Lake Country This Month
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SPORTS Page 2B ��� FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY DECEMBER 2012 2012 FREEMAN FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Greg Malling,Arrowhead STATE CROSS COUNTRY ���He really kicked us into gear��� Malling wins state title in second year By Daniel Mike Freeman Staff TOWN OF MERTON ��� The first day of football practice last year was different for Dom Todarello. He had spent the previous two years following one system at Arrowhead High School, but last year new coach Greg Malling brought his own philosophy . ���It was a huge change,��� said Todarello, now a senior. ���Everything was up-tempo, and we got a whole new offense. ���He really kicked us into gear, and we had to learn really fast.��� Malling installed a spread zone-read offense that did not include a huddle. Plays were signaled in from the sidelines, and players kept moving. ���I don���t believe in huddling. I don���t like huddling. It���s kind of a waste of time,��� Malling said. He also doesn���t like to center his team around an individual or two, a philosophy that helped bring the Warhawks a WIAA Division 1 state title in Malling���s second season. That rapid success led to Malling being selected The Freeman���s Coach of the Year. ���I try to stay out of the way, truthfully,��� Malling said. ���We have a lot of good kids and coaches, and I���m just there to support the coaches who do all the real work. It���s easy when you have a bunch of kids who really want to do well and coaches who know what they���re talking about. ���I���m more of a matchmaker. I just let them meet and do their thing.��� In that regard, Malling���s assistants are Dave Bechtel, Nick Brengosz, Mike Feuerstahler, Jim Hessler, Andy Hillmann, John Hoch, Del Kaatz, Peter Kishline, Jim LaVoi-Bergman, Sam Leo, Sal Logue, Derek Micke, Joe Panos, Dave Pfeiffer and Geoff Steinbach. A good portion of that Robert F. Borkowski/Special to The Freeman Arrowhead football coach Greg Malling led the Warhawks to a perfect season and a state title. staff was in place under Malling���s predecessor, Tom Taraska, and it was a smooth transition. ���Almost the entire staff stayed last year,��� Malling said, ���and that made it way easier. It���s a great group, they���re extremely professional and they obviously really care about the kids.��� Malling took over preaching selflessness from his players, and this year���s team took those words to heart. With a roster of more than 100 players, Malling tried to get as many players as possible onto the field in each game, especially in the state championship game. ���You don���t know if you���ll ever get back,��� Malling said of the state title game. ���Our goal was to win the game. Once we had that in hand, it was a good experience for a group of kids who did everything we asked of them this year.��� Following the resignation of longtime coach Tom Taraska after the 2010 season, Arrowhead Athletic Director Kevin Flegner began going through the r��sum��s of would-be successors, knowing that whoever replaced Taraska, whose name is on the Arrowhead field, would need to deal with the pressure of following a legend. Many thought Flegner would turn to one of Taraska���s assistants or a head coach known around the area. But Flegner picked Malling, whose previous coaching experience had been mostly in Maryland. ���He is the epitome of what you want any coach to be,��� Flegner said of Malling. ���You coach high school because it���s about the kids. It���s not about the money, not about the amount of time; it is truly the relationships you���re able to build with these kids. ���What he preaches, he genuinely models.��� Flegner added, ���You like to think that every person you hire is going to work, and I���m very happy on how things panned out (with Malling). A lot of people were very skeptical two years ago wondering what we were thinking, so in the end I���m just happy for the kids.��� Malling graduated from Minot State University in North Dakota with a degree in English education. He did some coaching while student teaching, but he took time off to become a reporter and got away from coaching. He went back to school get a master���s degree and decided to coach again. He was an offensive coordinator at Leesburg (Fla.) before coming to Arrowhead, and before that he coached five years at Wooten (Md.). But he had been looking to move relatively closer to his native North Dakota, which led him to apply at Arrowhead. He was unaware of the Warhawks��� four state championships or much of the storied Arrowhead program. ���I was just looking for a different opportunity, something new,��� Malling said. ���I didn���t know much, but obviously it���s a great place to be coaching. ���The only thing that might have made it daunting is what people think. But if it doesn���t bother you what they think, it���s not that daunting.��� Malling doesn���t mind adjusting his team���s style of play to its personnel. With such a talented and speedy group of players the past two years, Malling���s zone read offense fit perfectly He . said the system may change as soon as next year depending on the team���s talent. ���It just seemed to fit our group of kids very well, so that was kind of it,��� he said. ���I just try to step back and look at what we have for players. ���I don���t mind changing year to year. You���ve got to in high school.��� While Malling may have shocked the system of his players when he took over last season, he gained their trust. They took what he taught them onto the football field ��� dominating teams along the way to a state title. ���At first it was a little bit difficult because he was changing up everything, but I love coach Malling,��� senior center Eric Precia said. ���He���s a perfect coach. He works us hard, he gets us going and as a team he���s brought us together. ���I couldn���t ask for anything more.��� Email: dmike@conleynet.com Warhawks even better on state stage this year Arrowhead girls win second title ���Jackie obviously ran well again,��� Kaczor said. ���She does a great job in big meets and knows how to handle pressure. Lea ran a smart, veteran race. Payton ran great, too. ���As she was going up a hill, the girl in front of her was driving her arms. Payton was right on her shoulder and unintentionally got socked in the lip. She was bleeding pretty good, but she didn���t let that frazzle her.��� Dubnicka was amazed at her team���s score. ���When we scored the 56 last year, I thought that was super low,��� she said. ���I thought there was no way we���d do better than that.��� Pewaukee is another girls program that has established high standards, reaching the state meet for five straight seasons and winning the title in 2009. The Pirates carried on their rich tradition, placing sixth in the Division 2 meet with 192 points. Dodgeville/Mineral Point won with 84. ���We felt like we were a topfive team, so we were a little disappointed to wind up sixth, but the girls ran well,��� Pewaukee coach John Kashian said. ���Everybody else ahead of us just ran a little better. ���Some of our girls were running at state for the fourth time. That helps a lot. It was a little overwhelming for the freshmen and for (sophomore) Morgan Patterson, who was there for the first time. Those girls with experience did what they could to help the others feel more comfortable. It worked well that we had half experience and half newcomers. Now the newcomers will be prepared for next season.��� The Pirates relied on balance. Their top finisher, senior Ali Bacon, placed 45th in 15:54.71, but their next four runners ��� Patterson, junior Lian Arzbecker, freshman Ashton Keene and senior Megan Murray ��� all finished between 52nd and 79th. ���No one expected us to do what we did,��� Kashian said. By Mark Hutchinson Freeman Staff WISCONSIN RAPIDS ��� Maybe the members of the Arrowhead High School girls cross country team should try the hurdles in addition to distance running when track season rolls around. The Warhawks not only outran the other 19 Division 1 teams in the 100th WIAA state meet, but collectively cleared a high bar they set for themselves a year ago. Coach Curt Kaczor���s squad posted a winning score of 41 points ��� the lowest for a largeschool team since Neenah topped the Class A field with 37 in 1981 ��� to earn its second consecutive state championship at Ridges Golf Course. Arrowhead totaled 56 points in winning the 2011 title by 25 points over Neenah. The Warhawks lost three seniors off that squad, but Jackie Dubnicka, Lea Patek and Natalie Burant returned as juniors and were supplemented by junior Maggie Dawes, sophomore Alyssa Nigh and freshmen Payton Wesley and Morgan Hobbs this fall. Their score of 41 put them 29 points ahead of Neenah on Saturday . ���This year was a lot different than last year,��� Arrowhead coach Curt Kaczor said. ���Going into state last year, we really didn���t have to much to lose ��� we were underdogs. This year, the bulls���-eye was on our backs, so we had to take a different approach. ���Since we had four new runners, we tried to calm the kids down and walk them through everything to help them stay relaxed and confident. We had them turn to their teammates and get support and strength from them.��� Dubnicka paced the Warhawks with a third-place finish of 14 minutes, 24.05 seconds. Following her across the finish line were Patek (13th in 14:47.85), Wesley (15th in 14:52.31), Burant, 20th in (15:01.76), Hobbs (26th in 15:10.75), Nigh (50th in 15:34.36) and Dawes (84th in 15:46.50). Email: mhutchinson@conleynet.com If Animals Use It��� We Carry It��� And It���s Priced Right! ���Feed & Pet Supply Stores��� Visit us on-line at www.fonfeed.com for maps, info & special offers! 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