilman graduate, had a strong first season with the Madison College softball team, earning second-team all-conference honors in the North Central Community College Conference.

Warner, who pitched and is also listed as an infielder, made 13 appearances and eight starts in the pitching circle, going 6-2. The right-hander fanned 42 batters and registered an earned run average of 2.67 over 36.2 innings. Warner twice struck out six batters in a game. She was third on the team in starts and pitched four complete games. She allowed 33 hits and 20 runs, 14 of which were earned.

Warner picked up her first win with a five-inning complete game on March 5 in a 13-3 rout of South Suburban College played at The Dome at the Ballpark in Rosemont, Ill. Given a 9-0 lead in the first inning by the offense, she cruised, striking out six, walking and allowing four hits and three unearned runs. She threw a four-hit, five-inning shutout in a 13-0 win at McHenry County College on April 15, striking out five and walking two, and she threw a five-inning complete game in a 15-1 win at Kishwaukee College on May 2, allowing just two hits while striking out six and walking three. The run was earned.

Warner was the winning pitcher in a 10-1 win at Milwaukee Area Technical College on May 7, going three innings and striking out four and walking two while allowing two hits and an unearned run. She threw a five-inning complete game in a 16-2 March 13 win over the Minnesota-Morris JV team. She struck out four, walked four and allowed two hits and two earned runs in that win. Warner got the win in a 12-6 home victory over Carl Sandburg College on April 23. She allowed four hits, an earned run and two walks while striking out three in three innings.

Warner struck out four batters in 2.2 relief innings in a 7-3 loss to Sauk Valley Community College on April 16.

The WolfPack went 31-16 overall, including an 8-3 mark in conference play. The team’s streak of district championships and trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament ended at three when the second-seeded team was eliminated after three games in the Midwest District A tournament held in Freeport, Ill. Madison College opened with a 4-3 win over third-seeded Sauk Valley, but then lost 9-2 to top-seeded Triton College and 5-1 in a rematch with Sauk Valley.

John McMurry, a 2020 Medford graduate, saw an increased workload in his second season as a relief pitcher for Viterbo University’s baseball team.

The sophomore had an 0-1 record with an improved 4.15 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. He made 13 appearances, allowing 20 hits and nine runs, eight of which were earned. He struck out 15, walked six and averaged 7.79 strikeouts per nine innings, all better numbers than he posted in 2021.

The V-Hawks had a tough season, going 16-36 overall and struggled even more in conference play, finishing with a 5-20 record in the North Star Athletic Association. The team did make a little run at the end of the year, winning twice in the conference tournament before bowing out of the double-elimination tournament with an 11-4 loss to second-seeded Dakota State on May 9. One of its tournament wins was an 8-1 upset win over Dakota State in the first round.

McMurry pitched once in the NSAA tournament, eating up 2.2 innings in a 10-1 loss to third-seeded Dickinson State. He tied his season-best with three strikeouts, walked one and allowed two hits and a run, which came on a solo homer by Dawson Cortese that accounted for the game’s final run. The tournament was held in Forest City, Iowa and hosted by Waldorf University.

McMurry also pitched 2.2 innings in a 5-4 loss at Graceland (Joplin, Mo.) on Feb. 19. He struck out three batters in that game as well while allowing three hits and an earned run. He struck out two of three batters faced in an 11-4 loss at Kansas Christian on Feb. 10, pitched a scoreless inning in fall ball Oct. 23 in a 5-2 win at Lincoln Christian and threw a scoreless 2.1 innings March 6 in a 3-2 loss to Madonna. He allowed one hit in that stint. He took the loss in a walk-off, 3-2 defeat at Columbia (Mo.) on March 14.

Former Rib Lake-Prentice football quarterback Trace Brayton made three early-season pitching appearances for the University of Minnesota-Crookston baseball team. The 2019 Prentice grad retired two of four batters faced in the sixth inning of an 8-4 loss Feb. 7 at Northwestern Oklahoma, getting a flyout and a strikeout before allowing a homer and a single. He retired one of five batters faced in the eighth inning of a 10-8 loss at Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 13, allowing five hits and three earned runs. The home team scored seven in that inning to overturn a 7-3 deficit. Brayton faced two batters, walking one and giving up a hit in a 12-7 loss to Saint Leo on March 9.

The Golden Eagles went 18-27 this spring, including a 10-16 record in the NSIC.

UW-Whitewater’s Victor Rinaldi, a 2018 Medford graduate, sprints with the baton during the anchor leg of the mens 400-meter relay at the May 7 WIAC Outdoor Championships at UW-La Crosse. The Warhawks’ relay team finished fourth in this race in 41.51 seconds, 0.79 seconds behind champion UW-Oshkosh.TRENT HANSELMANN/KODIAK CREATIVE

Franny Seidel

Addison Warner, a 2021 Gilman graduate, delivers a pitch during one of Madison College’s early-season games played at the Dome at the Ballpark in Rosemont, Ill. Warner was 6-2 in her first season with the WolfPack.JIM GARVEY/MADISON COLLEGE ATHLETICS