Gentile, Sprangers, Van Rossum and Waddell shine at WIAA state track
Kimberly’s Sprangers, Neenah’s Gentile, Little Chute’s Van Rossum and Appleton North’s Waddell lead area athletes on the first day of WIAA state track.
- Kimberly’s Hunter Sprangers won the D1 boys discus and shot put, while Neenah’s Celia Gentile won the D1 girls long jump and triple jump.
- Freedom’s Claire Helmila won the D2 girls 800-meter run and Lydia Merrick won the D2 girls high jump, helping Freedom win the D2 girls team title.
- Shiocton’s Paxton Kuehn won the D3 boys 100 dash and Lydia Hofacker won the D3 girls 300 low hurdles.
LA CROSSE − The Post-Crescent coverage area had no shortage of champions at the WIAA state track and field championships this year.
Eight titles overall were earned by area athletes, including six June 7 at Veterans Memorial Stadium Sports Complex.
Mix in a championship relay team and a second consecutive state title for the Freedom girls track team, and it adds up to a banner day for the area.
Earning individual championships June 7 were Kimberly’s Hunter Sprangers in the Division 1 boys discus, Neenah’s Celia Gentile in the D1 girls long jump, Freedom’s Claire Helmila in the D2 girls 800-meter run, Freedom’s Lydia Merrick in the girls high jump, Shiocton’s Paxton Kuehn in the D3 boys 100 dash and Shiocton’s Lydia Hofacker in the D3 girls 300 low hurdles.
Winneconne’s D2 boys 1,600 relay team also captured gold to help the Wolves secure a second-place finish in the team competition. The Wolves finished with 42.5 points, just behind state champ Notre Dame (44).
The Neenah girls also finished as D1 state runner-up with 46 points. Arrowhead won the D1 girls title with 51.
Sprangers, Gentile headline area individual champs
Sprangers and Gentile also won titles on the first day, with Sprangers winning the shot put and Gentile the triple jump.
They were at it again on the second day, with Gentile recording a leap of 19 feet, 6.5 inches in winning the long jump and Sprangers capturing the discus title with a throw of 196-2.
Gentile, a sophomore, placed second last season in the long jump and this season was determined to do better. She recorded her winning jump on her fifth attempt, which put her far ahead of second-place finisher Makena McGarry of Onalaska (18-11).
“It’s a lot more rewarding to get first place this year,” she said. “That’s what I was coming here to do, so getting the gold is great.”
Gentile was on point in both of her championships, as she didn’t scratch on any of her 12 jumps.
“My coaches always like pounding on consistency,” she said. “So knowing that this is the biggest meet of the year, I want to get all my jumps in and all the possibilities to win.”
Sprangers trailed De Pere’s Connor Fontaine from the start in the D1 discus, with Fontaine recording a 193-0 throw on his first attempt with Sprangers following with a 192-11.
The Kimberly senior then found the right mix on his fifth attempt, recording a heave of 196-2 that netted the title.
“Going in to it I felt real good,” he said. “Mental clarity, it was unbelievable. I felt amazing. I never felt that good. I just knew it was going to take one good throw and it was going to take a throw that was just gonna click.
“After the throw I just knew. Mid-air, ‘Oh yeah.’ And it came down 196 and I lost my mind. It was awesome.”
Sprangers, who will compete at Penn State next season, said he and Fontaine may look like rivals during competition, but the two are actually good friends.
“It might look like we hate each other, but at the end of the day we’re best friends,” Sprangers said. “We’re just competing and at the end, we’re congratulating each other and it’s just a good time all around.”
Merrick, Helmila spark Freedom girls
Helmila’s state title in the D2 800 run was something she has dreamt of for quite some time.
The Freedom senior won the event with a time of 2:12.76 and led for nearly the entire race. She finished a little over two seconds ahead of Lancaster’s Maddie Driscoll (2:14.98).
“It’s been my dream to be a state champion individually and it just means the world to me,” she said. “It shows the work that I put in, but also the work that the people put into myself. And to be able to reward those people with something like this, it means the world to me.
“The coaches, my parents and my teammates that have all brought me to this moment and most importantly, to show how God has worked in my life through all the highs and lows and to be able to overcome those and get a state championship.”
Helmila’s title, along with Merrick’s championship in the high jump, was a big reason why Freedom was in contention for the state team title. The Irish would repeat as D2 state champs by finishing with 40 points, just getting past second-place University School of Milwaukee (37).
Merrick secured the high jump title — an event she also won as a sophomore — with a leap of 5-6. It was a big moment for the Freedom senior, who placed sixth in the event last year.
“It was just so fulfilling,” Merrick said. “Winning my sophomore year and taking sixth last year, getting back to the podium is a dream and I did it. I’m so proud of myself.”
Merrick fended off Hayward’s Helen Thompson, who took second with a 5-6 but lost out to Merrick, who accomplished the feat in fewer attempts.
“I’ve been jumping with her since sophomore year,” Merrick said. “We’re friends. All of the girls over there are friends. It was amazing competition and amazing sportsmanship.”
Hofacker, Kuehn lead Shiocton in Division 3
Lydia Hofacker let her hard work do the talking in winning the D3 girls 300 hurdles.
The senior had the top time heading into the state meet and put together a fine showing in the finals, finishing with a time of :44.35. That allowed her to eke out the championship over McDonell Central’s Elyse Bushman (:44.56).
“I was really, really nervous but worked really hard to get here,” Hofacker said. “And I walked into finals ranked No. 1 and knew that I couldn’t give up that ranking. I went into that race with running as hard as I could.
“(Bushman) is super sweet and we push each other. It was really awesome. We talked after the race and we both really helped to push each other. Awesome to have such supportive people around you and everyone just runs their hardest.”
Hofacker, who will be competing at UW-Oshkosh in college, left it all out on the track.
“This was my last time running the 300 hurdles,” she said. “It was awesome, a really rewarding feeling that all the hard work I put into during the season really paid off.”
For Kuehn, winning the D3 boys 100 dash could be seen as a dose of redemption. The junior qualified for the 100 final last June, but said a pulled hamstring kept him from competing.
“That was not good,” he said. “But I kept working and getting in the weight room and followed the directions of the coach and staying positive and praying and getting strength from the Lord.”
Kuehn won the title with a time of :10.99 seconds. His personal-best time is :10.89. He was able to fend off Unity’s Payton Merrida (:11.12), who finished second.
