LA CROSSE – For the first time in a decade and a half, a Division 1 girls track and field program has won three straight WIAA state team titles.
Arrowhead became the first team since Milwaukee Bradley Tech from 2009-11 to win back-to-back-to-back, doing so in dominating fashion with a 28-point victory over runner-up Neenah on June 6. The Warhawks became the first D1 team since Tech in 2010 to reach the 70-point mark and also became the first team in any division since Edgar in 2013 to score at least 70 points in a single state meet.
“We’ve been working towards it all year, so I don’t know that they’re surprised or however you want to phrase it, but I think that this was always the goal and they accomplished it,” Arrowhead coach Bradley Clark said.
After a tightly contested 51-46 battle with Neenah in their successful bid to repeat as champions last season, the Warhawks flew even higher in their history-making march toward a third straight crown.
Arrowhead won four individual events and the 400-meter relay to outscore the D1 field on those alone. They scored points in eight events overall, with Payton Eicher winning the long jump (19 feet 9 inches) and triple jump (39-9¾) double, while Elise Schroeder buried the state meet pole vault record with a vault of 13-6.
The duo of Eicher and Schroeder combined with Josie Bularz and Giselle Huggett to win the 400 relay (46.52 seconds), while fellow senior Avery Bott completed her career with a title in the 400 (55.19). Eicher and Bott also each finished on the podium in the hotly contested 100 final in fourth (11.827) and sixth (11.98), respectively, while Addison Pommerening added a sixth-place finish in the high jump (5-4) during Friday’s action.
“They’ve obviously accomplished great things across the board, but our high-level talent, when you look at Payton Eicher wins the long jump and the triple, and also taking a top spot in 100, Avery Bott doing it in the sprints, and Elise Schroeder being one of the best vaulters in the nation … it’s just fun to watch,” Arrowhead boys coach Chris Herriot said.
“Those kids are special.”
Schroeder was noticeably emotional after her magical moment when she steamrolled her way to a third straight pole vault title, becoming the third to do since 2013 in any division and shattering the state meet record by 9 inches. She was a perfect 6-for-6 on vaults from 12 feet to 13-6 before bowing out at 14-2, which would’ve surpassed her vault of 14 feet at the Millrose Games in April in New York.
“There’s lots of ups and downs in pole vaulting. It’s one of those sports, but it’s been amazing, and I’ve been so blessed to have won three times in a row,” Schroeder said. “I was super happy. Came out, made 13-6, the best I’ve done all three years after the past two years of not faring what I’ve hoped. It’s really great to finally do something that I’m very proud of myself for.”
For Bott, it wasn’t the 100/200/400 sprint triple of titles that she had hoped to close her Arrowhead career with, but the joy of being able to hold a team trophy for a third straight season was more than enough.
“I didn’t really think that was ever a possibility coming in here during my freshman year,” Bott said on winning a team title. “I’ve just never really experienced something like that, but to do it three years in a row is just amazing. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Clark said it was the best watching them repeat a season ago and seeing his team be happy “is all I need.” The core members of that group are set to move forward in their track careers and a new chapter of the program is set to be written.
Still, the special education teacher-turned-championship-winning coach is sad to see such a remarkable group leave the program.
“I’m gonna miss them a lot,” Clark said. “It’s definitely going to be different because it’s not every time that you have four individual state champs and a relay state champ. I don’t know if you can replicate that.”
Check back at jsonline.com later Sunday for more recaps from the state track and field meet.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Arrowhead becomes first D1 girls track program to three-peat since 2011
Reporting by Michael Whitlow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Michael Whitlow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
