LA CROSSE — Despite less-than-ideal conditions and a whirlwind of complications, three individuals and one relay team made the podium for Sugar River at the State Track Meet June 2-3 at UW-La Crosse.
The first day had one rain delay during the Division 2 and 3 morning session, followed by two rain delays during the Division 1 afternoon session. That night, the stadium lights went out before the Division 1 4x100 relay. Athletes, spectators, media and staff alike didn’t depart the stadium until 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 3 when the first-day events finally concluded. Due to the late night, the Division 1 finals were postponed to the afternoon on Saturday, June 3. In addition to heat and rain, high winds lifted multiple team tents 20 to 30 feet in the air, resulting in damage to Brodhead-Juda’s tent.
Aside from weather delays, the pole vault was delayed due to an athlete fracturing an arm, and the 300-meter hurdle-race was reran due to interference.
Raiders Alex Atwell and Jack Erickson experience success in their respective hurdle events, though. In the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries, Atwell took fifth with a time of 15.59. She improved in the finals for a third-place podium finish and time of 15.07, setting a new school record. Erickson took third in 300-meter hurdle preliminaries with a time of 40.07, and shaved it down to 39.88 in the finals. That time, a personal record, was enough for second place.
Lawrence Vasquez, who finished eighth last year in the high jump, tied for third this year, clearing a height of 6 feet, 2 inches.
The girls 4x100 relay team, which took fifth last year, made the podium again. This year, the squad of Atwell, Grace Nommensen, Herioli Fraire and Gracie Atkinson took sixth with a time of 50.17, beating last year’s mark of 50.33 to set a new school record.
For Monroe, Aleigh Zettle took fourth in the pole vault with a new personal record of 10-6.00.
“Aleigh’s performance was darn near perfection,” Monroe girls head coach Eric Jubeck said. “Her PR coming in was 10-00.00, and she made 10-6.00 clean, which set her up for fourth place. We are all so very happy for her. Getting on the podium is such an accomplishment.”
Brodhead-Juda’s Kalena Riemer also set a PR on her way to the podium. Her time of 2:16.89 in the 800m — which was four seconds faster than her previous mark — earned fourth place.
Other Division 2 participants that did not make the podium include:
● Jack Erickson, Sugar River, 100m dash, 10th, 11.21
● DeMarcus Conner, Sugar River, 400m dash, 11th, 51.02
● Carter Scholey, Sugar River, 3200m run, 7th, 9:32.09
● Kaden Kuester, Monroe, 110m hurdles, 12th, 16.12
● Ben Gatdula, Charlie Wiegel, Broderick Cornfield, Kaden Kuester, Monroe, 4x100 relay, 9th, 43.95
● James Seagreaves, Monroe, 20th, high jump, 5-08.00
● Tegan Pinnow, Brodhead-Juda, --, high jump, no height
● Blake Matthys, Brodhead-Juda, 9th, shot put, 49-9.50
● Grace Nommensen, Sugar River, 100m dash, 13th, 13.05
● Kalena Riemer, Brodhead-Juda, 400m run, 7th, 59.59
● Gracie Atkinson, Alex Atwell, Grace Nommensen, Addison Disch, Sugar River, 4x200, 12th, 1:46.73
● Aniyah Jackson-Bey, Lauren Coppes, Miley Hanson, Aleigh Zettle, Monroe, 4x400, 16th, 4:11.72
● Lauren Coppes, Monroe, long jump, 15th, 15-3.75
● Kirsten Fish, Brodhead-Juda, shot put, 10th, 34-10.75
● Onni Williams, Brodhead-Juda, shot put, 15th, 33-2.50
● Kirsten Fish, Brodhead-Juda, discus, 15th, 98-4
● Jonah Wortman, Sugar River, 100m wheelchair, 10th, 26.07
● Jonah Wortman, Sugar River, 400m wheelchair, 8th, 1:53.30
● Jonah Wortman, Sugar River, shot put wheelchair, 9th, 10-9.50
Although 19 state records were set among the three divisions, three local records still remain: Ethan Moehn’s 4:09.56 in the 1600m set in 2014 the 4x800 relay time of 7:50.13 set in 2012 by Seth Christiansen, Matt Bush, Alex Barenklau and Moehn and Ashley Beutler’s 1600m record of 4:48.37 set in 2007. Ayianna Johnson from Jefferson broke Amber Curtis’s 153-11 record in the discus set in 2002 with a throw of 154-2.
