The River Falls High School track & field season concluded this weekend at the WIAA State Competition in La Crosse. The Wildcats participated in a total of nine events between the boys’ and girls’ track teams.

The highest Wildcat finish was a second-place finish by senior Grant Magnuson in the boys’ 800-meter run. Magnuson finished with a time of 1.55.50.

“We felt Grant could place in the 800, but for him to come off that last turn in contention for second place, was a bit of a surprise,” said Boys’ Head Coach Keven Syverson.

Magnuson’s second place finish was the first time since 2014 that the Wildcat boys had an individual finisher stand at the podium. Trent Powell was the last to do so in the 1,600-meter run in 2014. Magnuson’s time posted at state also set a new RFHS record for the 800-meter run, eclipsing Mitch Lenneman’s time of 1:56.90.

The other scoring finishes at the WIAA State Competition were the boys’ 1,600-meter relay finishing fourth, the girls’ 800-meter relay finishing fifth, and the girls’ 400-meter relay finishing seventh.

Syverson shared his reflections on this season and what it had meant for them and the student athletes in track and field at RFHS.

“The season was more that we only had a 10-week season, instead of our traditional 13-week season, so we had to utilize every day to the best of our ability. The nicer weather due to the later start of the season allowed us to do more quality training,” said Syverson.

Looking forward to next year, Syverson has high hopes for what is to come for the students and having a full season.

“The boys have three seniors who participated in state and to see them be able to finish their high school careers like that was very gratifying to the coaching staff as last year’s seniors did not have that opportunity. So many of our seniors had breakthroughs this year that will carry with them as they move on from high school athletics and RFHS. We look forward to a great core of athletes coming back and having an opportunity to help them reach their goals.”

Eighteen athletes qualified to compete at the state competition. The day, while rainy, resulted in three podium finishes and one school record.

21st out of 24 in girls’ 100-meter dash

Rebecca Randleman River Falls [10] 13.10

23rd out of 24 in girls’ 1,600meter run

Allison Weissinger River Falls [12] 5:28.05

13th out of 24 in boys’ 400-meter run

Joshua Linton River Falls [12] 52.03 21st out of 24 in boys’ 400-meter run

Robert Anderson River Falls [ 9] 54.10

Second out of 24 in boys’ 800meter run

Grant Magnuson River Falls [12] 1:55.50 Eight points

Wildcats finished fifth out of 23 teams in the girls’ 800-meter relay [A] Kyla Kubera, Brooklyn Silloway, Elise Frisbie, Rebecca Randleman 1:46.51 Four points

Wildcats finished seventh out of 23 teams in the girls’ 400-meter relay

[A] Kyla Kubera, Brooklyn Silloway, Elise Frisbie, Rebecca Randleman 51.47 Two points Wildcats finished 13th out of 24 teams in the boys 400-meter relay

[A] Samuel Rixmann, Jacob Gilbertson, Alex Myszewski, Alexander Fosler 44.68

Wildcats finished fourth out of 24 teams in the boys’ 1,600-meter relay

[A] Zackary Nye, Isaac Carns, Grant Magnuson, Joshua Linton 3:25.36 Five points

Photo courtesy of RFHS Track & Field