Several Tri-County area athletes qualify for state track meet

BOSCOBEL - And all of it was done without a track this spring.

Augusta High School Track and Field Head Coach Zach Lee is happy to point out who much the Beavers accomplished this season while their track and football facilities are undergoing repairs and renovations. Augusta was the only Tri-County area program to have sectional champions crowned at last week Thursday, June 17th WIAA Division 3 Boscobel Sectional Track and Field Meet.

Sophomore Ben Dickinsen won the 400-meter dash in :50.55 seconds and junior Bailey Peterson took first in the 3200-meter run with a school record time of 11:39.53.

"That was with a lot of parking lot practices and work outs," Lee said "You take that fact and what's gone on here today with a rain delay, the heat, the long day, the hours it took to get down here, and for us to come away with champion and place winners shows how focus the kids were, how positive they were in difficult situation how tough they are to get through it and how much hard work they put into this season."

The rain delay lasted an hour early in the meet and Dickinsen credits some music in keeping his focus while waiting for his event.

"We just stayed in the shade, got in the van during the delay and I listened to music to stay focused while waiting," Dickinsen said. "I was pretty sure in comparing times I would do well here if I ran well and that's what i concentrated on."

Peterson credits positive reinforcement for helping her get through the long as the gun for her event didn't go off until the 9 p.m. hour, a long day of waiting starting with the morning three-plus hour drive from Augusta to Boscobel.

"There was a lot of praise and encouragement for me from my teammates and coaches," Bailey said, as she ran with her sister Ava in the event. "We're really close we stayed together during the meet in the shade, the van and cheering as a team in the events."

Augusta packed scoring punch for the few athletes they had at sectionals. At one point in the meet they were in the top four in the boys standings before falling back to 14th out of 36 school scoring points as the other events came in. Besides Dickinsen's 10 points they also received points from junior Kyle Shult, seventh in the 1600-meter run (he finished 10th in the two-mile), and pair of places in the hurdles from sophomore Levi White, 5th in the 110-meter high hurdles and 7th in the 300-meter IM hurdles. Sophomore Ava Peterson placed 13th in the 3200-meter run as did senior Daisia Wheeler in the shot put.

Speaking of the team standings Fall Creek's squad was fourth in boys in sixth in girls (Sectional champion teams were La Crosse Aquinas in boys and Royall in girls by a single point over Lancaster, which finished runner-up in both team standings). The Crickets will take both their 3200-meter relay teams to state this Thursday, June 24 in La Crosse as they both finish second (top four qualify for the state meet). Also qualifying for state were sophomore Jenna Anders in the 800-meter run, second; Andrew Anderson and Soren Johnson in the discus, second and fourth and Johnson in the shot put, third. Also scoring points for FC in the meet on the girls' side were sophomore Samantha Bann in the 200-meter dash, seventh; freshman Emallie Sorenson in the 400-meter dash, eighth; sophomore Megan Johnston in the 300-meter low hurdles, fifth; girls 400-meter relay, seventh; 1600-meter relay, also seventh; sophomore Kylie VanDong in the pole vault, seventh; VanDong plus fellow sophomore JaneyAnne Grossinger in the discus, seventh and sixth respectively. Scoring points for the FCHS boys were junior Kael Sanfelippo, seventh in the 400-meter dash; senior Caleb VanDong, eighth in the 110-meter high hurdles; 1600-meter relay, seventh; Soren Johnson, eighth in the high jump; sophomore Leo Hagberg, sixth in the triple jump; senior Riley Wathke, eighth in the discus and Anderson sixth in the shot put.

The Crickets again scored the bulk of their points in the throwing events, 23 points out of 40 for the boys.

"They really coach each other," FC assistant coach Mark Grossinger said. "They work together as team and give each other tips and pointers on better form, position and distance because of their experience,. They're a very close unit."

Also competing in the sectional meet for Fall Creek were sophomore McKenna Klawitter, 11th in the 200; Bann in the high jump, 13th; freshman Evelyn Bergeron in the high jump, 16th; junior Katie Kent in the long jump, 11th; senior Isaiah Kaufman in the 200, 12th; junior Eric Steinke in the 800, 14th; sophomore Eli Laube, 13th in the high jump;

Another thrower going to state from the Tri-County area is Eleva-Strum senior Mitch Olson as he placed fourth in the shot put, all the way from being seeded in the first flight of competitors. he also finished 13th in the discus. The Cardinals also got points from junior Wyatt Milan, eighth in the 100-meter dash and their 400-meter relay team which also finished eighth. Central's Jaden Baucth placed eighth in the 100 as well in the girls' meet. Competing in the sectional meet for E-S as well were freshman Annika Skoug in the 200-meter dash, 12th; freshman Kassidy Koxlien in the long jump, 15th; junior Madison Schultz in the triple jump, ninth; Batuch in the shot put, 14th, junior Laney Windjue in the discus, ninth; junior Charlie Dyar in the 200-meter dash, 11th; and the 1600-meter relay team 13th.

Osseo-Fairchild junior Mariah Steinke placed 15th in the shot put and the Thunder's 800-meter relay team finished 16th.

https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Results/Track/2021/boscobelsectiona...