Cassidy Detert has established herself as one of the area’s top discus and shot put throwers.
The Marion sophomore showed why at the WIAA State Track and Field Championships, as she finished third in the girls’ Division 3 discus event and sixth in the shot put toss.
Detert was one of 11 athletes from Marion, Clintonville, New London and Manawa that competed at the state meet, held May 31 and June 1 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
“It feels pretty good, especially from last year,” she said after receiving her third-place medal. “Last year, I took fifth and I was really, really nervous. This year, it’s not as bad.”
A state title in the discus was out of the question for Detert, as Algoma’s Kennedy Blahnik broke her own two-year-old state record with a throw of 154 feet, 3 inches. Detert’s top throw was 114 feet, 5 inches.
“She’s so good,” Detert said. “She has her technique down pat for sure.”
Detert wasn’t the only area athlete to make it on the medal podium.
Clintonville’s Kyle Petermann finished fourth in the boys’ Division 2 discus event with a throw of 164 feet, 9 inches; and Manawa’s Molly Loughrin finished sixth in the girls’ Division 3 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.71. She also placed eighth in her preliminaries race in 17.42.
Manawa’s Paige Schernecker placed 13th in the girls’ Division 3 3,200-meter run and 17th in the 1,600-meter run with times of 11:58.99 and 5:50.23, respectively; New London’s Amber Pethke finished 15th in the girls’ Division 1 long jump (16 feet, 5 1/4 inches); Clintonville’s Allison Johnson was 16th in the girls’ high jump (4 feet, 10 inches); New London’s Brenna Heise was 24th in the girls’ triple jump (33 feet, 1 1/2 inches); and Manawa’s boys’ 800-meter relay team of Alex Murphy, Spencer Eklund, Drew Meyer and Wesley Krauss finished 12th in their preliminaries race with a time of 3:37.5 and did not qualify for the finals.