LA CROSSE – Five area individual champs were crowned on the second day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
You can add in an impressive team title for the Winneconne boys as well.
St. Mary Catholic’s Ellie Davel won the Division 3 girls 100-meter hurdles, Winneconne’s Grant Wenzelow was first in the Division 2 boys 800, Neenah’s Emma Severson captured the Division 1 girls discus title, Xavier’s Caroline Basehoar won the D2 girls pole vault and Winneconne’s Hudson Samolinski brought home the D2 boys shot put crown.
SMC’s Ellie Davel wins D3 100 hurdles
The Zephyrs’ Davel may be just a sophomore, but she turned heads early in the meet by capturing the girls 100 hurdles title with a time of 14.59 seconds. She edged De Soto’s Paisley Egge (14.99) for the win.
“I’m really happy and proud of myself,” Davel said. “I just feel like it’s a great accomplishment. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my coaches and my teammates. I’m really grateful for everybody who helped me get to this moment.
Davel said she was “really nervous” going into the 100 hurdles, one of the first running events of the meet.
“Once it started I refocused on myself and my lane and gave it everything I had.”
Severson nets second throwing title
Severson, who won the D1 girls shot put title June 5, secured the discus championship June 6 with a solid performance overall.
The sophomore netted her winning throw of 156 feet, 6 inches on her first toss in the finals.
“I had some OK throws in prelims. I also wasn’t very happy with them, so I wanted to grow better in finals and I did that,” she said. “I was very happy with my final performance.”
Severson plans on improving as her career unfolds for the Rockets.
“I want to improve on stuff technically,” she said. “Obviously I’m gonna get stronger in the weight room. You stay consistent with everything. I’ve been disciplined in my consistency.”
Severson added that she knows her competitors will be gunning for her, but that all she’s worried about is how she will perform.
“I don’t really care what my competitors are doing,” she said. “I don’t want to sound prideful, but I think I work very hard. I don’t know what they do outside of (the season) because I can’t see. But I know I work my butt off and that I can improve every day. Get better every day.”
Xavier’s Basehoar peaks at right time
Xavier’s Caroline Basehoar felt she was peaking at just the right time.
The D2 girls pole vault competition certainly proved that as the Hawks’ senior captured the title with a vault of 12-3. That bested second-place finisher Macy Myers of Rhinelander (12-0) and third-place Mya Gencuski (12-0).
“It feels amazing. It’s great,” Basehoar said. “The past three years I peaked at sectionals, so this year was kind of nice to actually vault well at state. This year my best vault was at regionals, so I feel like I was peaking more postseason.”
Basehoar said she got into pole vaulting her freshman season thanks to advice from a senior who suggested she attend a vaulting club.
It was a perfect match as Basehoar improved enough to take sixth her junior year before winning the gold this year as the top-seeded vaulter.
“Last year I was also seeded first and I didn’t vault my best and took sixth,” she said. “This year I was more stressed about it because I had more expectations for myself of actually doing it this year. So I’m really glad I got it done.”
Wenzelow, Samolinski earn individual titles to spark Wolves’ D2 championship
The Winneconne boys team won the D2 title with Grant Wenzelow and Hudson Samolinski winning state titles on the second day. The Wolves finished with 71.5 points, far outdistancing second-place Monroe (34).
Wenzelow placed first in the D2 boys 800 with a time of 1:53.43. He was in fourth after the first 400 and used a strong kick in the final lap to overtake his competitors, including Omro’s Lucas Kasuboski, who placed second (1:53.95).
“That’s how I want to win it,” Wenzelow said. “I actually ran into a guy on the first lap, so I had a bit of ways to catch up. That’s my style so that’s usually what I do (making up ground). But I kind of had my doubts from last year, because I had to make up a lot of ground and it didn’t end up happening.”
Wenzelow was also second in the 1,600 (4:14.41) and helped the Wolves’ 1,600 relay team place third (3:22.55).
Samolinski took second June 5 in the discus, but challenged himself to do better in the shot put.
He did exactly that, setting a new personal best with a toss of 61 feet, 2.75 inches on his final throw of the finals. That allowed him to leapfrog Columbus’ Wyatt Graffin who finished second (60-1.25).
“I feel ecstatic right now,” Samolinski said. “I mean, yeah, yesterday might have been a little bit of a blip. But, you know, the past is in the past. And I can’t do a thing about it. So all you got to do is just keep moving forward.”
Samolinski added that it was great to get over the 60-foot mark.
“I’ve been shooting for that,” he said. “And I got it by about 2 feet.”
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Five area athletes earn championship gold at WIAA track and field meet
Reporting by Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
