Truckers’ Pyatskowit places ninth

By Erik Buchinger

Clintonville track and field had two representatives competing at the WIAA Division 2 State Meet on June 2-3.

Sophomore Allysin Booth competed in both days of the meet for the girls’ 100-meter hurdles and qualified for the finals with an eighth-place finish in the preliminaries.

The next day, Booth finished third in the state finals race.

“For my expectations, I thought I was going to get a sixth place,” Booth said. “It was really hot, and I wanted to just get podium, but I’m way happier with third place.”

Even though she was satisfied with her placement, Booth said her time could have been better. She said dealing with the heat was difficult, as temperatures rose into the 90s.

“My time was horrible,” Booth said. “I got a low 16, and I wanted to get a 14, but I still podiumed, so that’s OK. The heat was really bad, and I didn’t care for it at all.”

Clintonville senior Kara Pyatskowit finished her career with a ninth-place finish in the girls’ 1,600-meter run on Friday, June 2.

Pyatskowit ran a time of 5:17.90 and said she was disappointed with her performance.

“It’s definitely not how I wanted to finish the season,” Pyatskowit said. “I started out pretty well, but I didn’t finish it the way I wanted to.”

Even though she was dissatisfied with how the race went, Pyatskowit said she was glad to finish out her high school track career as a state qualifier.

“It was really exciting to make it to state, especially with the challenges I faced in the postseason,” Pyatskowit said. “It was good to get back even though I didn’t finish the way I wanted to.”

Booth said it was nice to have a teammate compete with her at state but wishes more athletes from the team could qualify.

“It’s really fun,” Booth said. “I wish we could get more athletes to come to state instead of just me and Kara, but it’s a fun experience. Kara and I have grown really close, so it’s really fun to just hang out with her all this time. She’s a really good athlete, too, so it’s really fun.”

Pyatskowit said having Booth with her at state two years in a row has been a good experience for both of them.

“It’s amazing,” Pyatskowit said. “Last year we went together, so it’s just been nice to go again and experience it together.”