ADMISSION TICKETS: Ticket prices for the meet are $8 for each session or $12 for both sessions Friday if purchased at the stadium. Tickets may also be purchased online with an applicable convenience fee. To order online, access the ticket link on the WIAA website homepage or go to:
MEET INFORMATION: The meet features two sessions Friday. The Division 1 events begin at 9:30 a.m. with the competition proceeding in the order of events. Division 2 and 3 events begin at 3 p.m. The competition resumes Saturday at 10:30 a.m. The order of the finals for each event Saturday begins with Division 3, followed by Divisions 2 and 1, respectively.
MEET LIVE ON NFHS NETWORK.COM: The live stream of the State Meet will be produced by PlayOn! Sports on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log-on to www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription image on the home page.
LAST YEAR’S TEAM RESULTS-BOYS: Bay Port won the Division 1 championship with 67 team points. Wisconsin Lutheran finished runner-up for the second straight season, compiling 48 points. Freedom won the Division 2 title with 66 points, which was 20 more than runner-up Milwaukee Lutheran with 46. In Division 3, Marathon won the title by scoring 42 points, one more than runner-up Newman Catholic with 41. Marquette won the team championship in the wheelchair competition with 33 points. Eau Claire North was second with 32 points.
LAST YEAR’S TEAM RESULTS-GIRLS: In Division 1, Whitefish Bay won the team championship by accumulating 48 points. Middleton finished runner-up, nine points behind with 39. Dodgeville/Mineral Point captured the title in Division 2 with 36 points, edging runner-up Mount Horeb by a single point with 35 points. Cuba City won the Division 3 championship with 53 points. St. Mary’s Springs finished runner-up with 44 points. Catholic Central won the wheelchair competition with 30 points, and Burlington placed second with 24.
BY THE NUMBERS-BOYS: Whitefish Bay has won the most boys team championships with 18, 16 of them coming consecutively from 1937-52. Milwaukee Riverside and Kohler are second with 16 titles each. Only two competitors have ever won the same individual event four times. Dave Greenwood of Park Falls won four titles in the high jump from 1976-79, and Paul Annear of Richland Center repeated the feat in the same event from 2005-08. Three individuals have won four relay titles in the same relay. Kevin Bledsoe of Milwaukee South did it in the 400 relay (1984-87) as did Josh Dickerson of D.C. Everest (1993-96) and Greg Bracey of Milwaukee Vincent (2000-03). Justin Austin (2005-08) of Brown Deer holds the boys record for the most titles won by an individual with nine. Darrell Jansen of Kimberly (1958-60) and Annear have won eight championships. Three others have won seven titles. Only Alvin Kraenzlein of Milwaukee East has won five State titles in one meet (1895), and Andrew Rock of Stratford is the only other athlete to win four State titles in the same year (2000). Milwaukee South lays claim to the most event titles throughout the history of the meet with 99. Whitefish Bay is second with 96.
BY THE NUMBERS-GIRLS: Madison West and Rosholt have won the most girls team titles with six. Three of West’s titles came in succession from 1980-82. Arcadia, Marathon and Nekoosa have won five titles with Edgar, Madison Memorial, Milwaukee Bradley, Prairie du Chien, Waukesha West and Whitewater next on the list with four. Twenty-four girls have won the same event four times during their career. Kennedy Blahnik of Algoma, Bonnie Draxler of Wrightstown, Molly Seidel of University Lake School and Joanna Schultz of Holmen are the only athletes to accomplish the feat in two different events. Blahnik won the discus and shot put from 2011-14; Draxler won the 400 dash and pole vault from 2011-14; Seidel won the 1,600 and 3,200 runs from 2009-12; and Schultz captured the titles in the 200 and 400 dashes from 2003-06. Draxler, Jaclynn Kriegl of Florence, and both Elizabeth Pospyhalla and Tess Thurs of Edgar hold the record for the most championships won by an individual with 10. Dana Collins of Milwaukee Marshall, Heather Hyland of Nekoosa and Jenni Westphal of Marinette are next in line with nine. Edgar has won the most events in the history of the meet with 40 titles. Madison Memorial is next on the list with 34.
DIVISION 1 NOTES - BOYS: Fond du Lac has qualifiers in 16 events, including relays, to lead the rest of the division. Oak Creek is next with competitors in 13 events, while Bay Port and New Berlin Eisenhower have participants in 11 events. Three individual events and one relay return their champions from last year. Senior Cole Van Lanen of Bay Port is the champion of two events. He won the shot put and discus last season. This year, he has qualified with the top distance in both events with throws of 60-9 1/2 in the shot put and 171-7 in the discus. Senior Konner Fierek of D.C. Everest won the 110 hurdles a year ago, and he returns to defend the title with the top qualifying time of 14.51. The Ashwaubenon 1,600 relay will race for its second straight championship, coming into the meet with the second-fastest qualifying time of 3:19.20. Junior Finn Gessner of Madison La Follette won the Division 1 cross country title in the fall after finishing third in the 3,200 run last spring, and he has the top qualifying time in the event at 9:26.50.
DIVISION 1 NOTES - GIRLS: Franklin and Stevens Point are entered in the most events with 13, followed by Oak Creek with 12. Arrowhead, Sun Prairie, Waukesha West and Wauwatosa West are next in line with participants in nine events. Five individual events and three relays feature the return of their champions from 2015. In addition, one event has its 2014 champion hoping to return to championship form, and two events have the Division 2 champion moving up into the division. Junior Cami Davre of Whitefish Bay is the returning two-time champion in two events. She won both the 800 and 1,600 runs in 2014 and 2015, setting the meet record in the 800 last year. Her qualifying time in the 800 of 2:14.68 ranks fifth entering the meet, and her qualifying time of 5:02.26 in the 1,600 ranks third. Senior Sam Noennig of Hartford is the two-time defending champion in the discus and the winner in the shot put a year ago. She qualifies this year with the third-best qualifying toss of 144-0 in the discus and the top throw in the shot put at 48-4. Senior Aubrey Roberts of Eau Claire Memorial is the returning gold medalist in the 3,200 run. She appears to be the favorite to repeat, having posted a qualifying time of 10:41.37, which is more than 32 seconds swifter than the second-fastest qualifying time. She is also the fastest qualifier in the 1,600 run with a time of 4:51.46 after finishing second last season. Roberts was the State Division 1 cross country title last fall. Senior Kylie Swiekatowski of De Pere pursues a second title in pole vault. She finished runner-up last season after winning the event in 2014. She enters competition with the top qualifying performance of 12-3. Senior Nadia Williams of Mount Horeb was the 2015 Division 2 champion in the 100 and 200 dashes and the long jump. She moves up a division to qualify in each of those events. She ranks eighth among qualifiers in the 100 dash with a time of 12.48 and fourth in the 200 at 25.17. Her qualifying jump of 18-3 1/4 in the long jump ranks second among the competitors. Wauwatosa West has the top seed time in its quest to win a second straight title in the 400 relay, and Hamilton is seeking its second straight title in the 1,600 relay. Kenosha Bradford, now a co-op with Kenosha Reuther, won the 800 relay last year.
DIVISION 2 NOTES - BOYS: Wisconsin Lutheran will compete in 15 events, including relays, which leads all schools in the division. Little Chute is represented in 11 events, and Freedom competitors are in nine events. There is only one defending individual event champion and three relays attempting to win consecutive titles. In addition, the two-time Division 1 champion in the 3,200 relay moves into the division this year. Senior Jim Hoesley of Arcadia is the defending champion in the 300 hurdles. He possesses the fastest qualifying time in the event at 39.04. He also has the top time in the 110 hurdles, entering the meet at 14.54. Other competitors to watch who have the top qualifying performance in multiple events are sophomore Kenny Bednarek of Rice Lake, sophomore Ben Dunkleburger of Lake Mills and junior Clark Otte of Sheboygan Falls. Bednarek is the fastest qualifier in both the 200 and 400 dashes with times of 21.35 and 47.66, respectively. Dunklebuger is the top qualifier in the triple jump at 45-9 and the long jump at 21-8 1/2. Otte enters the meet with the top times in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs at 4:20.73 and 9:31.07, respectively. Another story line in the 1,600 and 3,200 events is the two champions from last fall’s cross country championships expecting to contend for the title. Senior Daniel Pederson of Spooner won the 2015 Division 2 cross country title, and senior Kevin Koski of Chequamegon has won the Division 3 crown the last two seasons. Wisconsin Lutheran moves to Division 2 after winning the 2014 and 2015 Division 1 titles in the 3,200 relay. Lakeland is the defending Division 2 champion returning in the 3,200 relay. Also looking to repeat as champions in the relays are Milwaukee Lutheran in the 800 relay and Freedom in the 1,600 relay.
DIVISION 2 NOTES - GIRLS: Wisconsin Lutheran leads all schools in the division with representation in 11 events, including relays. Jefferson has the second-most event entries with 10. East Troy, Lakeside Lutheran and Osceola are next with eight. There are seven individual events and three relays that have returning champions from 2015. Junior Brooke Blazei of Martin Luther enters the State Meet attempting to win the high jump for the third straight season. Her qualifying leap of 5-4 ranks fourth on the list of qualifiers. Senior Meghan Pingel of Lakeside Lutheran is the two-time returning champion in the 100 hurdles. She has qualified in pursuit of a third title with a time of 15.36, which ranks fifth among competitors in the event entering the meet. Senior Mikaela Grant of Jefferson has won the last two 300 hurdles titles, setting the Division 2 State record in the event last year. She comes into the State Meet with sights on a third straight title with a time qualifying time of 45.96, which ranks fourth among qualifiers in the event. Junior Tess Keyzers of Little Chute was the 2015 champion in the shot put. She appears poised to contend for her second straight crown with the field’s top qualifying toss of 47-2 1/2. Senior Alicia Monson of Amery was the 2015 State Division 2 cross country champion and is the returning champion in the 3,200 run. She enters the meet with the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the event at 11:23.47. Junior Brielle Buechler of Wrightstown won the pole vault last season and is considered a leading contender to win the event again this year based on her entering height of 11-1, which is best among all qualifiers. Junior Kyra Arendt of Bloomer is the defending champion in the triple jump. She is ranked fourth among the qualifiers with a sectional mark of 36-4. The Lakeside Lutheran 800 relay is going after its fourth straight championship. The Kiel 400 relay and the Dodgeville/Mineral Point 1,600 relay both seek their second straight titles in those respective events.
DIVISION 3 NOTES - BOYS: Wild Rose will be competing in the most events with 12, including relays. Marathon and Unity have competitors in 10 events, and St. Mary’s Springs has qualifiers in nine events. There are six individual events that return their champions and two relays. In addition, one event has its 2014 champion hoping to return to championship form. Senior Dakota Kauffman of Boscobel accounts for two of the returning champions. He won both the 1,600 and the 3,200 runs last year. He has the third-best qualifying time this season in the 1,600 at 4:26.09 and the fifth-quickest in the 3,200 at 9:59.45. In addition, his sectional time of 1:57.25 in the 800 run ranks first among qualifiers in that event, which returns its champion, senior Xavier Lechleitner of Marathon, who has qualified with the third-fastest time of 1:58.61. Senior Kellen Kravik of Bangor is the returning champion in the pole vault. He returns to defend his title with the third-best height among qualifiers at 13-6. Senior Alex Idonije of Wayland Academy won the triple jump a year ago, and he qualifies this season with the fourth-best leap of 44-4. Senior Sam Spranger of St. Mary’s Springs is the returning 400 dash champion. He enters the meet as the favorite with a qualifying time of 48.96, which is more than a second faster than the next-best time. Senior Kristian Welch of Iola-Scandinavia won the long jump in 2014. He finished third last season, and his qualifying jump of 20-7 3/4 at sectionals ranks ninth in the field.
DIVISION 3 NOTES - GIRLS: Newman Catholic has athletes competing in eight events, including relays, to lead the division. Algoma, Auburndale and Weyauwega-Fremont have qualified competitors in seven events. There are six individual events and two relays that have returning champions from 2015 and an additional champion that won gold in 2013. Junior Faith Lubner of Reedsville takes aim at her third consecutive championship in the 300 hurdles and her second straight title in the 100 hurdles and long jump. She has qualified with the top times in both the 100 and 300 hurdles with times of 15.07 and 45.22, respectively. Her qualifying mark of 17-1 1/2 in the long jump ranks fifth among the qualifiers in the event. Senior Alexandra Hutchison of Columbus Catholic seeks a third straight crown in the 200 dash and a second consecutive championship in the 100 dash. She set the Division 3 State record in the 200 last year in the prelims. Hutchison has the second-fastest qualifying time in the 200 at 25.75, and she possesses the third-best time in the 100 at 12.54. Senior Elizabeth Kyes of Cadott is back to defend her title in the 400 dash. She enters the preliminaries with an entry time of 58.23, which is the quickest among all qualifiers in the event. Senior Aidan Campbell of Madison Country Day/Abundant Life/St. Ambrose attempts to return to the top of the awards stand of the 800 run this year. She won the championship in the event as a freshman in 2013. Campbell is seeded fourth in the event with a time of 2:21.78. The Cuba City 800 relay attempts to win its fourth straight title, and Wild Rose seeks a repeat title in the 400 relay.
WHEELCHAIR NOTES: Senior Brock Holman of Eau Claire North is the two-time returning wheelchair champion in the shot put. His qualifying toss of 21-6 puts him atop of the qualifying list of competitors. Holman is also the returning champion in the 1600 race. He attempts to retain his title, entering the meet with the top qualifying time of 6:35.25. Junior Joe Schubert of Marquette is the two-time reigning champion in the wheelchair version of the 100 and 400 dashes. He returns with the top qualifying times in each of those events at 17.87 and 1:11.18, respectively. He also has the best qualifying time in the 800 race with a sectional time of 2:35.07. That event was won last year by junior Brendan Oijbway of Wisconsin Heights/Barneveld. He returns with a seed time of 3:02.08, which ranks second. Senior Lauren Reesman of Catholic Central is the returning champion in the girls wheelchair 100 and 400 dashes, as well as the shot put, an event she established a record in last year. She enters the meet with the top sectional performances in each of the those events at 17.87, 1:49.82 and 15-4, respectively. She also possesses the best time in the 800 race at 4:08.30. Junior Leah Joslyn of Burlington won girls wheelchair shot put in 2014. She hopes to reclaim the title this year. She enters with a qualifying toss of 9-11 3/4.
ALLOW EXTRA TIME: Road construction on eastbound and westbound I-90 and interchanges near I-90 on Hwy. 16 and Hwy. 53 will produce freeway and ramp congestion in La Crosse and the surrounding area. Please plan accordingly and allow extra time in your travel plans to and from the WIAA State Track & Field Meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium on June 3-4.
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to get results of the 2016 State Track and Field results is to access the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org and access either the boys or girls track and field home page to choose the appropriate results link and for live updates as the meet unfolds, provided in cooperation with PrimeTime Event & Race Management, LLC.
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