Thursday, October 4, 2018 • Vol. 54, No. 20 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
Tackling cancer Golden back on field five weeks after diagnosis, surgery MARK NESBITT Assistant sports editor
Three days after playing in the Verona Area High School football team’s season-opening win at Janesville Parker Aug. 17, Quinn Golden knew something wasn’t right. The senior defensive end experienced lower torso pain during practice, and not the kind that comes from battling offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage. “I felt something unusual down there,” Golden told the Press last week. “I was kind of scared at first.” After a team trainer looked at Golden, he was rushed to the emergency room at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. That was Monday, Aug. 20, and it was the day Golden was informed he had testicular cancer. Three days later, Golden had surgery to remove the tumor. And five weeks after that, he was back on the field, recording two tackles Friday, Sept. 28, in Verona’s 47-14 win over Madison La Follette at Lussier Stadium. “I feel good out here playing with these guys,” Golden said after the game. “They pick up my energy really quick.” The win clinched a playoff berth for Verona (5-2), and for Golden, who sat out of football last year. That means he’ll get a chance to play in the playoffs for the first time in his career in any sport. G o l d e n m i s s e d fiv e games after his surgery, and he said he was “heartbroken” when he found out he’d have to wait to get back on the field. “I wanted to be out here with the guys all season and get better with them,” he said. “Things fall short, and I just have to stay positive and keep the same energy up.” That’s a challenge in more than one way after what he went through, but he said his teammates have helped. “I’m not 100 percent; I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I tell my coaches I’m fine,
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Pool, turf decision delayed SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Photos by Mark Nesbitt
Inside Read about Verona’s 47-14 win over Madison La Follette Page 11
Verona senior defensive end Quinn Golden (6) huddles with teammates Friday after the Wildcats beat Madison La Follette 47-14. It marked Golden’s first game since he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. but things have me freaked out, and I’m not 100 percent mentally or physically. Hopefully, I can get back to 100 percent next week.” The
Verona Press
Verona coach Dave Richardson said cancer is the last thing you expect a teenage prep football player to have to deal with.
“It’s great to have him back now,” Richardson said. “His motor is great, and as a defensive linemen he’s a really good athlete. We are pleased to have him back now, and hopefully his season will continue before he has to go in for treatments.” After the football season is complete, Golden will need one chemotherapy treatment for three to five weeks. “Luckily, I only have to do one (chemo treatment) and hopefully I will be able to return for basketball,” he said.
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Verona senior defensive end Quinn Golden rushes the passer Friday against Madison La Follette. Golden played his first game since being diagnosed with cancer and had two tackles.
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A decision on whether a second pool and artificial turf soccer fields will be part of the new Verona Area High School site will wait at least two more weeks. The two options – both of which are expected to generate revenue but will be costly up front – seem to hinge on how much a second access road into the site will cost. And Wednesday, the Verona Area school board decided to delay an expected vote on those amenities until Oct. 8. Those and the road
Inside Boundary committee won’t be asked to balance demographics Page 3 decision could be “simultaneous,” board member Meredith Stier Christensen announced after a 50-minute closed session to discuss negotiations on the road. The board had initially set a Sept. 1 deadline for the pool decision earlier this summer. That deadline was later pushed to the end
Turn to Decision/Page 16
VAHS student featured in national film festival Filmmaker to compete against other high-schoolers
her first short film, “Strawberry Afternoons,” at the Green Bay Film Festival. “I was just really proud,” she said. “Sometimes art for high school students KIMBERLY WETHAL doesn’t always signify outside the borders of their Unified Newspaper Group high school, and I think Some filmmakers wait that just showing it to other people who are actually in years to see the industry, and (hearing) their work them clapping and asking played on the me questions about it was big screen. just an amazing experiFor Verona ence.” Area High This weekend, she’ll see School senior her film shown to other Maya Cashigh school-age filmmaktronovo, that Castronovo ers on the big screen a few opportunity came less Turn to Film/Page 14 than a year after she made
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