Denmark baseball seeks 3-peat, while 3 players join track team to chase state track record

DENMARK, Wis. (WBAY) - The Denmark track team just got a big boost from the baseball squad. In the midst of another dream season chasing a 3-peat on the diamond , three Viking baseball players kicked around an idea and joined forces with track star Simon Alexander to chase a 4x100 relay state title.

“About 2 weeks ago, we were getting ready for the conference track meet, trying to think of new ways to score points,” Alexander said. “And Ethan Ovsak, on the baseball team, texted me asking about the relay. I texted him back and said, ‘for sure, come to practice and we will see what we can do.’ And they picked it up easily.”

The three baseball players: Ethan Ovsak, Nolan Perry, and Jaycob Dittmer, ran for the first time at the conference track meet. They have just three races under their belt, but after a win at sectionals, they’re .16 seconds off of the WIAA Division 2 state meet record. They’re hoping to make history, and then win another championship on the diamond.

“It’s crazy,” Alexander said. “It didn’t even seem like a possibility. We are ranked #1, .16 off the state record, and it’s just like a dream come true. These guys never ran track before and they are thinking to themselves, ‘we’re going to make history!’ It’s going to be fun.”

No one has ever heard of this type of thing happening. First of all, legendary baseball coach Bill Miller had to be gracious enough to share his stars. This type of talent doesn’t just waltz through the door at the 11th hour and achieve greatness. Or does it?

“It kind of just fell into our lap,” Alexander said. “It’s once in a lifetime talent. Also, them being able to succeed in another sport at the same time, you don’t see that ever. This is going to be making history.”

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