Victory marks Big Foot track team’s first state title since 1999
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Heading into last week’s WIAA Division 2 State Track and Field Meet, the Big Foot girls’ 3,200-meter relay team looked like a legitimate championship contender.
Afterward, they didn’t just look the part – they were the part.
The 3,200 foursome of Gloria Esarco, Alexandria Demco, Grace Gillingham and Brooke Wellhausen dropped 15 seconds from their sectional effort to bring home the state championship in 9:34.53.
For Big Foot, it was its first state title since 1999 and the first for head coach Greg Lueck.
“I can’t say enough about the heart and determination of the girls,” Lueck said.
Esarco ran the first leg of the relay with her best-ever time, Lueck said. Demco then built a 20-meter lead for the Chiefs, which was extended even further by both Gillingham and Wellhausen.
Big Foot’s effort topped Rock Valley Conference rival Brodhead-Juda’s second-place time of 9:38.33.
That crew almost pulled off a second state title on Saturday in the 1,600-relay with a second-place effort of 3:59.17. Wittenberg-Birnamwood won the crown in 3:56.66.
“They ran just as impressive a race in the 1,600,” Lueck said. “To run under four minutes is a great accomplishment.”
Also at state last week were Brooke Wellhausen, who was seventh in the 400 preliminaries in 59.14 and finished sixth in the finals at 59.79 to pick up her third state meet medal; Esarco, 12th in the 800 (2:22.04); and on the boys’ side, Jackson Enz, who was second in the 300-hurdles (38.87).
Enz posted a time of 16.05 in the 110-hurdles preliminaries, but didn’t qualify for the finals.
The best news for Big Foot moving forward, Lueck said, is the entire state contingent returns.
“All are back next year, and knowing these athletes, they will not be satisfied with what happened this year,” he said. “They are hungry for more.”
