LA CROSSE - Ethan Moehn envisioned winning a state championship, but the thought of rewriting the record book never crossed his mind.
The Monroe sophomore did both Friday night in a performance that was simply dominating.
Moehn won the 800-meter title at the WIAA Division 2 state track and field championships in a state-record time of 1 minute, 54 seconds.
"It's almost surreal," Moehn said. "Coming into today, I just wanted to medal and maybe just win it. To see my time on the board was faster than the record, that is just unbelievable."
Moehn outdistanced Brown Deer's Jake Schimenz, last year's state champion (1:55.34), by more than 1.3 seconds and Sugar River senior Wesley Morgan was third (1:55.36).
Moehn broke the record established by Waunakee's Mike Raemisch in 1986.
"I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and it paid off," Moehn said. "A two second PR and a state record is amazing. I really feel like I'm in the best shape I have been all year. I feel like I had a lot left. Our coaches do a great job of training us."
Like a scene from a Rocky movie, Sugar River junior Ryan McCoy's legs got wobbly and he staggered to the finish of the 1,600 as Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna passed him over the final 100 to win the state title.
McCoy had a big lead over the first 1,200 meters before McKenna closed strong and clipped him at the finish. McCoy, the Division 2 state cross country champion, finished second (4:14.47) and was less than a second behind McKenna (4:13.74).
"I was trying to push it and I gave it everything I had," McCoy said.
"I wanted to win it. It's not the end of the world, I didn't win it. Joe is a great runner and I love running against him. Hats off to Joe. He had just a little bit more left than I did."
McCoy said he went out too fast in the first lap and that cost him.
"I wanted to go out fast and have a shot to win it," McCoy said. "I didn't want to run scared and let someone else win it."
Sugar River sophomore Garrison Woods finished second in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 45 feet, 5 3/4 inches.
The strong efforts by McCoy and Woods gave the Raiders the first-day lead in the team race with 22 points. Marinette was in second place with 18 followed by La Crosse Aquinas (14) and Madison Edgewood (12). Monroe was tied for sixth with Amery (10).
The Cheesemakers' 1,600 relay team of Alex Barenklau, Moehn, Skyler Stingley and Matt Bush took second in the preliminaries in 3:22.1. Shorewood won with a record time of 3:21.42.
Barenklau teamed with Dakota Phillips, Forrest Klug-Hanson and Stingley to take fifth in the preliminaries of the 800 relay to qualify for the finals. Their time was 1:31.47.
Sugar River senior Jon Beckman, who entered the state meet with the fastest qualifying time in the 110 high hurdles, finished fourth in the preliminaries (15.20) to qualify for today's finals.
Sophomore teammate Kelvin Johnson took 10th in the 300 hurdles prelims (41.24) to lock up the last qualifying spot for the finals.
The Cheesemakers' 400 relay team of Mackenzie Hesgard, Lauren Werth, Tre Voegeli and Maria Eberle finished 15th (51.85) in the preliminaries and didn't qualify for the finals.
"It feels great to be at state because I have been here for four years," said Eberle, who will attend UW-Platteville in the fall, but hasn't decided if she will run track. "I'm just happy to be finishing my four years at state."
Eberle said the Cheesemakers were looking to break 50 seconds.
"There were little handoff conflicts there," she said.
Sugar River's 800 relay team of Victoria Ortgiesen, Emily DeNure, Madeline Brunner and Emily Diaz finished 10th in the preliminaries (1:48.10) to qualify for the finals.
The Monroe sophomore did both Friday night in a performance that was simply dominating.
Moehn won the 800-meter title at the WIAA Division 2 state track and field championships in a state-record time of 1 minute, 54 seconds.
"It's almost surreal," Moehn said. "Coming into today, I just wanted to medal and maybe just win it. To see my time on the board was faster than the record, that is just unbelievable."
Moehn outdistanced Brown Deer's Jake Schimenz, last year's state champion (1:55.34), by more than 1.3 seconds and Sugar River senior Wesley Morgan was third (1:55.36).
Moehn broke the record established by Waunakee's Mike Raemisch in 1986.
"I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason and it paid off," Moehn said. "A two second PR and a state record is amazing. I really feel like I'm in the best shape I have been all year. I feel like I had a lot left. Our coaches do a great job of training us."
Like a scene from a Rocky movie, Sugar River junior Ryan McCoy's legs got wobbly and he staggered to the finish of the 1,600 as Madison Edgewood's Joe McKenna passed him over the final 100 to win the state title.
McCoy had a big lead over the first 1,200 meters before McKenna closed strong and clipped him at the finish. McCoy, the Division 2 state cross country champion, finished second (4:14.47) and was less than a second behind McKenna (4:13.74).
"I was trying to push it and I gave it everything I had," McCoy said.
"I wanted to win it. It's not the end of the world, I didn't win it. Joe is a great runner and I love running against him. Hats off to Joe. He had just a little bit more left than I did."
McCoy said he went out too fast in the first lap and that cost him.
"I wanted to go out fast and have a shot to win it," McCoy said. "I didn't want to run scared and let someone else win it."
Sugar River sophomore Garrison Woods finished second in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 45 feet, 5 3/4 inches.
The strong efforts by McCoy and Woods gave the Raiders the first-day lead in the team race with 22 points. Marinette was in second place with 18 followed by La Crosse Aquinas (14) and Madison Edgewood (12). Monroe was tied for sixth with Amery (10).
The Cheesemakers' 1,600 relay team of Alex Barenklau, Moehn, Skyler Stingley and Matt Bush took second in the preliminaries in 3:22.1. Shorewood won with a record time of 3:21.42.
Barenklau teamed with Dakota Phillips, Forrest Klug-Hanson and Stingley to take fifth in the preliminaries of the 800 relay to qualify for the finals. Their time was 1:31.47.
Sugar River senior Jon Beckman, who entered the state meet with the fastest qualifying time in the 110 high hurdles, finished fourth in the preliminaries (15.20) to qualify for today's finals.
Sophomore teammate Kelvin Johnson took 10th in the 300 hurdles prelims (41.24) to lock up the last qualifying spot for the finals.
The Cheesemakers' 400 relay team of Mackenzie Hesgard, Lauren Werth, Tre Voegeli and Maria Eberle finished 15th (51.85) in the preliminaries and didn't qualify for the finals.
"It feels great to be at state because I have been here for four years," said Eberle, who will attend UW-Platteville in the fall, but hasn't decided if she will run track. "I'm just happy to be finishing my four years at state."
Eberle said the Cheesemakers were looking to break 50 seconds.
"There were little handoff conflicts there," she said.
Sugar River's 800 relay team of Victoria Ortgiesen, Emily DeNure, Madeline Brunner and Emily Diaz finished 10th in the preliminaries (1:48.10) to qualify for the finals.
