Track,

from p. 14

Senior Connor Genteman took eighth place in the boys 800m run with a time of 1:58.50. This was a significant improvement from last year when he took 15th at state in that same event.

Connor Genteman shied away from the mile and decided to focus on the 800 this year. Over the course of the season, he set the school record in the 800, beating his brother, who held the previous record, which he enjoyed. He was ranked 11th in the state heading into Saturday’s competition.

“It was very competitive. All 10 runners above broke the two-minute mark sometime this year. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that. I don’t think that’s happened before for D3… I thought he might end up with a 1:58.50 and that’s where he ended up. He PR’d by 1.5 seconds and everybody else PR’d too.

“It’s definitely a milestone getting below two minutes. Then you start getting into the conversation of, ‘That’s a pretty good 800 runner.’” Connor Genteman plans to attend UWEau Claire next year and will try for both the track and cross country teams. Jim Genteman said it will be a positive for Connor to have teammates running close to the same time as him or even a little faster, as they can motivate each other, versus Connor leading the pack as he did for a lot of races this season.

The girls 4x100m relay team took ninth place, with a time of 51.67 seconds. The team consisted of Tellock, Wolf, junior Noelle Teschner and sophomore Summer Smith, with juniors Hope Peroshek and Molly Zvolena as alternates. Tellock and Wolf were returners from the 4x100m team that placed second at state last year.

Jim Genteman said once again, it was a highly competitive field.

“Of the 16 teams at state, 13 of them were within a half of a second. All it takes is a little bit here and there to lose that. And of the other 12, not all of them are going to have a bad race. But, the girls got to the

finals, which was a goal of theirs. They were happy about that.”

He also emphasized that it was truly a six-person team, even though only four can take to the track.

“The six girls all deserve credit. They all competed this season and all did great. The two alternates could easily have run at state. (Assistant coach) Kyle Damask did a great job with all the relays, as well as the sprinters.”

Bryce Deegan, a sophomore, competed in the 400m dash, taking 13th in the preliminary round at 53.35, so he did not qualify for finals.

“He got sick right before the race, so that had a bearing on it,” said Jim Genteman. “But he had a good year.”

“Bryce is probably one of the greatest athletes in central Wisconsin. Pretty much any sport he can do. He spends a lot of time on basketball and his ankles get injured, sometimes his knee,” said Jim Genteman. “It’d be nice to have him the whole season without basketball, but we will take him whenever we can.”

Despite injuries and Deegan also training for basketball, he was still able to achieve a personal record at sectionals and win the conference meet in the 400.

“He really came on strong at the end of the year. I’m looking forward to two more years with him,” said Jim Genteman.

Overall, the coach said his athletes should be happy with what they achieved, especially considering how many talented athletes were stacked against them in every event.

“I’m pretty proud of all of them. I think they all did great and I can’t say enough about them.”

Jim Genteman also extended his appreciation to his co-coaches – Damask, Matt Kubista and Seth Schilling, and Rebekah Smith, and Kristin Ikert at the middle school level – and the community as a whole.

“It also takes good parents, good administration and a good following from the student body to make this happen,” he said.