This story is sponsored by: Sternweis & Sons
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
The hundreds of athletes from across the state descending on Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this weekend for the 2024 WIAA State Track & Field Championships have varying degrees of goals.
Some are looking for personal or school records, some are shooting for a top-six finish in their events which results in a trip to the awards podium and a state medal, while others are determined to win a state title. All are fulfilling a dream to finish the season on the biggest stage.
Dozens of athletes from Central Wisconsin will be part of the competition, which begins Friday morning and wraps up early Saturday evening.
Freshman Brianna Sherden leads a huge group of athletes from Stratford that look to bring home some hardware.
Sherden is seeded fifth in the Division 3 girls 100 meters, 12th in the 200 meters and seventh in the long jump as she has burst on the scene with two sectional titles.
“She has been competing at a high level for years in middle school,” Stratford coach Nate Heeg said. “Her preparation and strong work ethic this season have been great, along with good teammate support from upper classmen to help her through the change to the high school level.”
Stratford also has big hopes on the boys side as all four relay teams qualified for state as well as four individuals in five events. After winning the sectional title, a run at the D-3 state championship is not out of the question.
Senior Koehler Kilty comes in as the top seed in the boys shot put, and will be joined by teammates Coltan Breit (long jump), Brandon Knetter (triple jump) and Jett Schoenherr (100 and 200) in individual events.
“We have a strong group of competitors overall,” Heeg said. “On the guys side, all four relays making it, with a number of individual qualifiers as well. They are going after bigger goals at state as a team with 19 total qualifiers.”
Marshfield has a group of four athletes eyeing state medals in five Division 1 events.
Junior Devyn LeMoine has battled back from an injury to earn a spot in her first state meet for the Tigers after a personal-best pole vault of 10 feet, 3 inches, at last week’s sectional.
“I attribute this season’s successes to my consistency and hard work that is not seen,” LeMoine said. “Losing my freshman season to a back injury, coming back this year I knew I had a lot of catching up to do and state was my overall goal. I just kept raising the bar for myself.
“Making it to state has been a dream since I first discovered pole vault in fifth grade, so I’m excited to take full advantage of the opportunity.”
She will be joined by Marshfield teammates Olivia Page (200), Emma Ridgway (high jump) and Ethan Knecht (discus, shot put).
“They each know how to strive for their goals with a positive mindset and they follow that up with a great work ethic and attention to detail in their area of specialty,” Marshfield girls coach Ali Luedtke said. “We know they will give everything they have to perform and compete at state.”
Page is making her third state appearance and second in the 200, which she also qualified in as a freshman. She was part of the Tigers’ 800 relay team that competed at state last year.
Ridgway set school indoor and outdoor records in the high jump this season.
“Emma’s focus and determination this season was phenomenal,” Luedtke said. “She took every opportunity at practice to lead her team with positivity and poise. She was very disciplined and loyal to Coach (Dan) Akin and his workout plan for high jump.”
Knecht said his offseason work and focus were key in his highly-successful junior season that will end in La Crosse.
“I would give most of (the credit for) my season’s improvements to the support of my father and mother,” Knecht said. “Then I would like to add on my head coach and my throwing coach for always supporting and believing in me. Finally, I would really like to shoutout the Throw Big Throw Far program over last summer with the coaches from D.C. Everest and Coach Frontier. I would go out to our track every week and throw two or three times a week.”
Knecht expects to make some noise this weekend.
“My expectations for state are to break out school record in the discus and try to place in the top six and get on the podium,” he said. “I am feeling thankful and grateful that all the hard work that I put in during the offseason and in-season are starting to pay off.”
Columbus Catholic junior Isaac Scheer (1,600 and 3,200), and the boys 3,200 relay team, along with Auburndale’s Logan Nagel (discus), Trevor Trowbridge (300 hurdles), Rose Hasenohrl (300 hurdles) and the girls 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams will also be among the Division 3 competitors.
The state meet kicks off Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. with Division 1 action. The Division 2 and 3 teams will start at 3 p.m. Competition begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday as all three divisions compete simultaneously. Click here for a complete schedule of events