Waupaca athlete races in wheelchair
By Greg Seubert
Jack Barbeau is only a freshman, but he’s already left his mark on Waupaca High School’s track program.
He’s the first WHS student-athlete to compete in a track meet in a wheelchair and it was hard to not notice him at the Waupaca County Meet April 15 at Clintonville High School.
Barbeau was the only competitor in the wheelchair-only 100- and 400-meter dash events. He turned in a time of 27 seconds in the 100 and followed that up with a personal-best time of 1:56.21 in the 400.
“I have this muscle disability,” he said shortly before heading out on the track for the 400. “It could have affected my whole leg, but it only affected my bottom leg. It pretty much had to be cut off and I was 6 or 7. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to walk.”
Besides the 100 and 400, Barbeau has also competed in 800-, 1,200- and 1,600-meter races. A 1,600-meter run consists of four laps around a high school track.
“I only did that once,” Barbeau said. “I knew it was hard and I didn’t do it again.”
Barbeau first tried wheelchair racing last year as an eighth-grader on the Waupaca Middle School track team.
“It helps me get faster and it’s fun,” he said.
Mad City Badgers
It also keeps him in shape for wheelchair basketball. He plays for the Mad City Badgers, an organized youth wheelchair basketball team based in Madison that competed in March at the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Disabled veterans who returned home from World War II formed the team in the 1950s. The Badgers now included school-aged boys and girls with different levels of disabilities and skill levels.
“There are two teams in the state in Milwaukee and Madison,” Barbeau said. “If you live closer to Madison, you’re on a Madison team. If you’re closer to Milwaukee, you’re on the Milwaukee team.”
Barbeau spends most of his time in a wheelchair and uses a special three-wheeled chair for track.
“I walk around with my walker and I use my prosthetic leg to walk,” he said. “In school, I’m using my wheelchair.”
Wheelchair events have been a part of the WIAA State Track and Field Championships since 2014. Boys and girls from around the state qualify at their respective sectionals and have the opportunity to compete in wheelchair-only 100- and 400-meter dashes, 800-meter run and the shot put event at the state meet, held each year at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Barbeau uses his own chair and practices five days a week on the Comet Field track. He’s looking forward to the opportunity to compete against another racer, which might not happen until the state meet.
“It’ll be interesting to see what they do and to see if I can beat them,” he said.
In the meantime, Barbeau will work on lowering his times, even if it means racing alone.
“People who have disabilities and have good arm movement should try this,” he said. “It’s fun and you get a workout.”