Oriole Track and Field is headed to State in La Crosse this Friday and Saturday, following results at Sectionals in Durand Friday, May 30. The boys 4x100 relay of Jake LaGrander, Madden Mahr, Cole Brenner and Carson Hodowanic ran 43.28 at Durand to punch their state ticket. The time represents their fastest time all year and is now the school record.
As for the girls relay, the 4x100 relay team of Adyson Gustafson, Macie LaGrander, Jocelyn Hager, and Lula Chwala ran a 50.89 at Durand to place fifth, punching their ticket to State as well. The girls relay team placed fourth in the 4x200 meter relay with a time of 1:45.49.
Also at Durand May 30, Macie LaGrander scored a personal record of 17 - 8 1/4 in the long jump to finish third and punch her ticket to State, while Jocelyn Hager placed sixth in the 100 meter dash with a personal record of 12.68. Orioles Head Track and Field Coach Bob Seidl shared more on the results from Sectionals.
“It’s difficult to place well at the D2 Sectional,” Seidl said. “The competition is so strong. We knew from examining times distances in the four Regionals, just how likely our chances of making it through and qualifying for state. We hoped that our athletes would peak at the right time and improve enough to be in the top four. We wanted to get a boys relay and girls through and we accomplished that.”
As for regional results from Bloomer, Seidl said the girls team placed third overall while the boys team placed fifth. Qualifying for sectionals were Jocelyn Hager with a second place finish of 13.14 in the 100 meter dash, Macie LaGrander with fourth place finishes in the 200 meter (28.44) and long jump (15 - 11.5), Addison Mahr with a fourth place finish of 19.39 in the 100 meter hurdles, Lula Chwala with a second place finish of 48.13 in the 300 meter hurdles, Grace Schmidt with a third place finish of 4-06.00 in the high jump, and Syleen Seichter with a fourth place finish of 99-02 in the discus.
On the boys side, Madden Mahr placed first in the 100 meter dash (11.06) and long jump (20.03-25), while Jesse Allard placed third in the 110 meter hurdles (17.74) and 300 meter intermediate hurdles (44.32). Hunter Gadke placed third in the pole vault with 10-06.00.
Both the boys and girls relay teams placed first at Bloomer to advance to sectionals, and now State.
“It’s been fun coaching the seniors this year,” Seidl said. “It will be hard to replace them next year. But now our focus is on State.”
Tickets for the state competition this Friday and Saturday can be purchased online at www.wiaawi.org/tickets.