Elkhorn’s Davey and Mair compete at state meet
By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
A lot of high school track and field athletes in Wisconsin are envious of Derek Davey and Taylor Mair.
The two members of the Elkhorn Area High School track and field program ended their season – and for Mair, her career – against the best of the state’s best.
Davey and Mair competed June 3 and 4 in the WIAA Division 1 State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of UW-La Crosse.
Davey finished 19th in the 800-meter run in 1:59.54 and Mair finished 22nd in the 3,200-meter run in 12:15.87.
“I think both Taylor and Derek accomplished some important personal goals by having the experience of running at the state track meet,” Elks coach Steve Simonson said. “We were really proud of both Taylor and Derek and the manner in which they represented Elkhorn Area High School.”
Davey and Mair qualified for state May 26 in a WIAA Division 1 sectional meet at Stoughton. The top three in each event at each sectional meet advance to state.
Davey and Mair each set a school record in qualifying for state.
Davey finished second in the 800 in 1:55.32. Oregon’s Christopher Cutter won the race (1:54.99) at Stoughton.
Mair, a senior, finished third in the 3,200, and broke the previous school record by more than three seconds (11:39.15). Stoughton’s Anna Wozniak finished second (11:38.26) and Kenosha Indian Trail’s Madison Taylor won the 3,200 (11:35.18) at Stoughton.
Both Davey and Mair ran at the state track and field meet this season for the first time in their high school careers.
At state, Davey finished slightly more than five seconds behind Franklin’s Brady Snelson. Snelson won the 800 in 1:54.59.
Eight seconds separated Snelson in first place from Beaver Dam’s Isaiah Roberts. Roberts finished 23rd in 2:02.65. The field included 24 runners – one false-started and did not finish.
“It helped him to realize the intensity that only exists when you are running at the state meet level,” Simonson said of Davey’s experience at state. “Derek is the type of athlete that belongs on that grand, state- meet stage.
Mair’s performance capped a career in which she served as a stalwart for the Elks in two sports. Mair advanced to the Division 1 state meet in cross country as a junior and senior.
“It was the culmination of 4 years of hard work, some of those years as our only distance runner, and she got to experience running with the best of the best in the state,” Simonson said of Mair’s state track & field experience. “It should be a valuable asset as she continues her running career at Edgewood College in Madison this fall.”
