With three state titles in the past four years, Muskego's relays sprint toward elite status

Muskego’s Justin Kotarak, Sam Scholz and RJ Bosshart are in exclusive company.

The Warriors speedsters are among only a handful of area athletes who enter the WIAA postseason as a defending state champion. The three accounted for 75% of last year’s Division 1 800-meter relay state championship team.

They’re the latest example of how Muskego’s 400 and 800 relays have become among the state’s elite. How else would you describe a program that has won a state relay title in three of the last four years?

It’s an impressive run for a school that until recently didn’t have much of a statewide profile in the sprints.

“It’s the dedication of these guys,” Muskego coach Owen Jarrette said. “They’re buying into the program. It’s not necessarily buying into me or whatever I’m saying or trying to teach these guys. It’s about the program, showing them that it works.”

Muskego’s 400 relay of Kotarak and Scholz, who are seniors, and Bosshart and Spencer Reichart, who are juniors, ranks No. 1 in the state, according to the athletic.net state honor roll, with a time of 42.22 seconds. The four also make up the school’s 800 relay, which ranks a close second behind Wauwatosa East, 1 minute 28.29 seconds to 1:28.42.

The team has a chance for podium finishes (top six) in both races for the second straight year. Muskego graduated leadoff man Austin Hewitt from last year’s team.

“We have a great group of guys. All of us came back bigger, stronger, faster,” Kotarak said. “We had Austin, he was a great competitor, a great racer, but I think we’ve got some guys who can fill in and be just as good if not better than he was.”

That said, Muskego is still chasing its top time in the event last year (41.98). It ran that in the state final.

The past week and a half has been key for the Warriors as well as other teams in the Classic 8 Conference when it comes to getting ready for regionals and sectionals. The league’s meet is five to six days earlier than most in the area. The earlier date, which is popular among Classic 8 coaches, allows them to better set up their training for the postseason.

Muskego heads into the regional at South Milwaukee on Monday after winning conference titles in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays. The 800 relay set a meet record with its season-best time of (1:28.42). The 400 relay checked in at 43.07, though Kotarak wasn’t part of that unit.

Kotarak is the team’s fastest sprinter and the most veteran member of the unit.

“We’ve been checking our times in comparison to last year,” Scholz said. “They’ve all been quicker, so we’re really excited to see how much time we can drop, to see if we can keep winning. That’s the goal and eventually get to state and win that, too.”

There weren't always such lofty expectations for Muskego's sprint corps, but it has been working toward this point for a while. From 2001-'10 Muskego reached the state meet in the 400 or 800 relay seven times. The Warriors made it in both the 400 and 800 relays in 2008, when it finished sixth and fifth, respectively.

In the second decade, Muskego’s presence at state grew more – at least one relay has made state for the past six years - to the point where it has won multiple titles.

What is impressive about this current run is that the titles have been won by three almost entirely different groups. Of the previous state champions, Cameron Rygiewicz (Class of 2015) is the only individual who was part of more than one title.

Scholz, Kotarak and Bosshart hope to join that list.

“Everything is thanks to that guy, Coach Jarrette,” Kotarak said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s a professional. He tells us what to do in workouts. He’s like a dad to us. He always has our backs. ... We trust him and we trust the process.”