Fall Creek girls look to win state title injuries denied them a year ago
When you're competing against yourself and the record book, there's no better feeling.
That's how Fall Creek High School track athletes senior Alena Sanfelippo and junior Becca Sturz must have felt at last week's WIAA Division 3 Bangor Sectional meet. School record after school went down in events like the pole vault, long jump, triple jump and the 100 and 200-meter dashes as the Cricket pair powered the points which led FC to its third straight girls' sectional team title Friday, May 30 and fifth straight regional title which they won Tuesday, May 27 at Mondovi.
Last year Fall Creek finished fourth in the girls' team standings at stat with 29.5 points, 13 behind the state champ Deerfield. Sturz was injured and could not participate last year but thanks to points from Sanfleippo, including a state title in the pole vault and fellow senior Mariah Sloop, FC was still able to finish in the top five. If everyone is healthy and competing at their maximum, then Fall Creek stands a very good chance of winning the title as they did in 2023.
After all, Sanfelippo's winning state meet mark in 2024 was 12 feet. She easily beat that at sectionals, winning with a mark of 12-9. She also won the triple jump with a leap of 36-10 and was second in the long jump at 17-6, just an inch behind the winner Lauren Wickus of Onalaska Luther. Those 28 points combined with Sturz's first in the 100 in :12.41 seconds, a second in the 200 and she joined with Sanfelippo along with senior Reese Lucken and sophomore Rylee Winsand in the 400-meter relay where they took second to finish within the top four and qualify for state.
Fall Creek will need all those points in the right places to win. In its state meet preview for Division 3 Girls: the WIAA lists Oshkosh Lourdes with the most entries in the division with 14 with representation in three individual events and three relays. Racine Prairie is next on the list with 13 entries, including participants in three individual events and three relays. Ten individual events, and two relays feature returning champions seeking to add to their collection of titles including junior Bella Thomas of Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, who has sprinted to titles in the 100 dash the last two seasons and possesses the quickest qualifying time in the event this year at :12.09. Thomas is also the defending champion in the 200 dash after finishing runner-up in the event in 2023. She possesses the fastest qualifying time this season at :24.71. Another junior returning two-time champion is Iszy Sonnegtag from Cadott. She has won the 400 dash the last two seasons, and she is in position to win the event for the third consecutive year with the fastest seed time of 56.55. Senior Erin Moore of Lourdes raced to the title in the 800 run last in 2024 after placing seventh in 2023. She also captured gold in the 1,600 run last year. She has qualified again in both events this year in pursuit of back-to-back titles. Moore possesses the swiftest qualifying performances in both events at 2:12.28 and 4:53.98, respectively. Senior Kamdan Johnson of Florence/Niagara has won the championship in the 100 hurdles the past two seasons. Her qualifying time of 14.86 in the event this year ranks second-best among the list of qualifiers. Sonnentag possesses the top sectional time at 14.71 after finishing fourth in the event in 2024 and third in 2023. Senior Lauren Wickus of Onalaska Luther ascended from a 13th-place finish in the long jump in 2023 to earn the gold medal last season. She seeks a second straight championship in the event, entering the competition with the best qualifying jump at 17-7 3/4. Senior Chloe Kessenich of Pardeeville won the shot put last season after placing sixth in 2023. Her distance of 42-3 at sectionals ranks as the top performance among this year’s qualifiers as she embarks on the attempt to win another title. Senior Nolie Anderson of St. Mary's Catholic Central looks to return to the top of the award podium after winning the discus crown in 2023 and dropping to third a year ago. The four-time qualifier placed eighth her freshman season in 2022. She enters competition this week with the second-best qualifying distance in the event at 140-5. The Stevens Point Pacelli 400 relay team returns to defend its title this season. The Cardinals enter the event with the 15th fastest time among the 16 qualifiers at 51.94. Deerfield will attempt to retain the title in the 3200 relay, entering the meet with the 12th-best seed time at 10:05.52.
Fall Creek was comfortably ahead of Bangor in the team standings 76-57.50 with Cochrane-Fountain City third at 55 points. The Crickets' sectional title was also made possible by Sloop finishing fourth in the high jump clearing five feet and junior Corina Grossinger taking second in the discus at 108-4. Also scoring for the Crickets by finishing 5-8 were Winsand, fifth in the 300-meter low hurdles; sophomore Audrey Koheler, sixth in the 3200-meter run and seventh in the 1600-meter run.
The only other track athlete from school other than Fall Creek in the Tri-County who qualified for state is Eleva-Strum senior Kenzy King as she finished fourth. E-S had several athletes competing at sectionals, finishing 25th with 10 points. Junior Aliza Kulig just missed qualifying for state as she tied for fifth in the high jump and sophomore Annalyse Preston finished seventh in the 400-meter dash.
Fall Creek's placed 18th in the boys' team standings with 14 points but the Crickets will have some state competitors. Senior Caleb Steinke finished fourth in the 800-meter run and sophomore Koen Tumm placed second in the triple jump. Steinke also finished eighth in the mile run.
Fennimore won the sectional title for boys followed by Kickapoo/LaFarge and Eau Claire Regis. Eleva-Strum placed 36th with three points scored coming from junior Jaxon Rindal, who placed sixth in the discus.
The regional meet was held in Mondovi and there Fall Creek was easily the girls' champ at 117 points followed by Elmwood/Plum City 88, Eleva-Strum 79, Eau Claire Regis 79, Independence/Gilmanton 76, Mondovi 63, Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 59, Lincoln 43, Spring Valley 36, Alma/Pepin 30, Whitehall 20 Osseo-Fairchild 5 and Augusta 3.
The following athletes qualifying for sectionals (top four) from the Tri-County Area per event in the girls' regional meet were as follows: E-S 3200 relay team, third; Sturz, 100-meter dash, first in :12.38 seconds; Koehler, third in the 1600-meter run; FC, 400-meter relay in :50.24; Preston, 400-meter dash, second; Winsand, 300-meter low hurdles, third; Sturz, 200-meter dash, second; E-S, 1600-meter relay, third; Koehler, 3200-meter run, second; King and senior Olivia Capnigro, 1-2 in the shot put with King winning with a throw of 30-6 and King and Grossinger, 2-3 in the discus; Sanfelippo, first in the pole vault at 12 feet; Kulig and Sloop 2-3 in the high jump; Sanfelippo, first in the long jump at 17-5; Sanfelippo, first in the triple jump at 36-5.
Tri-County Area girls athletes scoring points in the regional meet (5-8) per event were as follows: sophomore Avery Spanberg, Eleva-Strum fifth in the pole vault; Caponigro, sixth in the discus; junior Makaela Kiesow, Osseo-Fairchild, sixth in the shot put; sophomore Iris VanWormer and freshman Emily Vollbrecht of Fall Creek, 5-6 in the 3200-meter run; Fall Creek, seventh in the 1600 relay; Kulig, fifth in the 300-meter low hurdles, Fall Creek freshman Lydia Sopiarz, sixth in the 300 hurdles; Augusta sophomore Stephanie Bergman, eighth in the 300 hurdles; sophomore Samantha Hanson, Augusta, eighth in the 400; Eleva-Strum, fifth in the 400 relay; Osseo-Fairchild, eighth in the 400 relay; Eleva-Strum, fifth in the 3200 relay, Fall Creek, seventh in the 3200 relay and Augusta, eighth in the 3200 relay.
Whitehall won the Mondovi Regional Meet for boys with 118 points, edging out Eau Claire Regis by a single point. The rest of the team scoring was Fall Creek 69, Lincoln 58, Spring Valley 50, Mondovi 50, Eleva-Strum 47, Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 44, Independence/Gilmanton 39,Alma-Pepin 38, Elmwood/Plum City 33, Augusta 19, Osseo-Fairchild 7.
The following athletes qualifying for sectionals (top four) from the Tri-County Area per event in the girls' regional meet were as follows: Eleva-Strum, fourth in the 3200 relay; Steinke, fourth in the 1600; junior Patrick Lebeis of Fall Creek, third in the 400; Steinke, first in the 800 in 2:07.18; senior Jack Preston of Eleva-Strum, fourth in the 800; Tumm, third in the 200; E-S's 1600-meter relay team, second, Fall Creek third and Augusta fourth in the same event; senior Mike Smith, fourth in the shot put; Eleva-Strum junior Jaxon Rindal, first in the discus with a throw of 138 feet even; Tumm, third in the long jump and first in the triple jump at 42-3; junior Russell Hulett, third in the long jump.
Tri-County Area boys athletes scoring points in the regional meet (5-8) per event were as follows: junior Maddox Abramanczak of Osseo-Fairchild, sixth in the long jump; Hulett, sixth in the triple jump; junior Ian Jacobson, eighth in the pole vault; Smith, fifth in the discus; junior Brennan Steinke, eighth in the discus; Steinke, fifth in the high jump; junior Trevor Whittlinger, Fall Creek, sixth in the shot put; senior Matt Hoff, Augusta, seventh in the shot put; senior Joel Stump or Fall Creek, seventh in the 3200; Eleva-Strum junior Axel Young, eighth in the 300-meter IM hurdles; Osseo-Fairchild sophomore Brett Knuth, fifth in the 400; Eleva-Strum, sixth in the 400 and 800 relays; Augusta freshman Zale Pettis and senior teammate Preston Schafer, 7-8 in the 1600; sophomore Bo Windjue, Eleva-Strum, fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles; Lebeis and sophomore FC teammate Drake Nesbit, 6-7 in 100 and Fall Creek, fifth in the 3200 relay.
The 129th WIAA State Track and Field Meet, the oldest such high school meet in the country, is this Friday and Saturday June 6-7 at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Competition begins both days at 9:30 a.m. The ticket price for the State Track & Field Championships is $11 per session plus online fees. Tickets are available to be purchased online on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#4269717-track-and-field. Those looking to attend live need to give themselves extra time due to road construction in the area. Parking is available in general public lots surrounding the stadium on event days. Cost of parking is $10 per day. To order parking online, access the link on the boys or girls track and field pages on the website or go to the UW-La Crosse website: www.uwlax.edu/wiaa/spectators/parking/.
The live stream of the State Meet will be produced by Rush Media on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log-on to www.wiaa.tv and click on the subscription image on the home page. Qualifiers and qualifying performance lists, along with meet schedule, heats and lane assignments are available on the WIAA website by navigating to the boys or girls track & field tournament page at: www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Spring/Boys-Track-Field/Tournament or www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Spring/Girls-Track-Field/Tournament.
