BELLEVILLE - When Heather Clankie let her first attempt fly in the discus preliminaries Monday, the guy marking the landing spots quickly turned his back to the Brodhead-Juda standout and watched it fly well past him.
"It happens to me all the time," Clankie, the defending Division 2 state discus champion, said. "Sometimes (fans) will tell them to move back, and my family has done it a few times."
Clankie's took her first step toward a repeating as the state champ on Monday, when she dominated the discus and added her first regional shot put title. That made her the lone individual double-winner from the area at the Division 2 regional at Belleville High School.
The McFarland girls scored 153 points to win the title, topping Madison Edgewood (146), Sugar River (90.5), Monroe (68) and Parkview (54). Brodhead-Juda finished seventh with 47.5 points, nearly half of them coming from Heather Clankie.
The top four individuals and relay teams at regionals advance to Thursday's sectional at Boscobel.
Clankie won the discus with a heave of 131 feet, 7 inches and the shot put with a throw of 38-5. Both are well below her season bests - 137 in the discus and 41-11 1/2 in the shot put - which Clankie said she will shoot for at sectionals.
"I've been very consistent in both events this season and last year and I was way up here and way down there," Clankie said. "It's a lot more pressure coming back after winning state, but I just brush it off and throw my best."
Monroe had two individual champions, with Maria Eberle winning the 100 in 13.03 and Tre Voegeli winning the pole vault with a jump of 9-6.
Cheesemakers coach Curt Miller said both wins were impressive.
"Eberle winning the 100 - that's awesome," Miller said. "McFarland has two excellent 100-meter dash runners and Eberle came out on top, which puts her in great position going into sectionals."
Voegeli cruised in the pole vault, winning by a foot.
"This is definitely one of her best performances and puts her in contention to be one of the better kids at sectionals," Miller said.
Madeline Brunner defended her long jump title with a best effort of 16-0 1/4 and Emily Diaz won the 100 hurdles in 16.32 to give Sugar River its individual titles.
Coach Dan Schettler was pleased with the effort.
"The girls have had a tough year with some of the (injuries) they've had, but the had a nice rebound for third place," Schettler said. "I can't complain about that."
Monroe's other individual qualifiers were Taylor Barrett in the high jump (second, 4-11), Molly Wyss in the high jump (fourth, 4-10) and Corlissa Robertson in the 100 hurdles (fourth, 17.84). The Cheesemakers' 400 relay squad (Mackenzie Hesgard, Lauren Werth, Voegeli, Eberle) was second in 51.10 while their 800 relay of Jess Jackson, Mary Kelly, Robertson, Mafer Larraga (fourth, 1:55.10) and 3,200 relay of Mollie Bazley, Alyssa Dale, Nicole Witt, Lizzy Dale (fourth, 10:14.82) also advanced.
For Sugar River, Brunner also advanced in the 800 (second, 2:23.69) and is joined by individual qualifiers Victoria Ortgiesen in the 300 hurdles (second, 49.17), Amanda Kaiser in the 1,600 (third, 5:47.28), Sam Stecha in the triple jump (32-0 1/2). The Raiders' 800 relay team of Ortgiesen, Emily DeNure, Brunner and Diaz was second in 1:48.02 and their 1,600 consisting of the same foursome was also second in 4:13.25.
Other Brodhead-Juda qualifiers were Meg Duffield in the 400 (third, 1:03.40) and Alicia Condon in the discus (second, 109-06).
"It happens to me all the time," Clankie, the defending Division 2 state discus champion, said. "Sometimes (fans) will tell them to move back, and my family has done it a few times."
Clankie's took her first step toward a repeating as the state champ on Monday, when she dominated the discus and added her first regional shot put title. That made her the lone individual double-winner from the area at the Division 2 regional at Belleville High School.
The McFarland girls scored 153 points to win the title, topping Madison Edgewood (146), Sugar River (90.5), Monroe (68) and Parkview (54). Brodhead-Juda finished seventh with 47.5 points, nearly half of them coming from Heather Clankie.
The top four individuals and relay teams at regionals advance to Thursday's sectional at Boscobel.
Clankie won the discus with a heave of 131 feet, 7 inches and the shot put with a throw of 38-5. Both are well below her season bests - 137 in the discus and 41-11 1/2 in the shot put - which Clankie said she will shoot for at sectionals.
"I've been very consistent in both events this season and last year and I was way up here and way down there," Clankie said. "It's a lot more pressure coming back after winning state, but I just brush it off and throw my best."
Monroe had two individual champions, with Maria Eberle winning the 100 in 13.03 and Tre Voegeli winning the pole vault with a jump of 9-6.
Cheesemakers coach Curt Miller said both wins were impressive.
"Eberle winning the 100 - that's awesome," Miller said. "McFarland has two excellent 100-meter dash runners and Eberle came out on top, which puts her in great position going into sectionals."
Voegeli cruised in the pole vault, winning by a foot.
"This is definitely one of her best performances and puts her in contention to be one of the better kids at sectionals," Miller said.
Madeline Brunner defended her long jump title with a best effort of 16-0 1/4 and Emily Diaz won the 100 hurdles in 16.32 to give Sugar River its individual titles.
Coach Dan Schettler was pleased with the effort.
"The girls have had a tough year with some of the (injuries) they've had, but the had a nice rebound for third place," Schettler said. "I can't complain about that."
Monroe's other individual qualifiers were Taylor Barrett in the high jump (second, 4-11), Molly Wyss in the high jump (fourth, 4-10) and Corlissa Robertson in the 100 hurdles (fourth, 17.84). The Cheesemakers' 400 relay squad (Mackenzie Hesgard, Lauren Werth, Voegeli, Eberle) was second in 51.10 while their 800 relay of Jess Jackson, Mary Kelly, Robertson, Mafer Larraga (fourth, 1:55.10) and 3,200 relay of Mollie Bazley, Alyssa Dale, Nicole Witt, Lizzy Dale (fourth, 10:14.82) also advanced.
For Sugar River, Brunner also advanced in the 800 (second, 2:23.69) and is joined by individual qualifiers Victoria Ortgiesen in the 300 hurdles (second, 49.17), Amanda Kaiser in the 1,600 (third, 5:47.28), Sam Stecha in the triple jump (32-0 1/2). The Raiders' 800 relay team of Ortgiesen, Emily DeNure, Brunner and Diaz was second in 1:48.02 and their 1,600 consisting of the same foursome was also second in 4:13.25.
Other Brodhead-Juda qualifiers were Meg Duffield in the 400 (third, 1:03.40) and Alicia Condon in the discus (second, 109-06).
