River Falls senior Blake Schneider stole the show at the State Track and Field meet over the weekend, posting a 15-foot-6 pole vault to become the school’s first State champion since 2001. A year ago, Schneider placed fourth at State, but he was far from satisfied.

“He has been one of those kids since he started that you just knew was going to do everything he could to be successful,” Coach Kady Bauschelt said. “His coach said to us that last year when he was at State and took fourth, he looked at him and said, ‘I’m going to win this next year.’ Him and his coach came up with a plan and followed it.”

That method of setting out for a goal, creating a plan and achieving the goal has inspired Schneider’s teammates.

“He’s a quiet leader,” Bauschelt said. “With Blake and pole vault, I think a lot more kids noticed how much extra time and effort he put in, and the camps he went to.”

The Wildcats sent six students to State. Senior Abigail Treichel finished one spot off of the high jump podium, taking seventh with a 5-foot-4 jump. Senior Olive Halvorson battled illness to take 18th in the mile with a 5:16 time. Sophomore Mackenzie Schmidt, a staple of many of the River Falls relay teams, took 22nd in the 200-meter with a 26.96.

In his first year on the track team, senior Jackson Magee finished 17th at State in the 300 hurdles with a 41.01. Bauschelt said Magee improved extremely quickly as he got comfortable with the sport, encouraging him to look into competing collegiately. Junior Noah Metro finished 15th in the triple jump with a 43-foot-1 leap.

With a good mix of first timers and experienced State returnees, River Falls was ready to go come State Meet day.

“The seniors kind of helped the younger kids understand what State is like,” Bauschelt said. “It was just a group that really got along well.”

Prescott had a great weekend at State, including a third place finish in the boys 4x100 (Andrew Lesso, Andrew Russell, Reese Stanton, Wyatt Budworth), a sixth place finish from the boys 4x200 (Andrew Lesso, Andrew Russell, Jaylen Fleming, and Wyatt Budworth) in which Budworth cut off the seventh place runner to make the podium by about 0.02 seconds and the 4x400 team (Ashton Marshall, Jaylen Fleming, Wyatt Budworth, Andrew Russell) taking 16th over the steaming hot meet. Junior Kyra Dix placed fifth in the 3,200 with an 11:03 time.

The boys relay teams have struggled with injuries all year long, not getting to run with the top teams together all the way until the postseason. They relied on building camaraderie off the track to be in sync during State.

“They definitely ended up hitting their expectations when they needed to,” Emily Calabrese said. “Regionals was the first time that our top 4x100 and 4x200 ran together, and Sectionals was the first time that our top 4x400 ran together. It was a very chaotic year.”

While the 4x400 team did not have their best day at State, coaches Emily and Carl Calabrese said it has been an amazing team to coach.

“That 4x400, in my 10 years, is really the most competitive, fun relay that I have probably ever coached,” Emily Calabrese said. “I know things didn’t end the way they wanted them to, but truly that group of four is unmatched… I wish I could watch them run together one last time.”

The 4x200 team broke the school record at Sectionals, a record that was previously held by Russell, Budworth as well as some of the school’s most talented runners in recent years in Ethan West and Kobe Russell.

Dix is no stranger to the big stage, running an 11:35 at State a year ago, a school record at the time. She has worked that time all the way to a sub-11 at Sectionals. Between track, cross country and competitive dance, Dix knows what it takes under the bright lights.

“If you’ve ever watched her run, she always looks so cool, calm and collected,” Emily Calabrese said. “She’s able to keep her composure so well.”

The Prescott team celebrated the great meet with their traditional stop at the trampoline park on the way home.

EPC freshman Lesli Widman took 16th in the long jump, joined by junior Allie Sauve taking 17th in the triple jump and junior Aurora Sampair taking 10th in the discus. For Ellsworth, senior Keegan Stahlke finished 10th in the 400, and the 4x800 boys (Jacob Michels, Ben Baker, Adolfo Mendez and Kyle VanWatermeulen) took 11th.