Heading up to the start line for the 3200-meter race, Deerfield sophomore Emme Drobac had a lot to think about.
Drobac, who was seeded sixth, had to think about strategy for running the long distance race.
Whatever strategy she had changed though when the coaching staff told her that if she finished third or higher in the event, the Deerfield girls track and field team would win the state title.
In the last two laps of the race, Drobac pushed herself. Getting around a slower runner, Drobac moved through the pack and crossed the line with a time of 10 minutes and 41.13 seconds, crushing the school record by 16 seconds.
Turning around to see fans of Deerfield with their hands raised in excitement, Drobac had done it. The time was good enough to finish second overall, giving Deerfield the Division 3 State Championship, the first state championship for the girls program.
“Self motivation, my teammates motivation, my coaches motivation and my uncle’s motivation really helped me push through,” said Drobac.
Leading up to the state championship win, it was a possibility that the Demons could bring home the state plaque.
“We knew there were about five schools that had a shot, and we were one of the five schools just by analyzing everything,” said Deerfield head coach Jason Wierzba. “We knew we had to perform.”
The girls team was peaking at the right time heading into the state meet.
Fresh off winning the Deerfield Classic, the Deerfield Regional and the Horicon Sectional, Deerfield was bringing a strong group of athletes to La Crosse.
“We just told the girls to go out and perform as well as they could, score as many points as we can and just see where things fall,” said Deerfield/Cambridge cross country coach Matt Polzin.
The running events, like Drobac’s performance in the 3200, were going to be where Deerfield scored a lot of its points. On the final day, Deerfield started off the meet by taking home first place in the 4x800 relay, scoring a total of 10 points.
The relay team of junior Piper Ryan, senior Ella Arenz, junior McKenna Michel and Drobac took first at 9:39.96, breaking an eight-year school record.
“All of us train a lot during the winter,” said Arenz. “We all lift and run, and that’s a big part of how our season went because we were already in shape. We also run at the same pace, so we always push each other.”
That wouldn’t be the only event Deerfield would win as sophomore Rylee Berryman took home two state titles in the high jump and triple jump, scoring 10 points in each event.
In the high jump, Berryman scored a mark of 5 five and 6 inches. Berryman’s mark in the triple jump of 38 feet and 2.75 inches set a new school record, which had previously belonged to Berryman.
“It was a lot of hard work through the years, and working up over the years to get to the point where I could be good in high jump,” said Berryman. “It was really cool to see that pay off and work out in the end.”
With 30 points scored between the three state winners and Drobac scoring eight points in the 3200, the Demons got another four points from Drobac’s fifth-place finish in the 1600. The time of 5:04.81 set a new school record.
In all, Deerfield finished with a total of 42 points, winning the title over Cameron, who finished second with 39 points. The state championship win is the first for any Deerfield sport since 1996.
“It was just a super fun weekend,” said Michel. “Everyone worked hard and that was our hard work paying off.”
Along with the point scorers, the state meet served as an opportunity for other competitors to complete their strong seasons.
Junior Brianna Ament dominated the hurdles events throughout the year, setting new school records twice during the season. At state, Ament ran ninth in the 100-meter hurdles finals at 15.86 and took 12th in the 300-meter hurdles at 48.72 seconds.
Ament credits talking with Polzin after the cross country season and setting some goals and times to run at for the hurdles.
“He put together some numbers on what he thought I could run in the hurdles for track season this year,” said Ament. “I was running even faster than those numbers that he initially thought. It was really cool to see how I progressed over time.”
“I like to think in the 300 hurdles that she’s a little tougher than her competitors because she runs cross country,” Polzin added. “Going out and running a measly 300 meters, even if there’s hurdles in the way, isn’t that big of a deal.”
Also competing at state, the 4x400 relay team of Berryman, Ament, freshman Madi Ledbury and Arenz took 15th at 4:18.19.
“It was just so cool to see everybody put in so much effort and all of the work that was put in during the season,” said Ryan. “Running hills in the winter, running in the snow and rain and it was really cool to see everyone shine in their own moments. It was just a really great way to end the season.”
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