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Area track athletes advance to state

Familiar faces and some new kids on the block will compete at the WIAA State Track and Field Meet, set for Friday and Saturday, June 6-7, at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Waupaca’s qualifiers in Division 2 are Tatiana Sotka in the girls’ 100- and 200-meter dash; Macie Davidson in the girls’ 400-meter dash; and the girls’ 1,600-meter relay team of Michelle Petkovsek, Alisa Blank, Sotka and Davidson (alternates are Sophie Sicchio and Victoria Nowak).

Also qualifying in Division 2 is Clintonville’s Allison Johnson in the girls’ 800-meter run and Amherst’s Ashley Pionkowski and Alissa Niggemann in the girls’ 100- and 300-meter hurdles, respectively.

Johnson is no stranger to the state meet, as she was a member of the girls’ 3,200-meter relay two years ago as a freshman and competed last year in the high jump. She set a new school record in the 800 May 30 at the Freedom Sectional with a time of 2:19.12.

Iola-Scandinavia is sending five individuals and four relay teams in Division 3. Individuals are freshman Leighten Fischer (girls’ long jump and 400-meter dash); Emily Sether (girls’ 1,600-meter run); Shelby Trzebiatowski (girls’ 800); Kristian Welch (boys’ long jump); and Dylan Robbins (boys’ 400).

Qualifying relay teams are the girls’ 1,600 team of Tyisha Weed, Sether, Trzebiatowski and Fischer (alternate is Hunter Frye); the girls’ 800-meter team of Weed, Morgan Frye, Michela Jobke and Hunter Frye (alternate is Amy Vanden Bush); the boys’ 1,600 team of Devin Paulson, Matt Matheny, Welch and Robbins (alternate is Tanner Krusa); and the boys’ 800 team of Matheny, Paulson, Krusa and Welch (alternate is Robbins).

“Including the alternates, we will take 13 kids to state this year,” coach Brad Brookins said. “Our team peaked at the perfect time and we have an opportunity to do something special at state.”
Marion’s Cole Drefahl and Cassidy Detert also qualified in Division 3 in the boys’ and girls’ shot put events, respectively.

Waupaca’s Petkovsek, Blank, Sotka and Davidson broke their own school record with a time of 4:06.3 May 30 at the Freedom Sectional. The foursome also set the school record in the same event at last year’s regional meet.

Coach Joel Kempfert likes his team’s chances now that the Comets have dropped from Division 1 to Division 2 this year.

“Three of the four girls going have competed in the Division 1 meet in past years: Macie in the 200 and 400 in 2012, Tatiana in the 100 and 200 in 2013 and Alisa in the 300 hurdles in 2013,” he said.

“The girls have worked hard all season in preparation for this, despite the inclement weather throughout the season,” he said. “All of the girls had their season’s best performances at the sectional meet. We are looking forward to having a great weekend and putting forth our best effort on the track in La Crosse.”

Athletes in divisions 2 and 3 had to place in the top four May 30 at their respective sectional meet, while Division 1 athletes needed to be in the top three.

Here’s a rundown of how local athletes fared:

Division 1
Ashwaubenon Sectional
New London: Amber Pethke, the only area competitor in Division 1, placed fifth in the girls’ long jump at St. Norbert College in De Pere.

Division 2
Freedom Sectional
Waupaca: Sotka, second, girls’ 200-meter dash, fourth, 100-meter dash; girls’ 1,600-meter relay team (Petkovsek, Blank, Sotka, Davidson), second; Davidson fourth, girls’ 400-meter dash; Christian Overman, sixth, boys’ 110-meter hurdles, and 12th, triple jump; Nic Joch, seventh, boys’ 200; Brogan Kendziora, 10th, boys’ 300-meter hurdles; boys’ 1,600-meter relay team (Miguel Barraza, Drew Simonson, Steven Canterbury, Joch), 11th; Mitchell Rotta, 14th, boys’ 3,200-meter run; and Petkovsek, seventh, girls’ 800.

Weyauwega-Fremont: girls’ 400-meter relay team (Miranda Arndt, Mikaela Hintz, Caragan Volz, Megan Young), seventh; Volz, seventh, girls’ triple jump; Becky Schroeder, ninth, girls’ high jump, 11th, 800-meter run; Dylan Pankow, 11th, boys’ triple jump; Dan Crist, 14th, boys’ long jump; and girls’ 800-meter relay team (Volz, Hintz, Morgan Wilson, Young), disqualified.

Clintonville: Johnson, second, girls’ 800; Chrissy Betz, fifth, girls’ pole vault; boys’ 800 meter relay team (Travis Eanone, Todd Taylor, Skyler Lehman, Joe Pockat), sixth; Jessica Petruzates, sixth, girls’ 3,200-meter run; girls’ 3,200-meter relay team (Sara Messner, Briana Gretzinger, Petruzates, Johnson), eighth; Ross Westphal, ninth, shot put; Lehman, ninth, pole vault; and boys’ 400-meter relay team (Eanone, Taylor, Lehman, Pockat), 16th.

Amherst: Niggemann, first, girls’ 300 hurdles, fifth, 800; Pionkowski, fourth, girls’ 100-meter hurdles; Josh Cisewski, fifth, boys’ 400, long jump; and Lindsay Rutz, fifth, girls’ discus, sixth, shot put.

Division 3
Marathon Sectional
Iola-Scandinavia: Fischer, first, girls’ long jump, third, 400; boys’ 1,600 relay (Paulson, Matheny, Welch, Robbins), first; Robbins, second, boys’ 400; Welch, second, long jump; girls’ 800 relay (Weed, Jobke, Hunter Frye, Morgan Frye), third; girls’ 1,600 relay (Weed, Sether, Trzebiatowski, Fischer), third; Sether, third, girls’ 1,600; boys’ 800 relay (Matheny, Paulson, Krusa, Welch), third; Trzebiatowski, fourth, girls’ 800; Weed, fifth, girls’ 100; girls’ 400 relay (Hunter Frye, Jobke, Vanden Bush, Morgan Frye), sixth; Seth Bauer, seventh, shot put; Evan Fuhs, seventh, boys’ 1,600; Claire Bestul, eighth, girls’ discus; Krusa, eighth, boys’ 300 hurdles; boys’ 400 relay (Matheny, Bauer, Isaac Lashua, Giovani Fredheim), ninth; Adam Cherek, 12th, boys’ 800; Lashua, 15th, boys’ 100; and Vanden Bush, no height, girls’ high jump.

Manawa: Molly Loughrin, fifth, girls’ 100 hurdles, seventh, 300 hurdles, seventh, triple jump; Brady Osterling, fifth, boys’ 400; Haley Ingersoll, seventh, girls’ 100; Lexi Smiles, seventh, girls’ 200; Austin Wagner, eighth, boys’ 110 hurdles, 10th, 300 hurdles; boys’ 1,600 relay (Ethan Hass, Wagner, Matthew Radloff, Osterling), ninth; boys’ 3,200 relay (Sam Welch, Shawn Hoeft, Hass, Andrew Scheller), 10th; boys’ 400 relay team (Tristan Selle, Bob Kowalczyk, Welch, Zach Kreklow), 11th; Hass, 11th, boys’ 800; Autumn Ferg, 11th, girls’ shot put; Daniel Teuscher, 12th, boys’ triple jump; Scheller, 13th, boys’ 3,200; Ashlee Strebe, 15th, girls’ triple jump; boys’ 800 relay (Teuscher, Radloff, Kowalczyk, Osterling), disqualified; and Hoeft, boys’ 800, disqualified.

Marion: Cassidy Detert, second, girls’ shot put, seventh, discus; Drefahl, third, boys’ shot put, 13th, discus; girls’ 800 relay (Cassidy Wudstrack, Kate Breitrick, Allison Faehling, Paige Polzin), ninth; Clay Detert, seventh, long jump, 10th, triple jump, tied 11th, high jump; Melody Riemer, ninth, girls’ 800, 10th, 400; girls’ 400 relay (Wudstack, Breitrick, Fashling, Polzin), 11th; and Kalyssa Watters, 12th, girls’ shot put.

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