By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – For two athletes, it’s about redemption. For another, it’s a chance to break a school record. For two relay teams, it’s maybe a surprise they are even there.
When the group of Marshfield athletes descends on the track at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday for the WIAA State Track and Field Championships, each will have their own motivation to perform well on the biggest stage.
Senior Ellen Stichert will take part in three events for the Tigers – the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles and as part of the 1,600-meter relay team, along with junior Alexa Fritsch, sophomore Amanda Cousins and senior Kelsey Weigel.
Other state qualifiers for Marshfield include Bisola Omoba in the 100 meters, Jeremy Robinson in the 200 meters and the 400-meter boys relay team of Robinson, Logan Schmitz, Dan Stanley and Riley Gebelen.
Stichert missed qualifying for state by just one spot in the 300 hurdles and the 800 relay last year, making this run to the state meet during her senior season all the more important to her.
“It was my last chance and I just laid it all out on the track – didn’t hold anything back,” Stichert said. “My goal was to make it and just run. Now I’ve got my eyes set on the prize.”
The 1,600 relay team making it to state is somewhat of a surprise to its members. The team was seeded sixth at sectionals but finished third, and is seeded last among the 24 teams in the event at the state meet.
Weigel said there was some extra motivation for the team to surpass expectations, and it worked.
“We made this bet that if we made it to state, we’d shave our heads, just because it was kind of out there,” Weigel said. “When we ended up making it, we decided that we probably wouldn’t be shaving our heads. We pushed ourselves at that last race to try to make it.
Weigel added that three of the girls not running in other events at the sectional, like they would do during a normal meet, helped in their performance.
“We had fresh legs. Alexa and Amanda hadn’t run anything all day, I did the long jump and discus, so I hadn’t run anything all day, so we had a good mix,” Weigel said. “Ellen, she was just a beast that night.”
Robinson, a sophomore, is another with extra motivitation.
Robinson, who was rolling through meets all season long in the triple jump, didn’t qualify after fouling on all three of his attempts at the sectional meet.
Robinson, who did not medal in the long jump at last year’s state meet, qualified in the 200 meters and is seeded in the top 10 of the 24-person field.
“The meet before sectionals I ran 23 (seconds) something, then 22.3 at sectionals, so I got a lot faster,” Robinson said. “Maybe I’ll run faster with the competition at state.
“I’ve been improving every meet. I not really sure what my peak would be, but I’m doing good.”
The boys 400 relay team is seeded 21st out of the 24 teams after running in 43.83 seconds at sectionals.
“I think we’re progressing,” Robinson said. “I’m not exactly sure how we’ll do, but I’m confident.”
Omoba had an odd season, running her best races in her first and last outdoor meet.
Omoba won the 100 at the Wausau West regional with a time of 13.44, then bettered that by nearly a second, finishing second with a time of 12.59, just 0.04 of a second off the school record of 12.55 that she said she wants to break at La Crosse.
“The first outdoor meet we had at D.C. Everest and I ran a 12.71, but after that I was never in the 12s, so I thought it was a one-hit wonder,” Omoba said. “Obviously, I was wrong because at sectionals I was even faster.
“We had a slow regional. Sectionals, I had lots of faster girls with me and I really felt it.”
