BANGOR — The WIAA Division 3 Bangor Sectional May 23 produced 25 state-bound athletes across the local landscape.

Darlington took fifth place in points for both boys and girls and had 14 athletes qualify in seven events to the May 31-June 1 state meet in La Crosse. Pecatonica-Argyle is sending five runners in three events, while Monticello has four runners from its girls team advancing. Albany advances two throwers.

There were just two local sectional champions in Bangor, both Albany-produced. Libby Beck took first place in the shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 5.25 inches — nearly two feet further than the next-best competitor. Beck was also second in the discus (113-0). Evan Blumer won the boys discus (150-04) by nearly 11 feet.

The top four in each event automatically qualify for state, but if a mark is a top-8 finish across all four sectionals in the division, then that person or persons also qualifies. 

Of the 14 Redbirds advancing to state, three of the seven events feature female athletes. Marissa Gould was third in the shot put (36-06.5), while Lizzie Schwartz qualified as an individual in the 300-meter hurdles with a fourth-place time of 48.16 seconds. 

Schwartz, Roxi Reuter, Sydney Beasley and Kathleen Mathias teamed up for a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter relay (1:48.91).

Mathias had a tough break in the 200-meter dash, finishing fifth with a time of 26.76 seconds, just 6/100ths out of an automatic qualifying spot. In the 400-meter relay, Mathias, Reuter, Natty Soper and Maddie Crist were fifth with a time of 52.21 seconds, 4/10ths of a second off the state pace.

Senior Ilse Mendez also saw her high school running career end at the sectional meet. Mendez was fifth in the 3,200-meter run and less than eight seconds off the state-qualifying mark.

Taylor Wedig, a Darlington freshman, was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 3 inches — just 2.25 inches from moving on. 

The Redbirds automatically qualified in four boys events, including two relays. Throwers Leif Bredeson and Ross Stauffacher advance. Bredeson was third in the shot put (45-08), while Stauffacher was second behind Blumer in the discus (139-07).

Darlington’s 1,600-meter relay team and 3,200-meter relay team also move on. The 1,600-team of Parker Fitzsimons, Trae Schilling, Blake Whalen and Easton Evenstad were second with a time of 3:32.57. Schilling, a senior, is joined by freshman Rhett Reuter and seniors Payton Heinberg and Tucker Lange as qualifiers in the third-place 3,200-meter relay (8:29.74).

Heinberg missed out individually qualifying in the 1,600-meter run by 2.52 seconds, and was just 11 1/2 seconds off the pace in the 3,200.

Pecatonica-Argyle advances two individual runners and the boys 3,200-relay team. Joe Tisch was second in the 400 (51.13), just 7/100ths of a second away from being crowd the sectional champion. Tisch then joined with brother David Tisch, Dalton Turner and Chevy Hughes in the long-distance relay, where the Vikings were second place (8:28.72). Jaden Hendrickson was fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles (16.23).

Monticello’s Alyssen Noriega qualified to run in La Crosse with a third-place finish in the 200 (26.54). Noriega, Maggie Bak, Hannah Clark and Ali Risley were second in the 800-meter relay (1:48.01). 

Black Hawk didn’t have any athletes advance, though Grace Neff was 84/100ths of a second late in the 400.