LA CROSSE - Monticello senior Reid Zanoya will be the answer to a trivia question for years to come.
Zanoya won a state championship in the 400-meter dash - with a time of 50.38 seconds at the WIAA Division 3 State Track and Field Championships Saturday - to become the school's first boys state champion.
To win the state title, Zanoya had to lean across the finish line to clip Gilman's Cody Hodowanic and he also beat Pecatonica-Argyle's Lucas Stoehr, who has been a friend since childhood. Stoehr finished third (:50.68). When Stoehr lived in Monticello, his mother managed a day-care facility that included Zanoya. Now they were just eager to share the biggest stage together at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"It feels amazing," Zanoya said. "I'm the first guy from Monticello to be a state champ. I couldn't have done it without Lucas pushing me in every meet."
Stoehr, who wants to be a firefighter, earned his second straight medal at state in the 400. He took sixth last year.
"He (Zanoya) was my first friend and we are still going strong," Stoehr said. "Why don't we just trade (medals)," he said, with a laugh.
Both Zanoya and Stoehr have set a high standard.
"Neither one of us has a home track to run on," Zanoya said. "We have to run on the streets. I think that has made us stronger."
Stoehr agreed with Zanoya's point.
"It just goes to show it doesn't matter where you come from," he said.
Black Hawk freshman Jen Wellnitz, who helped lead the Warrior girls basketball team to state for the third straight year, also capped off her track season with a fourth place at state in the 100 (:12.84).
"I was really happy with it," Wellnitz said. "It was one of my best times this season. I just wanted to go up there compete and do my best."
The Darlington boys 800 relay team of Cody Erickson, Mitchell Langkamp, Cedric Flesher and Alex Erickson finished third, with a time of 1 minute, 32.07 seconds, which was just 0.3 of a second away from state runner-up Hilbert.
"We didn't come in as highly seeded as we wanted to," Darlington's Alex Erickson said. "We all stepped it up and ran our best. We just knew we had to run our best. The end result was exactly what we wanted."
The Redbirds' 1,600 relay team of Matt McDaniel, Flesher, Langkamp and Alex Erickson took third with a time of 3:27.35.
"Alex ran a very strong anchor leg," McDaniel said, as the Redbirds went from seventh to third.
Langkamp said he was run into three times during his run and he had the scrapes on his leg to prove it.
"That's the way it was at state," Alex Erickson said. "It was a tight race. I'm just glad we could step it up."
The Darlington girls 1,600 relay team of Chayse Hermanson, Kayla Lange, Claire Scott and Hannah Huffman took third with a time of 4:07.84.
"It's quite emotional," Hermanson said. "This is my senior year. This is what I have worked for the last four years. I finally got it."
Lange was excited with the way the Redbirds finished.
"Words can't even describe how I'm feeling," Lange said. "It's just unbelievable. We just wanted to come into the finals and run good."
There were several athletes who just missed earning a medal. Albany senior Hillary Best took seventh in the discus (114 feet, 6 inches) and she was just five inches away from tying for a sixth-place medal. Darlington senior Chelsea Fortin tied for seventh in the pole vault and just missed a sixth place medal. Black Hawk senior Rachel Rygh, who took eighth in the 200 (:26.69), was just 0.3 of a second away from a sixth place medal, which went to Alma's Molly Grisen.
Albany junior Reece Whitehead finished ninth in the 800 (2:01.46) and was about one second away from medaling. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Wyatt Massey took eighth in the 1,600 and was 1.7 seconds away from medaling.
Zanoya won a state championship in the 400-meter dash - with a time of 50.38 seconds at the WIAA Division 3 State Track and Field Championships Saturday - to become the school's first boys state champion.
To win the state title, Zanoya had to lean across the finish line to clip Gilman's Cody Hodowanic and he also beat Pecatonica-Argyle's Lucas Stoehr, who has been a friend since childhood. Stoehr finished third (:50.68). When Stoehr lived in Monticello, his mother managed a day-care facility that included Zanoya. Now they were just eager to share the biggest stage together at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"It feels amazing," Zanoya said. "I'm the first guy from Monticello to be a state champ. I couldn't have done it without Lucas pushing me in every meet."
Stoehr, who wants to be a firefighter, earned his second straight medal at state in the 400. He took sixth last year.
"He (Zanoya) was my first friend and we are still going strong," Stoehr said. "Why don't we just trade (medals)," he said, with a laugh.
Both Zanoya and Stoehr have set a high standard.
"Neither one of us has a home track to run on," Zanoya said. "We have to run on the streets. I think that has made us stronger."
Stoehr agreed with Zanoya's point.
"It just goes to show it doesn't matter where you come from," he said.
Black Hawk freshman Jen Wellnitz, who helped lead the Warrior girls basketball team to state for the third straight year, also capped off her track season with a fourth place at state in the 100 (:12.84).
"I was really happy with it," Wellnitz said. "It was one of my best times this season. I just wanted to go up there compete and do my best."
The Darlington boys 800 relay team of Cody Erickson, Mitchell Langkamp, Cedric Flesher and Alex Erickson finished third, with a time of 1 minute, 32.07 seconds, which was just 0.3 of a second away from state runner-up Hilbert.
"We didn't come in as highly seeded as we wanted to," Darlington's Alex Erickson said. "We all stepped it up and ran our best. We just knew we had to run our best. The end result was exactly what we wanted."
The Redbirds' 1,600 relay team of Matt McDaniel, Flesher, Langkamp and Alex Erickson took third with a time of 3:27.35.
"Alex ran a very strong anchor leg," McDaniel said, as the Redbirds went from seventh to third.
Langkamp said he was run into three times during his run and he had the scrapes on his leg to prove it.
"That's the way it was at state," Alex Erickson said. "It was a tight race. I'm just glad we could step it up."
The Darlington girls 1,600 relay team of Chayse Hermanson, Kayla Lange, Claire Scott and Hannah Huffman took third with a time of 4:07.84.
"It's quite emotional," Hermanson said. "This is my senior year. This is what I have worked for the last four years. I finally got it."
Lange was excited with the way the Redbirds finished.
"Words can't even describe how I'm feeling," Lange said. "It's just unbelievable. We just wanted to come into the finals and run good."
There were several athletes who just missed earning a medal. Albany senior Hillary Best took seventh in the discus (114 feet, 6 inches) and she was just five inches away from tying for a sixth-place medal. Darlington senior Chelsea Fortin tied for seventh in the pole vault and just missed a sixth place medal. Black Hawk senior Rachel Rygh, who took eighth in the 200 (:26.69), was just 0.3 of a second away from a sixth place medal, which went to Alma's Molly Grisen.
Albany junior Reece Whitehead finished ninth in the 800 (2:01.46) and was about one second away from medaling. Pecatonica-Argyle junior Wyatt Massey took eighth in the 1,600 and was 1.7 seconds away from medaling.
