LA CROSSE – The 2026 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships concluded June 6 at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex on the campus of UW-La Crosse.
Day 2 of the event saw Milwaukee area athletes continue to deliver standout performances that built upon the record-breaking efforts the previous day. Homestead came away with the Division 1 boys title, while Waukesha West and Arrowhead split the runner-up trophy. Marquette took a fourth consecutive boys wheelchair team title as well.
Here were the boys highlights from the second and final day of WIAA state track and field.
Tally helps Homestead earn third title in program history
Coming off a state runner-up finish by a single point in 2025, Homestead earned the program’s third team state title this weekend (1964, 2010). The 48-point scoring effort to outlast competitive bids from Waukesha West (41) and Arrowhead (41) was led by another outstanding state meet weekend from senior Jay Tally. After helping his teammates defend a 3,200-relay title on Friday, Tally won the 800-meter in record-breaking fashion (1:51.00) while placing third in the 1,600 (4:05.90). The 800 eclipsed his own record time from 2025 (1:51.21). Homestead entered that heat needing a finish of fifth or better to secure enough points to overtake Waukesha West and Arrowhead for the team title. DeForest senior Lucas Tanner briefly made a move around Tally on the first turn of the second lap, but Tally closed quickly with the team title on the line.
“He’s a great runner, amazing guy, but I want that team trophy, so I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get that,” Tally said. “I love all those guys. My coaches, they’re amazing.”
Homestead coach Drew Dixon admitted he was running out of words to describe the impact Tally has on their team.
“I think I said last year after the meet, the thing that came to mind was ‘As special as special gets,’ and it’s still true. It’s more true now than it was then,” Dixon said. “Super mature kid. Very, very intelligent. Thoughtful in the way that he does things, and then supremely talented and incredibly hard working.”
Senior shot put athlete Luka Ivancevic won the third gold of the weekend for Homestead. His second throw of 57-8.25 put him at the top of the podium ahead of fellow area athletes including Muskego junior Benjamin Kosmatka (third, 55-3.75) and Kettle Moraine junior Brandon Stuke (fifth, 53-7.5). Ivancevic admitted he had been competing with a heavy heart after the death of his grandfather and great grandfather on his mother’s side in the month leading up to the state meet.
“Just being there for my mom, showing that I can compete through adversity, and I know that all that they would want is for me to succeed at a high level, and I feel like I just did exactly that. I know that they’re looking down at me, supporting me through the ways that they are,” Ivancevic said.
Practice and the weight room were places of solace in difficult times for the UW-Madison commit in his final high school season.
“I couldn’t imagine my life without competition. Having track and shot put and discus to rely on, and in the weight room especially, that’s a huge distraction,” Ivancevic said. “Being able to put my anger out, put any emotions into the weights and the shot and the disc, it really helped me get over this.”
Homestead also got scoring efforts from their 400-relay team (fifth, :41.87), 800-relay team (fourth, 1:27.00) and 110 hurdles from senior Jeridon Clark (sixth, :14.60).
“Around the state, I don’t think many people know [relay competitors] Christian Torres, Jamir Erving and Hudson Nolte and Vinny Yodbut. Those guys ran their butts off today,” Dixon said. “If you look at the heat sheet, they way overachieved. They gave us nine points, and we ended up winning by seven, so they made a huge difference in the meet.”
Zielinski breaks 60-year long jump record to lead split runner-up Waukesha West finish
Records fell throughout the weekend at WIAA state track across the boys and girls heats, but one drew a larger reaction than most. Waukesha West junior Cole Zielinski was already out to a fantastic start to his weekend with a triple jump gold and contributing to a record-breaking 800 relay prelim time (1:25.65), but his third long jump out-did anything he had accomplished to that point. A 25-foot, 9.75-inch jump soared past the record that had held since 1965 when Madison Central’s Larry Franklin jumped 25-0.75. It was the oldest standing record in the boys or girls WIAA state track and field meet records.
“It all kind of felt like it led up to long jump, making the state record [in the prelim], winning in triple, it just felt like that was the last thing for me to do,” Zielinski said. “That was the whole entire goal of the season for me. Ever since I won state last year, going into this season, my eyes were set on the record. Actually breaking it, it feels like this whole season, my whole high school [career], all the work I’ve put in has paid off.”
First-year track coach Mary Quinn, who had been a teacher in the district for several years before taking the helm of the track program, remembers seeing the promise in a late middle school-age Zielinski.
“I had Cole as an eighth grader, he was windmill dunking as an eighth grader,” Quinn said. “He is so determined. His composure, I think, carries through him a lot. He has been talking about this record all year. I don’t think anything was gonna stop him from doing it, truly.”
The long jump record earned Zielinski a repeat title in the event, which combined with his Friday triple jump win and discus thrower Chetan Malkan’s win accounted for 30 points. The last win came in the finals heat for the 800 relay, where Nolan Schmidbauer, Ammonra Lomas, Josh Ziebell and Zielinski delivered a winning effort in 1:25.76 that came just a shade off their record prelim time of 1:25.65 the day prior. A final, critical point to tie Arrowhead for the team runner-up trophy came from Malkan again in the shot put, where he placed eighth (51-9). Those performances in total helped secure the first top-two finish for Waukesha West under its present program construction, which the Wolverines will take great pride in.
“In the past, West’s track team hasn’t been the strongest, so to be able to come out here with the team and break multiple records and put up points is just something that I’m glad to leave my senior track season with,” Schmidbauer said.
To a man, the Wolverines showered praise – and eventually state medals – on Quinn for being a culture changer in the program as well.
“First year coach, coach Quinn, got us three new state records, so that’s something special,” Ziebell said.
Resch leads runner-up split for Arrowhead with record sprints
Arrowhead came up just short of a fifth team state title in the last six years, but still made plenty of waves en route to a split D1 runner-up finish with Waukesha West.
Junior Trey Resch’s contributions to three titles led the effort, including his 100 win in 10.59 seconds, a 200 win in 20.98 seconds and running anchor on the 400-relay team that also won gold. The latter of the three came with Presley Bencz, Ryan Heiman and Anthony Vetta running the first three legs of what turned out to be consecutive state record heats in the prelim (41.14) and finals (40.84). Both times eclipsed Racine Horlick’s 2019 state record time of 41.38 to set the new mark to beat.
“We just wanted to do something that has never been done before in the state of Wisconsin, and that was getting that 40-point mark, and we did it. I’m so happy to do it with this crew,” Bencz said.
Resch said he gave the final stretch of his anchor leg “the hardest lean I’ve ever gave in my life” to break 41 seconds. Arrowhead coach Chris Herriot said the work Resch puts in to rise in the big moments was evident again throughout the weekend.
“His understanding of what it takes for preparation and just what it means to compete in front of a crowd like this, it’s almost as if it comes easy to him,” Herriot said.
Arrowhead picked up its remaining 11 points with a third in the 3,200 relay to kick off the weekend and senior Ben Weston’s fourth in the 3,200 (9:04.56) on the same day.
“Ben had one of the top times in the 3,200, and we asked him ‘Hey we really need you in the 3,200 relay’ which, doing that and the 3,200 is a really difficult double to do, so he made that sacrifice, but we knew we’d score highly there, and he came back and ran an amazing 3,200-meter run, set a school record, had a PR, and then came back again and went after it in the mile. Unfortunately he didn’t get in the fast head, but he still ran a 4:15 from the slow heat, which for your third race is pretty impressive,” Herriot said.
Quintero becomes career leader in wheelchair titles
Marquette senior Gianni Quintero had set the stage for a historic final state meet over his career, and he delivered with three record-breaking heats to become the most decorated wheelchair athlete in WIAA history.
“The goal was just to go all out the entire weekend, show people in the stands what adaptive sports really is, and how competitive we take it when we want to,” Quintero said.
Quintero has been goal-oriented since he began wheelchair track, so he was well aware of fellow Marquette Hilltopper Joe Schubert’s WIAA career record of 10 individual state titles. Coming into June 5, Quintero was poised for a run at the record with top seeds in the 400, 800 and 1,600 as well as a third seed in the shot put. He had eight career titles entering the 2026 state meet, including a three-peat in both the 400 and 800, as well as a 2024 win in the 100 and a 2025 win in the 1,600.
Already the record-holder in the 800 and 1,600, Quintero out-did his times in those events while adding a record 400 time to the mix as well. His 800 time on Friday of 1:54.75 bested his 2024 record of 1:56.02. On Saturday after placing third in shot put, he obliterated his 2025 record 1,600 time (4:09.84) with a 3:52.27 to tie Schubert in career titles. His final 400 event was his most competitive on multiple levels, with Waupaca senior Jack Barbeau also challenging Quintero for the heat and the wheelchair team title. Quintero met the moment with a third record time on the weekend of 56.92 seconds, beating Noah Eckelberg of Columbus Catholic’s 2021 time (57.83), topping Schubert with his 11th career title and Barbeau (59.00) to secure a fourth straight team title.
“I don’t think it’s going to fully set in until tomorrow, because when I do big things like that, it doesn’t set in until way later,” Quintero said.
Reflecting on his career as a whole, Quintero was grateful to coaches Nicole Williams and Anthony Mancinelli for being part of a welcoming and inclusive environment at Marquette that allowed him to pursue his goals.
“I know they did it for Joe, but you know it’s been a while since then. People change over time, world changes over time. It might not be as inclusive, but Marquette High was. They took a chance on me, and I showed them that it’s worth it,” Quintero said.
Quintero is commited to the University of Illinois, where he will continue his athletic career by returning to his roots in wheelchair basketball.
Germantown’s Dykstra repeats in high jump
Germantown senior Aiden Dykstra’s state title defense in the high jump did not go entirely according to plan on a hot second day in La Crosse, but the senior still cleared enough height to take home gold.
Dykstra was perfect from the starting height of six feet through 6-4, missed his first try at 6-6 before clearing 6-7 on his first try to secure gold. He would go on to clear 6-9 on his third attempt, matching his title-winning score from a season ago.
“It was just a little too hot today. The mist [machines] helped a little bit, but I just couldn’t cool down enough,” Dykstra said.
The senior made podium alongside junior teammate Jake Norris, who tied for fourth by clearing 6-4. The younger Warhawk credited Dykstra with his consistency and mindset that helped him make a career-first state appearance and podium. The two-time champ will head to UW-Whitewater in the fall, while Norris will seek to carry the mantle for Germantown in 2027.
Love finds a way as Ike adds two titles
New Berlin Eisenhower’s boys track team had just two WIAA state event golds in program history entering the weekend. Sprinter Javaryn Love led the Lions to two more in 2026 to double that program total. After a runner-up finish in the D2 400 last year, Love won the event in 48.36 seconds. Howard Fuller Collegiate senior Jabari Freeman (third, 49.00) and Saint Thomas More senior Brody Oleson (fourth, 49.17) also podiumed in the event.
“I definitely knew it was gonna be tough with Jabari right next to me. We ran against [each other] with Arrowhead, we ran at sectionals. I knew that was gonna be a dog fight,” Love said.
He added that keeping his form was an adjustment he made from Friday’s prelim that saw Love slip to third to Saturday’s final, which he credited with helping him secure the win.
Later on in the 1,600 relay, which had been postponed from Friday to Saturday by weather, Love anchored the event behind Chase Mueller, Cole Clevenstine and Collin Hornik to bring Ike from fourth at the 1,200 split to a win in 3:20.99. He is attending UW-Oshkosh starting this fall.
Brown Deer, Grafton relays make noise in D2
The Brown Deer and Grafton relay teams each sounded like they felt they had something to prove to the state, as well as one another this weekend. Brown Deer came into the D2 400 relay and 800 relay as the top seed after two blazing prelim finishes, the former of which (41.83) eclipsed a D2 state record set by Prescott (42.00) in 2025. Brown Deer defended that top seed in the 400 run by Jaiden Craig-Collie, Cole Lejon, Jaden Ragland and Michael Essoka with a 42.11 second final heat. In doing so, the Falcons held off area teams Martin Luther (second, 42.34) and Lake Country Lutheran (fourth, 42.71). Lejon said that despite the lineup being all seniors, it was Craig-Collie and Ragland’s first year on that relay.
“To have two first-years come out on the state team and help us become state champions is awesome,” Lejon said.
Craig-Collie and Lejon are headed to UW-Oshkosh, with the former for football and the latter for track. Ragland will attend Sauk Valley Community College (IL) and play basketball, while Essoka will head to UW-Madison to potentially walk on to the track team while pursuing a career in biomedical engineering.
Brown Deer also beat Grafton by roughly a third of a second in the 800-relay prelim, but the Black Hawks came through (1:27.50) with the win narrowly ahead of the Falcons (1:27.74) in that final. Max Glab, Hunter Klippel, DJ James and Seva Belousov brought home the title for Grafton.
“Ever since regionals, it’s been us and them winning every meet, been always a close race,” Belousov said. “They got the upper hand on us at prelims, but we know we’re a better team, so we came out today and showed them why we’re the better team.”
Competition, and sometimes even trash talk, for the Black Hawks even exists internally, but they maintain it provides the fire that forges championship effort.
“In our locker room we have a leaderboard of who’s the fastest, and it’s changing every week because we’re always competing with each other,” Glab said.
Wendt culminates career with D2 hurdle gold
Crossing a hurdle heat at the state championships in first was a long time coming for Martin Luther’s Rylee Wendt. The senior was the back-to-back D2 state runner-up in the 110 hurdles, so upon winning the 2026 event this weekend, he let out an almost primal scream of catharsis.
“Thankful and blessed,” Wendt said of his emotions in that moment.
“I’m tired of second. I was so tired, and now finally getting first, just mind-blowing.”
The final push for state gold came under adverse circumstances, as Wendt had pulled up with a twinge in his right hamstring in his 300 prelim hurdles that caused him to miss the final cut in that event.
“I didn’t even know if I’d come out today, but coming out here and making sure, to the best of my ability, leaving every bit of my leg strength on this track. That was the mindset today,” Wendt said.
The UW-Milwaukee commit said his biggest lessons taken from his career were to never give up and to try and stand out.
“The only reason I joined hurdles was because I wanted to be different, and [being] the only guy hurdler on the team, it truly made a difference,” Wendt said.
Wisconsin Lutheran’s high hopes for finals derailed
What was poised to be a banner day for Wisconsin Lutheran and junior Niyer Clayborn was derailed by injury early on Saturday. After breaking his own state record in the D1 110-hurdle prelims on Friday, Clayborn got tripped up in the finals on Saturday and did not finish. He would be held out of an 800 relay that did not finish after a botched transfer by a shuffled lineup, as well as the 300 hurdles for which he was also the top seed.
Sophomore teammate Cedric Bolden (14.22) finished two hundredths of a second behind Holmen junior Jakai Ayed (14.24) in the 110 hurdles for second place. Fellow area athletes including senior Cyrus Jones of Menomonee Falls (fourth, 14.54), Slinger senior Jeffrey Ford (fifth, 14.59) and Homestead’s Clark (14.60) also podiumed in that event. The 300 hurdles conducted without Clayborn also had four area podium finishers, including Sussex Hamilton senior Tristan Haigh (second, :37.97), Mukwonago senior Devin Viola (third, 38.61), Oak Creek junior Kenneth Mueller and South Milwaukee senior Shaundel Williams (sixth, 39.03).
Other Milwaukee area podium finishes
D1 100: Coming in behind Resch were area athletes including Milwaukee Riverside-Golda Meir junior Kevion Dickerson (second, 10.72), Greendale senior Jonathan Lopez (fourth, 10.787), Marquette senior Amillione Johnson (fifth, 10.789) and Hartford Union senior Cole Ohm (sixth, 10.80).
D1 200: After Resch were Marquette’s Johnson (second, 21.33), Greenfield senior Bennett Bradley (third, 21.52), and Kenosha Bradford senior Brian Walton (fifth, 21.81).
D1 400: Oak Creek senior Gabriel Olson (:48.39) placed fourth, while Brookfield East junior Ben Borino (48.75) took sixth.
D1 800: Oconomowoc senior Owen Sayles (1:52.56) joined Tally on the podium in fifth.
D1 1,600: Joining Tally (third) on the podium were Racine Horlick senior Landon Franke (second, 4:05.43), and Slinger senior Reed Grotenhuis (fifth, 4:08.43).
D1 400 relay: It was an all-area podium behind Arrowhead, with Oak Creek (second, 41.25), Nicolet (third, 41.68), West Allis Hale (fourth, 41.86), Homestead (fifth, 41.87) and Germantown (sixth, 41.90) rounding out the top six.
D1 800 relay: Area teams also took the top six spots, with Germantown (second, 1:26.67), Oak Creek (third, 1:26.88), Homestead (fourth, 1:27.00), Greendale (fifth, 1:27.41) and West Allis Hale (sixth, 1:27.59) rounding out the podium behind champion Waukesha West.
D1 1,600 relay: Sussex Hamilton (3:19.54) placed fourth, with Wauwatosa East (3:20.46) taking sixth.
D1 long jump: Joining Zielinski on the podium were Racine Case senior Johnny Mathews (fourth, 22-7.25) and Marquette’s Johnson (fifth, 22-5.25).
D2 100: Catholic Memorial junior Devon Williams placed fifth (11.06).
D2 200: CMH’s Williams took fourth (21.93)
D2 800: Shorewood junior Ben Behma placed fifth (1:54.83).
D2 3,200: Shorewood senior Ryan Lien (9:10.87) placed third, while University School of Milwaukee junior Austin Jarmuz (9:18.54) took sixth.
D2 high jump: Kingdom Prep Lutheran senior Myles Zawecki placed fifth (6-6).
D2 long jump: Kingdom Prep Lutheran junior Utell Chew took third (22-8.5).
Top 10 team scores
Division 1: 1, Homestead, 48; 2, Waukesha West, 41; 2, Arrowhead, 41; 4, De Pere, 29; 5, Marquette, 28; 6, Germantown, 26.5; 7, Oak Creek, 24; 7, Green Bay Preble, 24; 7, New Richmond, 24; 10, DeForest, 20; 10, Nicolet, 20; 10, Pulaski, 20.
Division 2: 1, Winneconne, 71.5; 2, Monroe, 34; 3, McFarland, 30; 4, Rice Lake, 29; 5, Osceola, 26; 5, Martin Luther, 26; 7, Hayward, 23; 8, New Berlin Eisenhower, 21; 9, Shorewood, 20; 9, Little Chute, 20.
Division 3: 1, Marathon, 55; 2, Abundant Life Christian, 40; 3, Coleman, 31; 3, Shiocton, 31; 5, Edgar, 29; 6, Stratford, 27; 7, Kickapoo/La Farge, 24; 8, Assumption, 23; 8, Grantsburg, 23; 10, Ladysmith, 20.
Wheelchair: 1, Marquette, 36; 2, Waupaca, 30; 3, West De Pere, 28; 4, Sun Prairie East, 26; 5, Beaver Dam, 17; 6, Madison Memorial, 15; 7, Baldwin-Woodville, 8; 7, Chippewa Falls, 8; 9, Green Bay West, 5; 10, Union Grove, 4; 11, Washburn, 3.
Full WIAA state track and field results available on the WIAA website.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Homestead wins boys state track; West’s Zielinski breaks oldest standing record
Reporting by Zac Bellman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zac Bellman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
