Hansen's second place leads Hurricane track squad at state

Hayward Hurricanes sophomore Lucas Hansen took second place in the boys 300-meter intermediate hurdles to highlight the Hurricane team’s participation in the WIAA Division Two state track and field championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse May 31-June 1.

Hansen’s time of 39.77 seconds in the finals was 1.36 seconds behind the time of event winner Jack Erickson of Belleville-New Glarus.

Hansen’s time was 1.69 seconds off the Hayward High School record of 38.08 set by Adam Hexum in 2007. The Division Two state record is 37.82.

In the preliminary heats of the 300-meter hurdles on Friday, Hansen placed fourth in 40.05, and advanced to Saturday’s finals.

Other Hurricanes competing in the 2024 state championships were:

Girls

Girls high jump: Sophomore Helen Thompson placed 12th with 5 feet 0 inches.

Girls triple jump: Senior Avery Poppe placed 11th with 34 feet, 1 inch.

Girls 4 X 800-meter relay: The Hayward quartet of Maria Halberg, Lola Olsen, Macey Reier and Lydia Bergschnieder placed 13th in 10:05.82. The alternate runners were Alyson Reier and Abby Laird.

Girls 4 X 200-meter relay: The quartet of Natalie Grubbs, Brianna Hexum, Danika Kortendick and Avery Poppe placed 11th in 1:47.12. The alternate runners were Alivia Poppe and Helen Thompson.

Boys

300-meter intermediate hurdles: Lucas Hansen second, 39.77 seconds.

4 X 800-meter relay: The quartet of Evan McConnnell, Cade Schlapper, Austin Ewert and Ben Laird took 13th place in 8:20.33. The alternate runners were Aiden Susedik and Seth Becker.

The Hurricane track and field squad completed an outstanding 2024 season in which they won several meets. The boys won the Heart O’ North Conference championship and the girls placed second to Cameron in the Heart O’ North.