Noah Zastrow picks up two more medals, Max Johnson takes fourth in shot put for Rockets

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

LA CROSSE — Spencer senior Johanna Ellefson repeated as the state champion in the Division 3 pole vault, and the Auburndale girls 1,600-meter relay team also earned gold at the second day of the 2017 WIAA State Track & Field Championships on Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The two gold medals were among five state medals won by local athletes Saturday.

Ellefson won the girls pole vault by clearing the same height she did in 2016 — 11 feet even — to earn her second state gold medal. Her teammate, freshman Hannah Zastrow, placed ninth in the event with a best of 9 feet 6 inches.

Hannah’s brother, Spencer senior Noah Zastrow, earned a pair of medals with top-six finishes. He was fourth in the Division 3 boys long jump with a leap of 20 feet 11¾ inches, and he placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.58 seconds. Those two medals go along with a gold he won Friday by taking first in the pole vault with a vault of 15-4.

Noah Zastrow came close to earning a fourth medal at state as he placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 16.21 seconds, just 0.14 of a second behind the sixth-place finisher.

The Auburndale girls 1,600 relay team of Isabella Jewell, Rachel Gronemeyer, Kali Karl, and Isabelle Hilber led for most of the way to take gold in the event, finishing in 4:04.34, 0.69 of a second ahead of second-place Oshkosh Lourdes.

Also picking up a medal was Spencer senior Max Johnson in the Division 3 boys shot put. Johnson, who was ninth at state last year, finished fourth with a throw of 51 feet 9¼ inches. Johnson’s teammate sophomore Logan Zschernitz was eighth in the event with a toss of 49-½, 7¼ inches off a sixth-place finish.

Marshfield’s lone two girls state qualifiers competed in the Division 1 long jump on Saturday morning. Junior Meg Bryan finished 20th with a jump of 16 feet 6 inches, and freshman Gracie Holland was 24th with a leap of 15-6. It was the first state meet for both athletes.

Spencer also had a pair of girls relay teams run on Saturday, but neither earned a medal.

The Rockets’ 800 relay of Lauren Faber, Liz Endreas, Delaney Eichman, and Kaily Northup was eighth in 1:50.09, and the 400 team of Eichman, Northup, Hannah Zastrow, and Ellefson took ninth in 51.94, just 4/10 of a second out of the final medal spot of sixth.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

For more photos from Saturday’s events at the state track meet, courtesy of Don Patterson, click this link.

For photos from Friday’s events at the state track meet, courtesy of Don Patterson, click this link.