Waunakee continued its stranglehold on Badger Large Conference track and field.
The Warrior girls won their seventh straight conference title at the Badger Large meet on Tuesday, May 14, while the boys captured their third conference championship in a row.
“Both teams really stepped up and got the job done,” said Waunakee head coach Jen Grabarski. “Our girls looked a little more comfortable going into the meet pointwise than the boys. But then both boys and girls exceeded the predicted point differential to take the titles!”
Blowing expectations out of the water, several Warrior girls stood out.
“On the girls side we had both depth and big performances,” said Grabarski. “Anneka Cassel broke the school record and won both shot (39-9, PR) and discus (137-5, PR). The girls’ relays ran great times and won 4x800, 4x200 and 4x100 and took second in the 4x400. Our seniors really led the way with Anneka in the throws, Summer Grigg in the 100 (second place, 12.89) and relays. Sadie Grabarski did four events with both sprint relays, and scoring in both triple jump (third, 32-3.25) and hurdles (sixth in the 100, 17.35), Reese Hurley in both relays and the 200m dash (first, 26.08, PR), Carla Schwitters in the 800 (fourth, 2:26.40, PR) and 4x800 and Madison Murray in the triple jump (second, 32-4.50) along with Lilly Follen (ninth, discus, 94-9) and Anna Garrison (eighth, shot put, 31-1) in throws. These girls led the way as dominant senior leaders really stepping up.”
They weren’t the only ones who made an impact.
“Of course we had many others such as Cianna Wipperfurth, Emily Berger, Emma Raemisch, Lydia Reis, Rachel Gregorich and Emeline Shefchik all putting up points to contribute big to the championship,” said Grabarski. “Not to mention our younger athletes that played a role as well with Amira Endres, Meredith Fitz, Ellie Lenzendorf, Brynna Yazawa and Jillian Borgelt to name a few. This team has such depth, and we came from all directions in every event to take the conference title. It has been a great group to coach all season long.”
The Warriors won the 3,200 relay in 10:09.70, the 400 relay in 51.01 and the 800 relay in 1:47.37, while taking second in the 1,600 relay in 4:12.62.
The Waunakee girls racked up 192.50 points, as Oregon took second with 123. DeForest was third with 88.50, followed by Monona Grove (72), Beaver Dam (67), Fort Atkinson (59), Watertown (50) and Milton (47).
Boasting that same kind of depth, the Waunakee boys piled up a winning score of 144 points. DeForest was second with 114, followed by Oregon (106.5), Monona Grove (100), Milton (88), Watertown (75.33), Fort Atkinson (53.33) and Beaver Dam (19.83).
Grabarski cited “huge performances by our upper classmen” as the reason for the Warrior boys’ success.
“Leading the way was Jake Bova in the 100 (third, 11.17, PR), 200 (second, 22:48) and 400m (first, 50.91) dashes,” said Grabarski. “Tim Strebel popped a big throw landing him the first-place spot in discus (159-10, PR). Will Garcia-Heinrich went almost back-to-back running a great 400m dash to take second (51.62, PR) and followed it up quickly with scoring in his 300m hurdle (third, 42.38) race, then finished with a great 4x400 anchor leg. Will Lenoch was strong and took first in shot put (48-0) with Sam Lane (third, 45-6.50) also putting up points and Luke Chambers (10th, 10:56.44) in the 3200m run. Combined with our younger athletes like Aiden Meinholz, James Phebus, Sam Anderson, Jackson Rosenstock, Riley Fitzsimons, Cooper Johanns, Colten Tranel, Simon Marx, Cooper Ubert, Matt Comins and all the relays running solid races, the boys were able to pop up and take the title as well.”
In the relays, the Waunakee boys were second in the 3,200 relay (8:48.71), third in the 800 relay (1:32.91) and fourth in the 1,600 relay (3:36.86).
“I’m very proud of how the athletes have kept working all season long to get to this points,” said Grabarski. “I am excited to see what they can do in the tournament coming up on Monday with WIAA Regionals. We are seeded very well in many events, a lot of potential going into the post season.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0