The WIAA State Track and Field Championship is the oldest state high school track meet in the country. It was first held at UW-Madison's Camp Randall in 1895. It has been held at Veteran's Memorial Field Sports Complex at UW-La Crosse since 1990. This year's state track and field competition was the 129th running for the boys and 53rd for the girls (no meet held in 2020).

With 31 state records broken during the two-day event last Friday and Saturday, it was arguably one of the better state championships to date.

Ellsworth senior Maleah Petersen broke the school record in the shot put at the sectional meet in Durand the previous Thursday with a throw of 39.13 feet; however, her best event is the discus. Petersen proved it, winning the Division 2 state crown with a throw of 133 feet 11 inches. Petersen's throw was two feet further than second place finisher Kayla Landerud from McFarland.

"All the work in the weight room, on the field, in the ring, and at home has just paid off," said Petersen. "It all adds up to one throw on one day. The reason for the success was just being able to take a deep breath and have some fun."

"It's so exciting to see all the hard work an athlete gives come to fruition," said Ellsworth Head Track and Field Coach Marcia Jahnke. "Maleah has worked so hard and in such a spectacular way."

Petersen's state title was the first on the girls' side for Coach Jahnke in her 12-year tenure.

The Panthers' 4x200-meter boys' relay team of Brady Mitchell, Keegan Stahlke, Michael Holst, and Levi Nelson finished 12th in the state preliminaries on Friday. 

A Prescott boys' relay team has not won a state title since 1985. The Cardinals not only broke that drought, but they also broke a Division 2 state record in the process. Andrew Lesso, Andrew Russell, Wyatt Budworth and Ethan West won the boys' 4x100-meter relay with a time of 42 seconds, flat.

"My voice is shot," said Prescott Co-Head Coach Carl Calabrese from cheering on his Cardinals for two days.

"Everything fell into place for them this year," said Co-Head Coach Emily Calabrese. "It was just a tearjerker."

"That was our goal at the start of the year," said Lesso. "We wanted that state record and we got it."

The Cardinal anchor leg in the 4x100 relay was senior Ethan West.

"When I got that hand-off and that kid was right in front of me," said West, "I was just thinking, this kid does not want it more than me. I passed him and that's where you find your energy; you just want it more."

West needed a plethora of energy to make the state podium in three events. As soon as he finished helping his Cardinals win the state title in the 4x100 relay, West hustled back over to the pole vault area where he had to rejoin that competition still in progress.

"You give max effort for two days in a row and I just had to reset my mind for every event," said the senior headed to the UW-River Falls track team next season. "I'm usually tired after the 4x1 (100 meters), but I didn't feel a thing (on Saturday). I had more energy after that and I had to redirect my happiness (from winning the 4x100) to anger for the pole vault. Confidence is key."

West cleared 14 feet on his third and final attempt, placing fifth. A longtime tradition for the WIAA state pole vaulters making the podium (top six finishers) is to have a coordinated back flip after the award announcement.

"I've been waiting to do that since I saw it my freshman year," said West. "I was thinking at that time, I do the pole vault and I can back flip."

West also placed sixth in the 200-meter race with a time of 22.13 seconds.

"I knew it was my last day of high school track, so I was ready to make it count," said West.

Prescott's 4x400-meter boys' relay team of Jack Kreager, Kobe Russell, Will Packard, and Andrew Russell also made the podium, finishing sixth place with a time of 3:24.52.

Prescott sophomore Kyra Dix was the lone girl qualifying for the state meet. Dix finished 14th in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 11:35.57.

The River Falls girls had seven state qualifiers. Olive Halvorson and Bailee Bishop each finished 20th on Friday, Halvorson in the 1,600-meter run and Bishop in the 300-meter hurdles. Abigail Treichel finished 11th in the high jump, clearing the 5'0" mark.

The Wildcat girls 4x200-meter relay is loaded with young talent in junior Isabelle Russell, freshman Mackenzie Schmidt, sophomore Tirfe L'Allier, and sophomore Jayla Johnson. That foursome ran a 1:44.12 and finished in 12th place.

The River Falls boys finished in ninth place in Division 1 in the team competition with 25 points. It was the best-ever team finish for a Wildcat boys' track team.

"That was really cool," said Wildcat Head Coach Kady Bauschelt.

Wildcat junior Blake Schneider made the podium finishing 4th in the pole vault at 14'6".

The Wildcat boys' 4x200-meter relay team of Jacob Hutchins, Mason Novak, Jack Silloway, and Charlie Burke finished 22nd. The boys' 4x800-meter relay team of Jonah Majerus, Clark Werwie, Owen Koepke, and Quin Andrews finished 11th with a time of 7:59.55. 

Andrews finished second in the 800-meter individual run. Andrews' time of 1:52.49 reset his own school record and it took a new state record by Homestead's Jay Tally to beat him by just over one second. 

"I was ranked fifth in the 800 coming in," said Andrews. "I went out on the track and left it all out there. I was pretty happy with my performance."

Andrews was the third leg in the Wildcat 4x400-meter relay team. Silloway, Burke, Andrews, and Ty Bauschelt held the fastest time from Friday's preliminary and earned lane one honors. 

"They ran their butts off on Friday night, " said Coach Bauschelt of the new school record, "and to cut two seconds off one day later is nuts."

The Wildcat 4x400-meter relay team ran a blistering time of 3:17.69 seconds, resetting their own school record. It was the third best time in the 4x400 relay during the last 25 years; however, Oak Creek edged out anchor leg Ty Bauschelt by 3/10th of a second for the state crown. The Wildcats finished second in the state.

“You have to give props to Oak Creek,” said Ty Bauschelt.

Ty Bauschelt also made the podium in the high jump, finishing tied for 4th at 6'6". Bauschelt had set the school record jumping 6'9" earlier in the season.

Ty's mom and coach, Kady Bauschelt, shared a long hug after his third and final scratch on the high jump.

"It was a stress level I've never experienced," said Kady. "I wanted him to have success but still enjoy it. The sadness of the hug at the end was not being able to coach him anymore. It just hit me that's a chapter that's finished and it was being so proud of him and how hard they all worked."

"We really put everything out there and gave it everything we had," said Silloway. "On Saturday, that's the very best we had. After we talked with our parents after the race, we all went back to the track."

"It was a weird feeling, " said Ty Bauschelt. "We just sat out there and soaked it all in for the last time."

"About 30 minutes after the race was over, we all realized that was probably the last time we'll all run together and that sucks," said Andrews. "But I can't tell you how grateful I am to have run with them. It's been really special."