FLASHBACK

2007 conference champions

Northern Badger — DeForest. Southern Badger — Verona. Big Eight — Middleton. North. Capitol — Lakeside Lutheran. Southern Capitol — Sugar River. Little Ten — Wisconsin Lutheran. Ridge & Valley/Six Rivers — Albany. Rock Valley — Evansville. Scenic Bluffs — Bangor. South Central — Mauston. Southern Lakes — Whitewater. SWAL — Boscobel. SWC — Platteville. Trailways — Pardeeville.

Best area WIAA tournament showings

Division 1 — Middleton finished 10th at the state meet. Division 2 — East Troy finished sixth, while Lakeside Lutheran (seventh), Mauston (seventh), Sugar River (ninth) and Whitewater (ninth) also finished in the top 10. Division 3 — Darlington finished third, while Hillsboro (fifth) and Dodgeland (sixth) also finished in the top 10.

FAST FORWARD

WSJ PRESEASON ALL-AREA

100 meters
Division 1: Tiffany Jones, sr., Madison Memorial. Division 2: Katie Duggleby, sr., McFarland. Division 3: Kelly Giese, sr., Brookwood and Megan Rennhack, sr., Dodgeland.

200 meters
Division 1: Tiffany Jones, sr., Madison Memorial. Division 2: Janelle Bagneski, sr., Lake Mills. Division 3: Megan Rennhack, sr., Dodgeland and Kelly Giese, sr., Brookwood.

400 meters
Division 1: Lauren Rock, jr., Madison Memorial. Division 2: Deidre Dillman, sr., Prairie du Chien. Division 3: Kelsi Blosch, jr., Darlington.

800 meters
Division 1: Megan Beers, sr., Oregon and Maggie Bollig, jr., Middleton. Division 2: Deidre Dillman, sr., Prairie du Chien. Division 3: Abby Wedig, sr., Darlington.

1,600 meters
Division 1: Emma Spoon, sr., Verona. Division 2: Ashley Beutler, sr., New Glarus. Division 3: Samantha Bluske, jr., Pardeeville, and Kelsey Bernet, so., Monticello.

3,200 meters
Division 1: Kiah Ehrke, jr., Stoughton. Division 2: Ashley Beutler, sr., Sugar River and Keely Rubash, sr., Mauston. Division 3: Samantha Bluske, jr., Pardeeville, and Kelsey Bernet, so., Monticello.

110 hurdles
Division 1: Lindsay Schwartz, sr., Watertown. Division 2: Whitney Jaemseon, sr., Cambridge. Division 3: Megan Rennhack, sr., Dodgeland.

300 hurdles
Division 1: Lindsay Schwartz, sr., Watertown. Division 2: Heidi Straka, sr., Dodgeville/Mineral Point. Division 3: Megan Rennhack, sr., Dodgeland.

400 relay
Division 1: Middleton. Division 2: Platteville. Division 3: Pecatonica-Argyle.

800 relay
Division 1: Middleton. Division 2: Whitewater. Division 3: Cuba City.

1,600 relay
Division 1: Middleton. Division 2: Whitewater and Lakeside Luth. Division 3: Darlington and Cuba City.

3,200 relay
Division 1: Middleton. Division 2: Lakeside Lutheran. Division 3: Darlington and Fennimore.

High jump
Division 1: Shelby Demos, jr., Janesville Parker. Division 2: Becca Buchholtz, sr., East Troy, and Nish Rubash, sr., Mauston. Division 3: Katie Langmeier, so., Cuba City.

Pole vault
Division 1: Lindsey Parker, sr., Madison East. Division 2: Ryanne Bell, sr., Boscobel, and Kristin Blair, sr., Madison Edgewood. Division 3: Stephanie Winters, sr., Darlington.

Long jump
Division 1: Eva Greenwalt, jr., Verona. Division 2: Becca Buchholtz, sr., East Troy. Division 3: Aileen Maier, jr., Pardeeville.

Triple jump
Division 1: Alida Mau, sr., DeForest. Division 2: Becca Buchholtz, sr., East Troy. Division 3: Aileen Maier, jr., Pardeeville.

Shot put
Division 1: Angela Boushea, so., Monona Grove Division 2: Shanai Guider, jr., Cambridge. Division 3: Kassi Kamps, jr., Belmont.

Discus
Division 1: Amanda Spencer, jr., Verona. Division 2: Tiffany Medenwaldt, sr., Lakeside Lutheran. Division 3: Kerry McDermott, sr., Rio.

BIG QUESTIONS

Can Ashley Beutler do it?
If you're talking about breaking the WIAA Division 2 state meet record in the 3,200-meter run — 10 minutes, 36.88 seconds set by Sauk Prairie's Lori Wolter in 1984 and now the oldest standing Division 2 girls record — the answer is a definite maybe. Beutler set the Division 2 record in the 1,600 last spring and tied the overall record at the WIAA state cross country meet last fall. Her winning time in the 3,200 last year (10:46.52) came within 10 seconds of the record and was about 23 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

Who is the best hurdler in Dodge County?
Think it's no contest? Get out of Dodge! Megan Rennhack, a senior from Dodgeland High School in Juneau, swept the 100 highs and 300 lows at the Division 3 state meet last year. But Watertown's Lindsay Schwartz, who will compete in volleyball and track and field at South Alabama this fall, had a tough state meet last year after winning the 100 highs and finishing second in the 300 lows as a sophomore.

Who is the most unheralded area athlete?
We cast our vote for Oregon's Megan Beers, the 2007 Division 1 state runner-up, a two-time Southern Badger Conference champion in the 800 meters and a steady third runner on the Southern Badger Conference cross country trails last fall behind Verona's Emma Spoon and Stoughton's Kiah Ehrke. Like Beutler, Beers will compete at the University of Wisconsin.

What makes Middleton so strong in the relays?
Talent. The Cardinals have been successful at mixing familiar names from other sports — such as Kayla Beckwith (swimming) and JoLynn Owen (basketball) — with accomplished runners such as Eileen Walz (sprints) and Maggie Bollig (distance) to form units capable of making noise at the state meet.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
May 13: Northern Badger meet (Mount Horeb); Southern Badger meet (Middleton HS); Big Eight meet (Madison La Follette); Northern Capitol (Lodi); Southern Capitol (Waterloo); Little Ten (Beaver Dam); Ridge & Valley/Six Rivers (Kickapoo HS, Viola); Rock Valley (Palmyra-Eagle); Scenic Bluffs (Necedah); South Central (Wautoma); Southern Lakes (Fort Atkinson); SWAL (Darlington), SWC (Lancaster), Trailways (Princeton).
May 19: WIAA regional meets.
May 22: WIAA sectional meets.
May 30-31: WIAA state meet at La Crosse.