THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 119th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Track and Field Championships and the 44th Girls Track and Field Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, June 6-7, at the Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
ADMISSION TICKETS: Ticket prices for the meet are $8 for each session or $12 for both sessions Friday if purchased at the stadium. All-session tickets are available for $20. 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:
https://www.expressoticketing.com/wiaa/pickEventtrack.aspx
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.
LIVE STREAM: The 2014 State Track & Field Meet will be produced by Play-On Sports and streamed live on foxsportswisconsin.com.
LAST YEAR’S TEAM RESULTS-BOYS: Brookfield East won the Division 1 championship for the third straight season, scoring 51 points and edging runner-up Green Bay Preble by a point. Shorewood won the Division 2 title, compiling 42 points, which was five more than runner-up Catholic Memorial. In Division 3, St. Mary’s Springs won the title by scoring 48 points, two ahead of runner-up Melrose-Mindoro with 46. Cedarburg won the team championship in the wheelchair competition with 38 points. Sun Prairie was second with 32 points.
LAST YEAR’S TEAM RESULTS-GIRLS: In Division 1, Kenosha Tremper won the team championship with 48 points. Waukesha West finished runner-up, two points behind with 46. East Troy captured the title in Division 2 with 57 points, topping Dodgeville/Mineral Point, which finished runner-up with 36 points. Edgar won its fourth straight Division 3 championship with 70 points. St. Mary’s Springs finished a distant second with 36.5 points. Fort Atkinson won its second straight team title in the wheelchair competition with 38 points, and Oconomowoc placed second with 34.
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 individuals 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-one girls have won the same event four times during their career. Molly Seidel of University School and Joanna Schultz of Holmen are the only athletes to do it in two different events. 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. 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: Kimberly has qualifiers in 14 events, including relays, to lead the rest of the division. Middleton and Wisconsin Lutheran both have competitors in 12 events, while Brookfield East has participants in 11 events. Four individual events and three relays return their champions from last year. Senior Daurice Fountain of Madison Memorial accounts for two of the individual events returning a champion. He won both the long jump and 110-meter hurdles last year. In his quest to repeat in both events, he has the top qualifying time in the 110 hurdles at 14.41, and he has the second-furthest mark in the long jump with a qualifying leap of 22-11.5. Senior Trent Nytes of Kaukauna is the returning champion in the high jump. He enters the meet as the favorite to repeat with the best qualifying jump of 6-7. Junior Eric Brown of Wisconsin Lutheran returns to defend his record-shattering victory in the 800 run last season. He set the meet record with a time of 1:51.48. He is the 10th fastest qualifier this year with a time of 1:56.24, more than two seconds off the best qualifying pace. The Green Bay Preble 400 relay, and the Brookfield East 1,600 and 3,200 relays are each racing for a repeat title after winning these respective events in 2013.
DIVISION 1 NOTES - GIRLS: West Bend West is entered in the most events with 15, including relays. Arrowhead, La Crosse Logan, Muskego and Wausau West are next with 11. Kimberly is next in line with participants in 10 events. Six individual events and all four relay teams feature the return of their defending champion. Junior Khadiya Hollingsworth of Brookfield East is the returning champion in the high jump. She possesses the best qualifying height in the field at 5-8, which is inches higher than the next best qualifier. Junior Rayce Albino of New Berlin West is one of three qualifiers to reach 12 feet in the pole vault. She is in pursuit of her second consecutive title in the event. Danielle Riggins of Kenosha Tremper has the qualifying time to consider her the favorite to follow up last season’s title in the 100 hurdles with another gold medal. She enters the meet with a qualifying time of 13.89, the only time under 14 seconds. Senior Talia Spiegelberg of Wisconsin Lutheran is the defending champion in the 800 run. Her qualifying time of 2:17.46 ranks third-best in the event. Senior Jessica Parker of Neenah is attempting to retain the title she won in the 1,600 run last year. She has the third fastest qualifying time this season, seven seconds behind the two fastest qualifiers. The relays attempting to win their third consecutive championship include Milwaukee King in the 400, La Crosse Logan in the 800 and Milwaukee Riverside in the 1,600. Neenah will try to make it four straight State victories in the 3,200 relay.
DIVISION 2 NOTES - BOYS: Seymour will compete in 12 events, including relays, which is the most of any school in the division. Freedom, Little Chute and Monroe are represented in nine events, with Grafton, Lodi and Mount Horeb next with eight. There are five defending individual event champions and three relays attempting to win consecutive titles. In addition, one individual event has the 2012 champion seeking a return to champion status, and one event has last year’s Division 1 champion moving down into the Division 2 field. Senior Alex Bloom of Seymour is the reigning champion in the high jump. He is in position to win his second straight title in the event with the best qualifying height of 6-8. Senior Cason Cleveland of Edgerton is the returning champion in the pole vault. He qualifies with the fifth-best vault of 14-0, which is seven inches off the top qualifying height. Last year’s triple jump champion, Sandy Cohen of Seymour, is back for a shot at another title. He enters with a qualifying mark of 45-9.25, which is second-best among all qualifiers in the event. Last year’s runner-up, junior Djdade Denson of University School has the top qualifying leap at 46-1.5. Junior Ryan Send of Brookfield Academy won the 100 dash last year and returns to the event with a qualifying time of 11.30, which is 10th-best among all qualifiers. Senior Isaiah Lesure of Mount Horeb is the returning champion in the long jump. He enters with the second-best jump among the qualifiers at 22-6.5. Senior Erick Huertas of Grafton won the Division 1 title in the 400 dash last year and has qualified as the swiftest qualifier in the event in Division 2 this season. His qualifying time of 48.61 is more than a second faster than the next fastest competitor. Senior Ethan Moehn of Monroe has sights on returning to the top of the award stand in the 800 run after winning the title in 2012 and finishing runner-up last year. He exceeded his record-setting performance of 2012 last season, but Joseph Hinz of Freedom eclipsed the record by edging Moehn in 2013. Moehn was the Division 2 cross country champion last fall, and he is a member of the Cheesemakers' 3,200 relay, which goes for its fourth straight championship in the event. Moehn would become only the fourth individual to win the same relay four times. Shorewood seeks its third consecutive crown in the 1,600 relay, and Mount Horeb attempts to gain back-to-back glory in the 800 relay.
DIVISION 2 NOTES - GIRLS: Osceola is represented in the most events with 14, including three relays. Hayward, McFarland and Seymour have competitors in nine events, while Jefferson and Shorewood have representation in eight events. There are seven individual events and two relays that have returning champions from 2013 among their qualifiers. Senior Bonnie Draxler of Wrightstown has won the 400 dash and the pole vault the last three years and appears in good position to make it four titles in both those events. If she succeeds, she will become just the third individual to win four championships in two different events. She is also the defending gold medalist in the 100 dash. Draxler is the top qualifier in each of those events with a 12.05 in the 100, 57.46 in the 400 and 13-0 in the pole vault, an event for which she already possesses the State record. Senior Morgan Johnson of Hayward is seeking a second straight title in both the long and triple jumps. Her qualifying jumps in both those events ranks second-best among all the qualifiers. Junior Taylor Stanek of Dodgeville/Mineral Point is the returning champion in the high jump. She has qualified this season at a height of 5-2, which ranks tied for third among qualifiers. Junior Annalese Lamke of Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau will attempt to retain her championship in the shot put. Her qualifying toss of 40-9 is three feet short of the top qualifying toss coming into the meet. The two relays attempting to win back-to-back titles are Lakeside Lutheran in the 800 relay and East Troy in the 3,200 relay.
DIVISION 3 NOTES - BOYS: St. Mary’s Springs will be competing in the most number of events with 11, including relays. Marathon has competitors in nine events, and Newman Catholic has qualifiers in eight events. Seven individual events and three relays have sights on adding an additional championship in Division 3. Senior Alex Hatlevig of Melrose-Mindoro is the defending champion in both the 100 and 200 dashes. His qualifying times of 10.84 and 22.07, respectively, are the best in each of the events. Senior Nick Zander of McDonell Central is also a returning champion in two events. He won the 800 and 1,600 runs last season and is set up to defend those titles. He has the quickest time in the 800 at 1:59.22 and ran the second-fastest sectional race in the 1,600 at 4:29.16. Senior Zac Webster of Spring Valley is the leading qualifier in the triple jump with a mark of 44-9 after taking the title last season. Junior Jordan Wesner of Princeton/Green Lake won the high jump a year ago, and it appears he’s poised to capture the title again this season. He enters the State Meet with a qualifying leap of 6-10, which is four inches higher than the next best qualifier. Senior Darin Lau of Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran is the fastest qualifier in the 3,200 run by a 26-second margin after winning the event last season. The Hilbert 400 and 800 relays attempt to repeat as champions in those two events, while McDonell Central goes for a second straight championship in the 3,200 relay.
DIVISION 3 NOTES - GIRLS: Cuba City and Regis have athletes competing in 14 events, including relays, to lead the division. Four-time defending champion Edgar has competitors in 11 events, as does Newman Catholic. Both Lourdes Academy and Wild Rose have student-athletes qualified in 10 events. The division features four individual event champions and all four relays back to defend titles. Senior Kennedy Blahnik of Algoma is a three-time champion and record holder in both the shot put and discus. If she wins both events as expected, she will join the short list of competitors to win two events all four years of competition. She has the top qualifying marks of 45-0.25 in the shot and 168-5 in the discus. Senior Jen Wellnitz of Black Hawk is tied for the best qualifying time in the 100 dash after she captured glory by winning the event last season. Junior Betsy Schreier of Cashton is back to defend her title in the triple jump. Her qualifying leap of 35-6 is more than a foot short of the top qualifier in the event. Edgar has won six straight titles in the 1,600 relay dating back to 2008. The Wildcats go for their seventh straight with the second-best qualifying time in the event at 4:09.42. The 3,200 St. Mary’s Springs relay will attempt to win the event for the third consecutive season. It enters the meet with the best qualifying time of 9:52.54. Defending 800 relay champion Cuba City has the top qualifying time in the event at 1:46.85, and Luther attempts to win its second straight title in the 400 relay.
WHEELCHAIR NOTES: Senior Travis Dring of Sun Prairie is the only defending champion returning to a wheelchair event in either gender. He won the boys 400 race last season, and he has qualified this season with a time of 1:42.81, which ranks fifth among the qualifiers in the event.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: Qualifiers and qualifying performance lists, along with meet schedule, heats and lane assignments are available on the WIAA website by navigating to the track & field results page at: http://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/BoysTrackField.aspx or http://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/GirlsTrackField.aspx
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to get results of the 2014 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.
FOLLOW THE TOURNEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive the updates of the Boys State Track & Field Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Twitter account is @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaawitrk.
WIAA CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS: FS Wisconsin will air the highlights of the meet. See the dates and times of the programming below. Check your local cable listings for the FS Wisconsin channel in your area.
Event Date Time
Boys-Division 1 June 14 8 p.m.
Boys-Division 2 June 14 10 p.m.
Boys-Division 3 June 17 5 p.m.
Girls-Division 1 June 21 7 p.m.
Girls-Division 2 June 21 9 p.m.
Girls-Division 3 June 22 Noon
Prepared by WIAA Communications