By Chris Bennett
CORRESPONDENT
Occasionally, second place is a pointed reminder of how close one came to reaching a coveted goal.
On the strength of three gold medals from Erika Sesing, the Elkhorn Area High School girls track team finished second May 14 at the Southern Lakes Conference track meet at Waterford High School.
“We were excited to finish in second place as a team in the girls meet, but at the same time we were disappointed that we did not win the championship,” coach Steve Simonson said.
Badger won the meet with a team score of 135 to Elkhorn’s 117.5. Burlington finished third (110.83) and Waterford fourth (108.33). Westosha Central placed fifth (104.33), Union Grove sixth (69), Wilmot seventh (33) and Delavan-Darien eighth (14).
The Elks boys team finished seventh with 42 points. Badger won with 145.5 and Westosha finished second (137.5). Waterford came in third (124.5) and Burlington took fourth (101) Union Grove placed fifth 71), Wilmot sixth (63) and Delavan-Darien eighth (13.5).
Sesing repeated as SLC champion in the 300-meter low hurdles, and also ran on two title-winning relays.
Sesing ran with Hunter May, Olivia Horak and Rachel Anderson on the Elks’ first-place 800-meter relay and with Emma Glogovsky, Anne Blackbourn and Bethany Buikema on the Elks’ first-place 1,600-meter relay.
For the boys, Zach Phillips took first place in the pole vault. Steve Stuka placed second in the shot put.
The girls also tallied several second and third place finishes.
“We had so many kids that stepped-up for us and scored in events where we did not expect to score,” Simonson said.
Finishing in third place was Emma Glogovsky in the pole vault and the 400 Meter Dash, Steve Stukad in the shot put, Brittney McGuire in the 100 meter high hurdles.
Nicole Enger finished second in the discus, and the 400-meter relay team of May, Megan Leahy, Maddie Ramos and Horak also finished second, as did Haley Blum in the 100-meter high hurdles.
Glogovsky finished third in the pole vault and 400-meter dash, and Brittany McGuire placed third in the 100-meter high hurdles.
The Elks competed Monday in the WIAA Division 1 Badger Regional at Badger and compete today in the Division 1 Waterford sectional meet at Waterford.
“Regionals and sectionals are a fun, pressure-packed time of year,” Sorenson said. “You either compete at a high level or your season is over, and I know that we have a lot of kids that are not ready for their season to be over.”
