WIAA DIV. 3 TRACK & FIELD: RIB LAKE - 4×800 relay, Rademacher win titles; five entries statebound

Rib Lake’s boys 3,200-meter relay team backed up its top seeding by winning its race, Maddie Rademacher pulled off a surprise by winning the girls high jump while Jed Henderson, Kaleb Scott and Emma Tlusty also punched individual tickets to state with top-four finishes at Friday’s WIAA Division 3 Colby track and field sectional.

Rademacher, a sophomore, came into the sectional as a high jump contender as her regional height of 4 feet, 10 inches only put her 2 inches behind the sectional’s top seeds. But she did more than contend, going 3 inches above her personal record of 5 feet to not only win the competition but also secure the second seed at the state meet.

She’ll be joined by Henderson, who is a boys high jump qualifier for the second straight year. The junior topped out at 6-2 on Friday to place second in the event.

Scott is making his first state track appearance after a third-place finish in the sectional, which was earned with his first sub-two minute time. Tlusty finished third in the girls 100-meter high hurdles capping a season of big improvements.

The relay team won its race by 2.77 seconds over Phillips and earned a spot in the fast heat at state with its 10th seed.

WIAA state competition at UW-La Crosse starts at 9:30 a.m. Friday with Division 2/3 day one session. Henderson and the Division 3 boys high jumpers will take the stage right away at 9:30 a.m. Tlusty will compete in the preliminary round of the hurdles Friday morning trying to earn a spot in Saturday’s final and Scott will run Friday afternoon in the 800-meter final.

Saturday’s session starts at 10 a.m., with the exception of Division 3 boys discus, which starts at 9:30 a.m. The Division 3 boys 3,200-meter relay will start the day on the track. The Division 3 girls high jump also starts right away at 10 a.m. Saturday.

High jumpers

The girls high jump competition at Friday’s meet took an odd turn midway through when Rademacher, Addysen Wolf of Loyal and Addison Vick all thought they had cleared 5 feet and were the last three standing in the competition. They were the top three left, but it was determined the height for that round was mistakenly set at 5-1. For those jumpers below them, there was a re-do round at 5 feet and jump-offs at 4-10 before the fourth-place finisher, Andrea Erickson of Unity, was finally determined.

The top three, however, could just concentrate on seeing how high they could go. For Rademacher, 5-1 already became her personal-best and she took off from there, an inch at a time.

“It was just really shocking,” Rademacher said as Rib Lake’s statebound athletes wrapped up a Monday morning practice in Medford. “I was super happy with that and if I didn’t get higher than that I wasn’t going to be upset because I had already passed what I wanted to hit.”

But, without question, getting over the 5-foot barrier gave her a jolt.

“It just gives you a really big rush of adrenaline,” she said.

While Vick didn’t get beyond 5-1, Wolf and Rademacher did. Wolf did not clear 52, Rademacher did to claim the sectional title. Next on the list was Pam Haider’s long-standing school record of 5-4. Rademacher didn’t get that but that becomes one of the next goals this Saturday.

“(The sectional title) was really, really shocking because I wasn’t expecting it,” Rademacher said. “But now that I know what I can do, it gives me a lot more confidence.”

In her freshman season, Rademacher got as high as 4-10. This year it took her awhile to get back to that. She hit it at the end of April. She finally got to 5 feet in back-to-back meets at Pittsville and Phillips on May 5 and 8, but 4-10 became the norm again until Friday.

“I definitely exceeded my expectations,” she said. “The year didn’t quite start how I wanted it to, but by now it’s definitely way past what I wanted it to be.”

The Division 3 high jump competition at La Crosse figures to be tight. Newman Catholic’s Evie Bates is the favorite, coming with a sectional height of 5-5, but after that, the next eight seeds come in with sectional marks between 5-3 and 5-1. Rademacher is seeded second at 5-3, followed by five jumpers at 5-2.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I’m a little bit nervous but not super nervous because I’ve already made it this far. I’m not too worried about (the seeding) because even if I don’t place I think I’ll still be happy. At least I get to experience it.”

Henderson got the state experience last year, but it wasn’t a good one as he noheighted. Obviously he’s thrilled to be back and all signs point to this year’s experience being a much better one.

“The weather didn’t cooperate last year, but no-heighting was definitely not what I was hoping for,” Henderson said. “With state it’s a whole new mindset. I feel like in most of my meets my goal is to not lose. I’m usually seeded pretty high compared to other guys. This year I see I’m seeded kind of in the middle of the pack. I can just go out and do what I do. I think there’s four jumpers from the Marawood Conference who I’ve been jumping with, super great guys who are fun to hang out with. It should be a really fun environment.”

Unlike last year when the high jump competition went right down to the wire for Henderson, his only real sectional drama was waiting out a rain delay. His height of 6-2 trailed Ladysmith’s Ashton Clark by 3 inches, but as one of the last two jumpers after Ladysmith’s Elias Mikunda and Abbotsford’s Chase Boller bowed out at 6 feet, there was no pressure on his final jumps and he said he very nearly hit 6-4 on one of his last jumps.

“I was pretty confident I could do it,” Henderson said. “I just didn’t want to mess anything up, overthink it or anything, just take it one step at a time. It’s definitely exciting to get back. This year I get to go down with a bunch of teammates. It’s a really great team. It should be a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Henderson felt he had some ups and downs early in the year but has gotten locked in since the calendar turned to May. He hit a personal-best of 6-3 at the May 19 Marawood Conference meet and is hoping to hit something similar on Friday.

“Definitely toward the second half of the season I felt like I started putting some things together,” he said. “I kinda got out of the basketball mindset a little bit. I’d say I’m pretty happy with the year. There’s always a bunch of stuff to improve on. A PR at state would be nice.”

Henderson is among four state jumpers with sectional heights of 6-2. Clark, Adam Boisen of Kickapoo-LaFarge and Jack Schmeling of Onalaska Luther are the favorites with sectional heights of 6-5.

Distance success

Without question, the most depth in Rib Lake’s program is in the boys distance events. The Redmen may not have quite gotten as many of those entries through to state as they would’ve liked, but they like their chances of a state medal with their 3,200-meter relay team.

On Friday, the combination of Jack Regier, Truman Smith, Seamus Highfill and Scott won the race in the best time a Rib Lake team has put up this year, 8:21.85. Phillips (8:24.62), Owen-Withee (8:29.97) and Unity (8:32.45) got the rest of the state spots.

Like cross country in the fall, competition within the team made everyone better as the Redmen’s distance runners worked to find their place in the post-season lineup.

“Throughout the year I think we put together four different 4x8 teams,” Scott said. “Then just watching every single week, it’s been up and down, up and down. I think the squad we settled on is very, very good. It’s been fun. There’s been some very good team bonding because one of us would be in a 4x8, then another would be in the open 800 and we’d always be saying, ‘if you want that spot you gotta go.’ It’s been fun.”

The lineup is going to change again on Saturday. Smith is not going to attend due to a prior family commitment. In steps sophomore Henry Regier, who has been biding his time this spring while recovering from a back injury. But after a standout cross country season in the fall, he’s anxious to see how he can help out on the big stage.

“It’s been super fun to watch the guys, especially when they’re doing so well,” he said. “I’ve just been kind of focusing on my recovery, waiting and kind of hoping for an opportunity. Now I have an opportunity. I’m thankful for Truman for giving this to me. I’m just excited to go out there and give it everything I’ve got. I’m a little iffy on how well I’ll do, what times I’ll run. I think (the adrenaline) will kick in. It’s going to be great.”

Going into the sectional as the top seed, Scott said Rib Lake took nothing for granted.

“I told people anything happens at sectionals,” he said. “Most of those teams were in the race until the last two laps. They were there. Everybody was trading spots the entire time and it truly just came down to who had the better fitness and that day we had it.”

Jack Regier is the group’s lone senior. He didn’t have his best day at the sectional in the 3,200-meter run, finishing ninth in 10:44.98, well off his personal best. But now he’s going to state with a single focus.

“It’s my last race so I’m just looking to really just leave everything out there and run really fast,” Regier said. “It is really exciting.”

Highfill, a sophomore, said it was hard to judge his leg in the sectional race as he doesn’t feel like he’s hit his stride yet. But he thinks he’s close.

“I don’t really know. I felt all right, but I’ve been sick for awhile so it’s been tough and having injuries throughout the season,” Highfill said. “So it’s been tough to get back and do better. It should be pretty good on Saturday.”

Senior Connor Highfill is the team’s remaining alternate with Smith gone. He’s cut his times dramatically this season and finished with an 11th-place time of 5:11.81 in Friday’s 1,600-meter run, one spot behind Smith (5:08.34).

“I’m pretty happy with how (the year) went,” Highfill said. “I’ve had these guys here to push me this whole time. I feel like I did what I came here to do. I met the goals I set for myself. It’s been a great senior year.

“(Friday) was all right,” he added. “There were a lot of good runners. The top 11 were seeded sub-five, so it was nice getting to see how they run. I started out kind of aggressively and I got up there with some of those guys and I was like, ‘maybe I shouldn’t stay up here for too long.’” Seeded 10th, Rib Lake joins three other Marawood teams in Saturday’s fast heat. Marathon (8:06.7) and Stratford (8:08.07) are the top two seeds and Edgar (8:20.09) is eighth. Phillips leads the first heat as the 11th seed.

“Four of the top 10 teams are Marawood Conference so one of my goals is just to compete with them, rather than competing for a spot,” Scott said. “Just looking at some of the times, the Marawood Conference teams are some of the only teams that have progressively gotten faster over the year.”

In the 800-meter run Friday, Scott posted a time of 1:59.59 to get third and his spot at state. He was 2.01 seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher Bryant Motzer of Chetek-Weyerhaeuser. Jake Taggert of Solon Springs won it at 1:57.96. Scott credited Colton Paczkowski of Owen-Withee, who was second at 1:58.82, with being the key to his success.

“That race didn’t go as planned,” Scott said. “I got boxed in during the first lap and then the kids who boxed me in let the leader get away. So then it was like, ‘you guys, we just lost our free pacer.’ So then it was up to us to go under two (minutes).

“Colton from Owen-Withee really helped. I think he was in the back, but he kicked at 400 and he brought me along. Now I know what it feels like. At the end of the race, me and Colton were like I wish we could’ve done that a month ago. We haven’t had a kid sub-two to race with. It’s been us by ourselves. Now we have a taste of it. Both of us can go way faster at state.”

Scott is seeded 11th and missed Friday’s fast heat by 0.16 seconds. But he’s OK with that.

“I think there’s a high chance I still compete for podium spot even from the slow heat, because it’s not a slow heat,” Scott said. “It’s still fast. All of those kids are still flying. I’m hoping to go really fast in the open 800 so by the 4x8 I can say, ‘I know I can do this, let’s see if I can go faster.’ I told people all I need is a sub-two kid to race with. I got the sub-two kid to race with and I got a sub-two, so let’s do it again.”

“He has been saying that all year,” Jack Regier verified.

Hurdling to state

After a strong sophomore season in both the 100-meter high and 300-meter low hurdles, Tlusty came into her junior year with state as a goal. She achieved that Friday in the highs with a personal-best time of 16.52 seconds that was good for third place in the final.

“I’m just pretty glad I made it,” Tlusty said. “That was my goal at the beginning of the season, to make it state. I knew I could. I broke 17 (seconds) finally, which was pretty exciting.”

Cadott’s Iszy Sonnentag was the heavy favorite coming into the meet and she backed that up with a preliminary time of 15.01 seconds and an even faster time of 14.71 seconds in the final. McDonell Central’s Elyse Bushman was a solid second in both races, posting a time of 15.26 seconds in the final.

Tlusty had the third-best preliminary time at 16.84 seconds. She said she felt comfortable and focused in both races.

“I definitely just go all-out (in the prelims),” she said. “The adrenaline comes to me and I just go. A lot of it is just adrenaline that makes me go.

“I just need to run because if I focus on going over a hurdle, I don’t do well. I just take a breath and just run. I usually know what’s around me. I can tell if I’m going to place third or I’m going to place fourth. That helps push me knowing that I can see people around me and focusing on running at the same time.”

Tlusty said when she crossed the finish line in Friday’s final, she knew she had qualified.

“I looked at my time and I was like, ‘let’s go!’” she said. “I was really excited. I’ve never accomplished anything that big, expect for basketball. It’s pretty cool.”

Not that she’s looking ahead yet to next year, but Tlusty feels she has the potential to eventually cut her time even more once she perfects a three-step approach. She worked on that some this spring, but scrapped it before the post-season.

“Three-stepping will probably help me get into the 15s,” she said. “When it came closer to regionals and sectionals and we decided not to. Four-stepping is what I’ve been working on all year. That and working on just getting out of my head and just running. It was a really good, really fun year.”

As the 14th seed at state, Tlusty’s expectations of making the podium or even making the finals are realistic. Her goal is to challenge the school record of 16.2 seconds.

“My main goal is to just PR and break the school record,” she said. “It’s my first time ever being there. I’m excited.”

Tlusty also competed in Friday’s 300meter race, where she placed eighth at 51.65 seconds. New Auburn’s Elise Branville got the last state spot at 46.67 seconds.

“It wasn’t my best run, but it didn’t help that I was kinda just running against myself,” Tlusty said. “It was good for me. I improved a lot over the season. I was running 57s, then I ran a 50 in conference. Hopefully next year I’ll make it to state in the 300.”

Other sectional results

Seamus Highfill also ran in the 800meter event for Rib Lake and placed 13th in 2:09.55, a little off the 2:07.18 he ran at the regional meet in Phillips. Jackson Schutt joined Jack Regier in the 3,200meter run. He placed 13th in 11:26.21.

Gavin Zondlo’s first sectional appearance resulted in a 14th-place finish in the boys 110-meter high hurdles. His time was 19.17 seconds, two-tenths off his regional time. Riley Johnson was 14th in the boys triple jump competition. His best jump went 31-6.75.

Seamus Highfill, Smith, Connor Highfill and Scott finished 12th in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:48.67, which wasn’t quite as fast as the group’s regional time of 3:46.39. Owen-Withee (3:29.68), Glenwood City (3:32.14), Chetek-Weyerhaeuser (3:32.77) and Grantsburg (3:33.08) had the top four times.

Rib Lake finished ninth in the boys team standings with 24 points. Ladysmith won the championship plaque with 78 points, while Owen-Withee was the runner-up with 59. The girls scored 17 points to tie for 20th. Cadott edged Phillips 54-50 to earn the team title.