Saturday, June 1, 2024

Teams and Individuals Crowned at State Track & Field Championships

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The 2024 State Boys and Girls Track & Field Championships produced eight team champions and 117 event champions at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex Saturday.

Arrowhead won the Division 1 boys' team championship for the fourth year in a row by accumulating 60 points, and Onalaska was runner-up with 44 points. In Division 2, Lakeside Lutheran rolled to the title with 81 points, 44 points more than second-place Somerset with 37 points. Iola-Scandinavia was the team champion in Division 3 with 45 points, and Stratford finished second with 34 points.

Arrowhead also won the Division 1 girls’ team title, compiling 67 points. It marks the first time in Division 1 that both genders have won the team championships in the same year. Homestead came in second with 57 points. Freedom and Rice Lake shared the gold trophy in Division 2, scoring 45 points each. In Division 3, Deerfield captured the team title with 42 points, three more than runner-up Cameron with 39 points.

Marquette won the boys’ wheelchair team championship for the second consecutive season, compiling 36 points, and Waupaca was second with 27 points. Sun Prairie East won the girls’ wheelchair team championship with 38 points, and Greenwood was second with 26 points.

The meet was highlighted by a number of record performances, including five Division 1 boys’ marks. Senior Logan Hicks of Arrowhead eclipsed the record in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles with times of 13.97 and 36.92, respectively. Senior Ben Smith of Hortonville shattered the record in the shot put with a toss of 70-9 ½, and senior Bryce Ruland of Waterford set the record in the discus with a throw of 212-1. In addition, the Arrowhead 800 relay team ran a record time of 1:26.73.

In Division 2, senior Kaden Rambatt of Big Foot successfully cleared 17-2 in the pole vault to set the record in the event, and Gavin Sargeant of Lodi broke the triple jump record with a distance of 47-9 1/2. The Division 3 pole vault record also fell with a 16-6 effort by senior Sam Crenshaw of Bangor. Also in Division 3, senior Charlie Vater of Iola-Scandinavia won the 3,200 run with a record time of 9:02.57.

There were four girls’ records set in Division 2. Sophomore Elletta Uddin of Osceola raced to a pair of new records in winning the 100 and 300 hurdles with the times of 14.19 and 43.27, respectively. Senior MacKenzie Wissbroecker of Antigo set the record in the long jump with a leap of 19-5, and the New Berlin West 800 relay won their preliminary heat with a record time of 1:41.52 before winning the title in the final.

Erin Moore of Lourdes Academy owns the Division 3 record in the 800 run after winning the event in a time of 2:10.48, and the Cameron 1,600 relay won their preliminary heat with a record time of 3:57.44 before winning the title in the final.

In the boys’ wheelchair events, Gianni Quintero of Marquette won the 800 race in a record time of 1:56.02, and senior Grant Shipley of Barron set the record in the shot put with a throw of 27-2.

There were several champions that have won multiple individual event titles in the same event during their careers, including one four-time winner and a pair of three-time gold medalists. Senior Eliana Sheplee of Rice Lake won her fourth Division 2 championship in the 400 dash with a time of 55.85. Junior Lucci Aizpurua of Amery won her third Division 2 title in the 100 dash with a time of 11.92, and Smith won his third crown in the boys’ Division 1 shot put.

Eighteen individuals won more than one State title in the meet, including two wheelchair athletes and a boys' distance runner that won three titles. Sophomore Megan Egstad of Sun Prairie East was the champion in the 400 and 800 races in addition to the shot put, and Quintero won the boys 100, 400 and 800 wheelchair races. Junior Manny Putz of Onalaska also won three events, earning titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs as well as being a member of the winning 3,200 relay team.

Results