get into second place and ….
get into second place and finished the first lap in 1:06.56, just behind Freedom’s Claire Helmila (1:06.49).
“At the 100, where we could cut in, I expected Rachel (Ulrich of Osceola) and Nora to be up there because they were supposed to be, but they got boxed in,” Richter said. “I was like, ‘this doesn’t happen.’ So I just kind of bumped myself up and was thinking you can stay here. I felt good.”
Gremban was also moving up by the midway point and hit it in third place at 1:06.75. With 200 meters to go, it was Gremban, the two-time defending state champion in the event, and Richter out in front with Richter holding the inside position.
“Nora and I fought a little bit at that last corner,” Richter said. “I was like, ‘I got this, I got this, I’m kicking.’ I just kind of pulled ahead.”
Ulrich wound up finishing second at 2:15.64 and Helmila took third in 2:16.24. Gremban surprisingly faded to sixth at 2:18.16 behind Riemer (2:16.89) and Sophie Yetter of Winneconne (2:17.31) and she withdrew from the 3,200-meter run on Saturday. Gremban handily won the 1,600-meter championship Friday morning in 4:53.3, beating Mikaela Helling of Two Rivers by 4.12 seconds.
With both Gremban and Richter being juniors, there should be more good races ahead in Great Northern Conference and post-season competition next year.
“At regionals I beat her and it was the first time,” Richter said. “I felt like that’s not my place, I’m sorry, that’s where you’re supposed to be. We’re really good friends. She’s super sweet and understanding. I know she’s happy for me. I’m really happy for her. But when we got down to that last corner, we were like, this is a race, we were hitting each other, but it’s all fun and games because we’re really close.”
Richter finished her state competition on Saturday afternoon with a 10th-place finish in the 3,200-meter run. In the midafternoon heat of a 91-degree day, times were slower for several runners than their qualifying times from their May 25 sectionals, but not for those at the top. Richter finished in 11:50.17. Helling won it in 10:59.57, while Appleton Xavier’s Lilie Fouts took second in 11:07.31, cutting nearly eight seconds from her sectional time, and Barron’s Fran Peterson was third in 11:09.11, cutting almost 15 seconds from her sectional time. Also earning medals were fourth-place finisher Faith Wehrman of New Berlin Eisenhower (11:15.46), fifth-place finisher Sophie Yetter of Winneconne (11:21.53), who was almost 18 seconds faster than she was at her sectional, and Bella Grenier from the University School of Milwaukee (11:26.36).
Richter’s 800-meter win gave Medford 10 points in the team competition, good for a 23rd-place tie with Arcadia and GNC rival Antigo, who got a long jump championship from MacKenzie Wissbroecker (18 feet, 4.5 inches).
“(Hard work) really does pay off,” Richter said of her 800 title. “I didn’t expect it to pay off this well. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than this. At sixth place, I would’ve been the happiest girl in the world, but this is crazy. I don’t even know what to think right now. I’m still processing it.”
