Blue Dukes Prepare for State Competition in Track and Boys Tennis

This weekend represents one of the biggest of the high school sports season, and Whitefish Bay High School is well represented at the WIAA state boys tennis and state track and field championships.

WIAA state tennis

Two Blue Dukes tennis doubles teams are among the 16 seeded duos in the 56-team finals at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, beginning Thursday. Both are among seeds 9-16, which are not ranked individually.

• More: Singles bracket  Doubles bracket  WIAA preview

Andy Krugler and Charlie Bostwick (16-3) have a first-round match at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Jeff Dahl and Griffin Robertson of Hudson (16-5).  If they win, they’ll face either a team from Greendale or a team from Elkhorn.

Also seeded is the team of Matt Kavanaugh and Graham Martens, both juniors. They’ll put their 15-5 record against Dylan Teutschmann and Jimmy Groh (16-2) from Waukesha South at 3 p.m. Thursday. Their next opponent would come from Eau Claire Memorial or Appleton East.

In singles, sophomore Wenton Zhang (15-8) faces Jake Diesler (20-2) of Mukwonago in a first-round match. The winner meets eighth-seeded Michael Treis of Brookfield Central.

Also in singles, senior Ben Foran (16-9) meets Myles Iwen (12-16) of DePere at 4 p.m. Thursday. That winner advances to meet the winner of Matthieu Duvant of Waukesha North and Christian Phelps of Eau Claire Memorial.

WIAA state track

The boys 4 x 200 relay enters the state meet in LaCrosse on Friday and Saturday with the best seed time, 1:27.83. The foursome’s No. 1 rival appears to be Milwaukee Riverside, who came in just .08 behind Whitefish Bay in the sectional meet. They are the only two schools who recorded a sectional time faster than 1:30.

• More: Boys seedings  Girls seedings  WIAA preview  Live stream

Six runners are listed on the roster but only four participate. Brandon Threats, James Stecker, Tommy Friesch, Rashadeem Gray, Darrein Walker, Ryan Ballentine.

Also participating at the state meet are:

BOYS

• Rhashad Gray, high jump
• Rashadeem Gray, 110 hurdles
• Nate Gomoll, 1,600 meters, with the second-best seed time in the state behind Arrowhead’s Russ Sandvold
• Brandon Threats, 200 meters

GIRLS

• Helena Dziadowicz, discus
• Sofie Yang and Lily Hays, pole vault
• 4 x 800 relay: Sarah Coffey, Anna Bednarczyk, Alana Blegen, Reilly Koch, Emma-Lisa Murphy, Jenna Wirkus
• Emma-Lisa Murphy, 3,200 and 1,600.

WIAA girls soccer

The Blue Dukes are seeded fifth in the 16-team sectional and host Oconomowoc, the 12th seed, at 7 p.m. Thursday. The state’s top-ranked team, Cedarburg, is No. 1 in the sectional.

Whitefish Bay (13-3-2) is ranked No. 5 in the state by the coaches and has won six consecutive matches according to WisSports.net, including triumphs over traditionally strong teams such as Grafton, Homestead, Waukesha West and Brookfield East.

WIAA softball

An opening-round 6-5 victory over Tosa East on Tuesday sends the Blue Dukes into a matchup with No. 1 seed Germantown at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kennedy Middle School in Germantown.

According to WisSports.net, the Blue Dukes (7-16) fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first but battled back. They gave up a run in the top of the seventh before shutting the door. Katie Miller pitched all seven innings for the victory and Kristin Enea recorded two hits.

WIAA boys golf

Whitefish Bay junior Jack Comiskey finished tied for sixth at the Pius IX Sectional at Washington County Golf Club in Hartford. He shot 79, one shot out of a playoff for the final qualifying position.