Sectional action began Thursday at home
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
To say the East Troy boys and girls track and field teams had a good outing at Monday’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 Whitewater regional meet would be a classic understatement.
Let’s go with great.
Both squads captured regional championships and returned with a slew of individual titles – and plenty of momentum heading into Thursday’s sectional meet at East Troy.
The East Troy girls finished with 145 points, ahead of Big Foot’s 127, Clinton’s 111, Shoreland Lutheran’s 79.5 and St. Joseph’s 65.5. Rounding out the team scores were Whitewater with 57, Racine Prairie with 41, Palmyra-Eagle with 29 and Racine St. Catherine’s with 14.
On the boys’ side, East Troy had 152 points, ahead of Clinton’s 117, St. Joseph’s 82, Big Foot’s 79 and Shoreland Lutheran’s 73. Whitewater was sixth with 70 points, followed by Racine Prairie with 50, St. Catherine’s with 46 and Palmyra-Eagle with seven.
“It is very exciting for the kids to bring home regional titles,” East Troy coach Reid Oldenburg said. “I knew if we went out and ran like we should, we would have a good chance at winning on both sides.
“Some of the other teams have amazing talents, and it was a lot of fun to see how our kids stacked up against them. I was really pleased with everyone’s effort, and we had some really great times on both sides.”
The East Troy boys brought home six regional titles, while the girls had four first-place efforts.
Winning titles on the boys’ side were freshman Tommy Larson in the pole vault (11-0); senior Billy Dominski in the 110-hurdles (14.71); senior Evan Harding in the 1,600 (4:34.27); the 800-meter relay team of Dominski, sophomore Miles McCarthy, junior Allen Olson and senior Dawson Kruse (1:31.49); the 1,600-relay team of Harding, junior Ethan Sweet, junior Eli Leising and senior Nathan Mack (3:28.92); and Harding in the 800 (1:59.88).
Larson’s effort in the pole vault stood out, Oldenburg said, as he surpassed his previous best by nine inches.
“He beat a kid who was seeded much higher than him, but Tommy’s consistency at the lower heights helped him earn a regional championship,” Oldenburg said.
Winning titles for the girls were senior Tori Miller in the 100-hurdles (15.91); sophomore Rachel Bottum in the 400 (59.48); senior Michaela Evans in the pole vault (9-0); and freshman Ella Rondeau in the 1,600 (5:24.54).
Other sectional qualifiers
Joining the regional champions as sectional qualifiers with top-four overall efforts on the boys’ side were sophomore Nate Fox, second in the 1,600 (4:34.68) and the 3,200 (10:31.23); Dominski, second in the 300-hurdles (39.68); Leising, third in the 300-hurdles (41.28); McCarthy, third in the 200 (23.37) and the long jump (20-6); Olson, third in the triple jump (42-6); sophomore Jake Smith, third in the 3,200 (10:31.26); the 400-relay team of McCarthy, Kruse, Mack and Olson, fourth (45.52); Sweet, fourth in the 400 (52.41); and Kruse, fourth in the high jump (5-8).
Also qualifying from the girls’ squad were senior Hope Schneider, second in the high jump (5-2); the 3,200-relay team of Rondeau, sophomore Morgan Bartlett, Bottum and freshman Christina Nolting, second (9:39.37); the 800-relay team of Schneider, sophomore Taylor Schmitt, Miller and senior Callie Vogel, second (1:52.37); senior Maddie Rosin, second in the 3,200 (12:20.03); the 1,600-relay team of Nolting, Schneider, Bartlett and Bottum, second (4:05.94); Vogel, second in the triple jump (33-8 ¾); Nolting, second in the 800 (2:25.13); senior Heather Vivian, third in the high jump (5-2); the 400-relay team of sophomore Sami Mudlaff, junior Hannah Avendano, Evans and senior Megan Francois, third (57.97); Miller, third in the 300-hurdles (50.23); freshman Alexis Olson, fourth in the 400 (1:07.75); and Bartlett, fourth in the 800 (2:30.02).
Oldenburg said, while the competition certainly will pick up for the sectional, now isn’t the time to change a thing.
“The only thing we can expect from our kids is that they go out and run as hard as possible,” he said. “They have worked really hard up until this point, and now it is time to leave everything on that track.
“All we ask is that they go out and put forth their best every event that they are in. If they do that, many will see success and will hopefully be awarded with a trip to the state meet.”
The top-four finishers in each event Thursday will earn automatic berths in next weekend’s state meet at UW-La Crosse. Extra qualifiers will be added following each of the sectional meets.
