LA CROSSE − The Division 1 girls 100-meter hurdles finals had plenty of Fox Valley Association representation June 7 at the WIAA state track and field championships at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
Three of the top four finishers in the event were FVA athletes, including Appleton North sophomore Isabel Parrish and Kaukauna senior Amber Gerrits.
Oshkosh West junior Sydnee Nelson won the event with a time of 14.27 seconds, with Parrish third (:14.74) and Gerrits fourth (:14.84).
“It’s incredible,” Gerrits said. “I love racing against them. I see them basically every single meet, so there’s always a lot of competition. It’s really fun.”
Parrish said she felt honored to be among so many top athletes from the Fox Valley Association.
“I love racing against people who are dedicated and are always ready to run,” she said. “I know I’m going to do good in my races.”
Nelson, who also won the 100-meter hurdles state title as a sophomore, believes knowing the competition is an advantage.
“We talked to the official before the race and he was like, ‘You guys are from the same conference,’ ” Nelson said. “I think it definitely helps a lot before the race. I was talking to Amber and her coach and my coach before the race and I think it definitely helps to calm the nerves because you know people that are here. And you know who you’re running against and what you need to do to perform your best.’
Winneconne duo leads area second-place finishers
There were three area second-place finishers June 7 — Winneconne’s Hudson Samolinski in the D2 boys discus and Troy Zemke in the D2 pole vault, and Weyauwega-Fremont’s Broc Billington in the D3 triple jump.
Samolinski, a junior, had a toss of 176 feet, 2 inches to finish second behind Notre Dame’s James Flanigan (188-5). Zemke had a leap of 14-6, three inches short of event winner Gage Mika of Ashland.
“I think I threw pretty well,” Samolinski said. “I didn’t perform to the best of my ability, which is always a downside. Second place is nice, but getting a PR feels even nicer. Yesterday, little bit of the same thing. I was a little bit closer to my PR. I think I performed better yesterday than today. So, today I was 15 feet off my PR. My PR is 190-8, and today I threw a 176. Second place is second place. You can’t be mad about that.”
Zemke, a junior, tied his PR on his height of 14-6 but it still wasn’t enough to overtake Mika.
“I wish I could have got up to 14-9, that was the goal today,” he said. “But I was one step away from not making it there. But we’ll get back there next year better than ever and hopefully get one more spot up.”
Billington had the unfortunate situation of recording a state-record leap to get him into first place, only to watch a competitor break his record in the finals.
The Weyauwega-Fremont junior had a leap of 47-4.25 on his second attempt, which broke the D3 mark of 47-3.25. Parkview’s Tommaso Gobbi nailed a jump of 47-8.5 to overtake him, set the record and win the title.
Billington did have one last leap, but scratched on his final attempt.
“Good for him,” Billington said. “It’s tough to take, but I’m a junior so I got next year. (That last jump) I scratched by just a little bit and it was quite a bit farther than the jump before that. Just didn’t play out in my favor.”
Billington has plans to refine his form in the offseason.
“I’ve never had a triple jump coach before, so hopefully I’ll try to get to some camps this summer and work on my form a little bit,” he said. “I’ve had a few college coaches tell me that it didn’t look too pretty.”
Kimberly’s Behnke leads area third-place finishers
Kimberly’s Kristin Behnke took third in the D1 shot put with a throw of 40-10. She also qualified in the discus and was 18th (118-5).
Behnke had a flood of emotions after competing in her final high school track and field meet.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said. “I want to cry, but I want to scream and celebrate. I want to cry tears of sadness, tears of joy, because I did great today. I didn’t do so great yesterday (in the discus). But that doesn’t define who I am.”
Behnke is looking forward to joining her sister, Kayla, at UW-Eau Claire next season on the track and field team.
“We’re going to throw together, it’ll be great,” she said. “But I’m going to miss my (high school) coaches, miss my fans. But I can’t wait to see what’s next for me. I’m going to miss it, you know.”
Little Chute had three third-place finishers including two individuals. Zuzanna Mosienska placed third in the D2 100 hurdles (:14.78). The Mustangs’ Cooper Effa also took third in the D2 300 hurdles (:38.78).
The Mustangs’ D2 1,600 boys relay team of Effa, Dominic Fletcher, Ronald Gomm and Tyler Hietpas also took third (3:22.62).
Shiocton’s D3 girls 1,600 relay team of Monica Young, Cordelia Monnot, Destiny Monnot and Lydia Hofacker placed third with a time of 4:03.7.
Manawa’s Santos fourth in D3 discus
Manawa’s Olivia Santos has made La Crosse her second home the past four years.
The Wolves’ senior capped her fourth consecutive year of competing in shot put and discus with a sixth-place finish in the D3 shot put with a toss of 40-2. She was also fourth the previous day in the discus (129-3).
Santos, who will compete in college at DePaul, set the school record with her shot put toss. She also holds the school record in the discus (136-4).
“It was super exciting,” Santos said. “You have to stay locked and you gotta work super, super hard because our division is locked and loaded. It’s one of the hardest divisions for the girls throws.
“I was an eight-time state qualifier. I’m super blessed. I got the school record and I’m on the podium. There were definitely some tears shed and I was pretty sad to see it end.”
Fox Valley Association freshmen make their mark
Two freshman from the FVA recorded a pair of fourth-place finishes June 7 — Neenah’s Emma Severson and Appleton North’s Eva Busch.
Severson was fourth in the D1 shot put with a toss of 40-2. Thea Kral of Ashwaubenon won the event with a throw of 47-2.25. Severson was also fourth in the discus (135-9) a day earlier. She was a main contributor to the Rockets’ runner-up finish in the D1 team competition.
“I think that the nerves may have gotten to me a little bit,” Severson said of her first events at state. “But I’m so grateful for the experience and I’m definitely excited for next year. I’m already thinking about next season.”
Severson already has goals in place for next season.
“I mean, 50 (feet) would be a great number to hit next year (for shot put),” she said. “And discus we’ll see where it goes — 150 would be great because that definitely would win me in both. And my goal is to have my low throws still win next year. I want my bad days to win me firsts. That’s a great goal.”
Busch was fourth in the D1 1,600 with a time of 4:55.36, a personal-best time.
“I was really excited because I thought there were a lot of talented girls,” Busch said. “So I just went out and tried to do the best that I could do. I just tried to stay with the pack and see what I could do.”
Other Appleton-area track and field athletes make the podium
Here’s a recap of area athletes/relay teams reaching the podium June 7.
Fourth-place individual finishers: Wyatt Hess, Shiocton, D3 boys 110 hurdles, :14.88; Hannah Huza, Hortonville, D1 girls 800, 2:13.84; Isabel Parrish, Appleton North, D1 girls 300 low hurdles, :45.04; Paxton Kuehn, Shiocton, D3 boys 200, :22.07; Owen Lencki, Waupaca, D2 boys 3,200, 9:18.09; Jack Steinbarth, Freedom, D2 boys pole vault (14-0); Madison Schaper, Freedom, D2 girls shot put (39-8). Relays: Little Chute’s D2 girls 800 (Katelyn Wegand, Brooklyn Jakubek, Zuzanna Mosienska, May Van Schyndel) 1:44.4; Winneconne’s D2 800 boys (Jovan Zeller, Brody Schaffer, Koltyn Kachur, Jack Quigley) 1:28.75; Appleton North D1 girls 1,600 (Ashley Parrish, Jada Ellis, Sophie Busch, Ava Helmbrecht) 3:56.62.
Fifth-place individual finishers: Ashley Hietpas, Freedom, D2 girls 100 hurdles, :15.13; Nolan Phillips, Freedom, D2 boys 110 hurdles, :14.95; Lydia Merrick, Freedom, D2 girls 300 hurdles, :44.82; Wyatt Hess, Shiocton, D3 boys 300 hurdles, :39.66.
Sixth-place individual finishers: Lydia Merrick, Freedom, D2 100 hurdles, :15.14; Adeline Bodinger, Chilton, D2 girls 100, :12.57; Mazie Olkowski, Neenah, D1 girls 1,600, 4:58.51; Jacoby Dobberstein, Fox Valley Lutheran, D2 300 hurdles, :39.47. Relays: Fox Valley Lutheran’s D2 girls 800 (Alaina Patchett, Cailyn Groth, Faith Schumacher, Mya Burleton) 1:45.3; Little Chute’s boys D2 400 (Elijah Driessen, Ronald Gomm, Ethan Lendved, Tyler Hietpas) :43.06.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: FVA dominates in girls hurdles and other top takeaways from WIAA state track and field championships
Reporting by Ricardo Arguello, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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