Prior to Tuesday's 100-meter dash preliminaries, Madison Memorial senior Derek Nkemnji was feeling the strains of last Friday's Monona Grove Invitational in both legs. Blustery conditions weren't helping matters.

"I was definitely sore, and with all this wind it's tough to push through it as hard as you can every heat," Nkemnji said.

So Nkemnji prepared for the 100 finals by conserving energy wherever he could — even if it meant compromising his heat speeds.

"I saved as much as I could, and did a lot of stretching in between each heat," Nkemnji said.

All that energy preservation paid big dividends for Nkemnji, who outran Madison La Follette's Dominique Sanders and Madison West's Armani Davis to win the 100 title in impressive fashion at the Big Eight Conference track and field meet at Lussier Stadium.

"I was able to push hard out of the block in the finals," said Nkemnji, who finished in a time of 11.81 seconds. "It feels real good."

Nkemnji felt so good that he even ran strong legs in Memorial's 400 and 800 relay wins, propelling the Spartans to a second-place team finish with 115 points, well behind La Follette's 195?.

"We've been doing a lot of work with our relays, and we got some momentum going into regionals," said junior Quentin Badger, who also blew away the field to win the 200 later in the night. "We didn't come out of the gate as hard as we could in the 800 (relay), but that headwind left us in good position to make up ground."

Andy Buchanan gave the hosts a boost when the La Follette senior outdueled teammate Alex Brill to win the 1,600.

"It was our goal coming in to sweep the mile," said Buchanan, who captured the 800 in addition to the 1,600. "I tried to get going as fast as I could and then hold on. And with Alex behind me, I always want to get him."

On the girls side, Middleton's Maggie Bollig captured wins in the 800 and 1,600 to lift the Cardinals to the team title with 156? points. Sun Prairie finished second with 118 points.

"I think the (1,600) went pretty quick, but coach told us to focus on result and not time," Bollig said.

Memorial's Tiffany Jones continued her fantastic season by winning both the 100 and 200 in dominating fashion, as well taking the long jump.

"I felt better in the 200, even with the wind," Jones said. "It makes you want to work harder to get your time down. To me, it's like resistance training."

BOYS

Team scores: Madison La Follette 195?, Madison Memorial 115, Janesville Parker 75, Sun Prairie 74, Madison West 63, Janesville Craig 57?, Middleton 51?, Madison East 49?, Beloit Memorial 21.

100 dash - 1, Nkemnji, MM, :11.81; 2, Sanders, ML, :11.86; 3, Trinh, BM, :11.89; 4, Davis, MW, :11.92; 5, Jacobs, MM, :12.08; 6, Field, ME, :12.18. 200 - 1, Badger, MM, :23.54; 2, Knight, ML, :23.92; 3, Sanders, ML, :23.96; 4, Jacobs, MM, :24.07; 5, Perez, JP, :24.21; 6, Kinkade, JC, :24.24. 400 - 1, Davis, MW, :51.18; 2, Fisher, Mi, :51.42; 3, Kennedy, JC, :51.71; 4, Perez, JP, :52.28; 5, Knight, ML, :52.68; 6, DeVriendt, MW, :53.52. 800 - 1, Buchanan, ML, 2:01.74; 2, Fisher, Mi, 2:02.34; 3, Noltemeyer, MM, 2:02.38; 4, Brill, ML, 2:02.81; 5, Williams, MW, 2:03.95; 6, Scharnke, ML, 2:04.30. 1,600 - 1, Buchanan, ML, 4:22.97; 2, Brill, ML, 4:23.37; 3, Noltemeyer, MM, 4:26.57; 4, Torees, SP, 4:32.27; 5, Bohn, ML, 4:33.86; 6, Ahrens, JC, 4:33.91. 3,200 - 1, Prusynski, ML, 9:26.55; 2, Kelly, MW, 9:37.10; 3, Eklof, ML, 9:52.67; 4, Seye, ML, 10:05.55; 5, Houk, SP, 10:17.93; 6, Naden, Mi, 10:27.29.

110 high hurdles - 1, Neblett, MM, :15.35; 2, Hopkins, ME, :15.63; 3, Mestelle, SP, :15.66; 4, Krueger, ML, :15.96; 5, Werling, BM, :16.61; 6, Li, MM, :16.63. 300 intermediate hurdles - 1, Neblett, MM, :40.66; 2, Krueger, ML, :40.70; 3, Mestelle, SP, :41.11; 4, Sample, MW, :41.66; 5, Kracht, Mi, :42.58; 6, Hopkins, ME, :42.74. 400 relay - 1, Madison Memorial (Wise, Nkemnji, Jacobs, Badger), :44.14; 2, Madison La Follette, :44.27; 3, Beloit Memorial, :44.40; 4, Janesville Parker, :45.06; 5, Janesville Craig, :45.10; 6, Middleton, :45.21. 800 relay - 1, Madison Memorial (Wise, Nkemnji, Thomas, Badger), 1:31.91; 2, Madison La Follette, 1:32.77; 3, Janesville Parker, 1:32.98; 4, Sun Prairie, 1:33.61; 5, Middleton, 1:34.73; 6, Beloit Memorial, 1:34.81. 1,600 relay - 1, Sun Prairie (Kurutz, Mestelle, Burchette, Waldon), 3:31.72; 2, Madison La Follette, 3:33.79; 3, Madison West, 3:36.57; 4, Madison Memorial, 3:37.97; 5, Madison East, 3:38.28; 6, Janesville Parker, 3:41.83. 3,200 relay - 1, Madison La Follette (Scharnke, Seye, Laack-Veeder, Prusynski), 8:11.23; 2, Madison East, 8:13.36; 3, Middleton, 8:15.54; 4, Janesville Craig, 8:18.19; 5, Madison Memorial, 8:29.15; 6, Madison West, 8:31.38.

Shot put - 1, Mahaffey, MM, 52-8 ?; 2, Pederson, JC, 52-1 ?; 3, Holbrook, JP, 47-10 ?; 4, Harper, SP, 46-2 ?; 5, Aguayo, ME, 42-5 ?; 6, Nauer, JP, 43-10 ?. Long jump - 1, Pregont, JC, 21-4; 2, Knight, ML, 20-8 ?; 3, Redman, ML, 20-6 ?; 4, Scheidegger, SP, 20-1 ?' 5, Pearson, MW, 19-10 ?; 6, Cahill, JP, 19-0 ?. High jump - 1, Grafft, JP, 6-6; 2, Redman, ML, 6-6; 3, Pregont, JC, 6-0; 4, Waldon, SP, 5-10; 5, Park, ME and Breese, ML, 5-8. Pole vault - 1, Speaker, JP, 13-6; 2, Sheppard, ML, 13-3; 3, Simeon, ME, 12-9; 4, Rucinski, JP, 12-0; 5, Yazumbek, JC, 10-6; 6, Vacek, ML 10-6. Discus - 1, Mahaffey, MM, 143-10; 2, Miller, ME, 138-7; 3, Parton, Mi, 135-10; 4, Walsh, SP 133-1; 5, Seay, ML, 133-0; 6, Feist, Mi, 132-6. Triple jump - 1, Knight, ML, 44-5; 2, Pearson, MW, 41-8; 3, Johnson, SP, 41-0 ?; 4, Cahill, JP, 41-0 ?; 5, Krueger, ML, 40-10; 6, Pregont, JC, 40-8.

GIRLS

Team scores - Middleton 156?, Sun Prairie 118, Janesville Parker 107, Madison La Follette 97?, Madison Memorial 84?, Beloit Memorial 37, Madison East 37, Janesville Craig 35?, Madison West 29.

100 meters - 1, Jones, MM, :13.25; 2, Landsee, Mi, :13.61; 3, Carlson, BM, :13.64; 4, Kepney, SP, :13.72; 5, Gaab, Mi, :13.73; 6, Mauermann, JP, :13.78. 200 - 1, Jones, MM, :26.48; 2, Rock, MM, :27.51; 3, Taylor, ML, :27.86; 4, Jones, JP, :28.16; 5, Pritchard, BM, :28.16; 6, McGinnis, Mi, :28.23. 400 - 1, Rock, MM, :59.33; 2, Taylor, ML, 1:00.98; 3, Pritchard, BM, 1:01.83; 4, Scieszinski, JC, 1:01.91; 5, Beckwith, Mi, 1:03.54; 6, Brooks, Mi, 1:03.65. 800 - 1, Bolllig, Mi, 2:24.67; 2, Ives, SP, 2:33.07; 3, Baltisberger, ML, 2:34.46; 4, Kong, SP, 2:34.64; 5, Capacio, ML 2:35.18; 6, Schaefer, ME, 2:35.51. 1,600 - 1, Bollig, Mi, 5:14.09; 2, Berkholtz, SP, 5:24.53; 3, Baltisberger, ML, 5:25.80; 4, Fowler, Mi, 5:31.85; 5, Brickson, ME, 5:34.94; 6, Hartig, Mi, 5:45.82. 3,200 - 1, Bollig, Mi, :11:48.88; 2, King, JP, 11:56.10; 3, Berkholtz, SP, :11.58.58; 4, Ohm, MW, 12:00.07; 5, Fowler, Mi, 12:03.55; 6, Monson, ML, 12:11.54.

110 high hurdles - 1, Demos, JP, :15.97; 2, Niles, JP, 16:67; 3, Troia, ML, :17.02; 4, Buchanan, Mi, :17.06; 5, Prange, SP, :17.59; 6, Belden, JP, :17.88. 300 low hurdles - 1, Demos, JP, :48.34; 2, Berkholtz, SP, :49.33; 3, Doyle, MW, :50.26; 4, McCauley, Mi, :50.38; 5, Niles, JP, :50.99; 6, Assalong, SP, :51.09. 400 relay - 1, tie, Beloit Memorial (Tripplet, Bittorf, Rosario, Carlson), and Middleton (Gaab, Hovey, Larkin, Landsee), :50.77; 3, Janesville Parker, :52.75; 4, Madison La Follette, :53.14; 5, Janesville Craig, :54.35; 6, Madison Memorial, :54.86. 800 relay - 1, Middleton (Landsese, Walz, McGinnis, Hovey), 1:46.12; 2, Sun Prairie, 1:46.96; 3, Janesville Parker, 1:48.91; 4, Madison La Follette, 1:50.25; 5, Beloit Memorial, 1:52.20; 6, Janesville Craig, 1:53.61. 1,600 relay - 1, Sun Prairie (Assalone, Bryant, Kepney, Bartow), 4:15.00; 2, Middleton, 4:20.70; 3, Madison La Follette, 4:24.56; 4, Janesville Craig, 4:26.54; 5, Beloit Memorial, 4:27.13; 6, Janesville Parker, 4:27.61. 3,200 relay - 1, Sun Prairie (Ives, Kens, McManus, Walker), 10:00.18; 2, Madison West, 10:04.34; 3, Madison East, 10:04.87; 4, Middleton, 10:20.23; 5, Madison La Follette, 10:30.70; 6, Janesville Parker, 10:31.73.

Pole vault - 1, Parker, ME, 10-6; 2, Heller, MM, 10-0; 3, Imse, ML, and Mayer, JC 9-9; 5, Berkholtz, SP, 9-0; 6, Presti, JP, 9-0. Discus - 1, Larson, Mi, 124-8; 2, Brown, MM, 122-8; 3, Raab, MM, 122-4; 4, Metcalf, JC, 120-7; 5, Chase, SP, 116-1; 6, Wade, ML, 115-10. Triple jump - 1, McGinnis, Mi, 34-7 ?; 2, Taylor, ML, 34-6 ?; 3, Gibbs, SP, 33-6 ?; 4, Whitson, JP, 33-2 ?; 5, Douglas, ME, 32-8 ?; 6, Owen, Mi, 32-3. High jump - 1, S. Demos, JP, 5-2; 2, P. Demos, JP, 5-0; 3, Olson, MM, 5-0; 4, Owen Mi, 5-0; 5, Gibbs, SP, 4-10; 6, Keepman, MW, 4-8. Shot put - 1, Jones, SP, 37-6 ?; 2, Ta. Wade, ML, 34-6 ?; 3, Ti. Wade, ML, 32-10 ?; 4, Procak, SP, 32-2 ?; 5, Larson, Mi, 32-1 ?; 6, Chase, SP, 32-1. Long jump - 1, Jones, MM, 18-4 ?; 2, Owen, Mi, 16-6 ?; 3, McGinnis, Mi, 15-6; 4, Whalen, ME, 15-6; 5, Taylor, ML, 15-2; 6, Whitson, JP, 15-0 ?.