Area athletes medal in state track & field finals

By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – Some of the area’s athletes came home with medals, including two state championships, from the state track & field finals at UW-La Crosse last weekend.

Noah Eckelburg of Marshfield Columbus won both of those state titles. Eckelburg won the 400-meter event in the wheelchair division, with a time of 1:05.45. Eckelburg also won gold in the 800-meter competition, with a time of 2:17.65. Noah captured a silver medal, as he took second place in the 100-meter event, with a time of 19.77 seconds.

“It was a really cool experience for me. Being a disabled athlete, I usually don’t get to participate in team sports, so this was a really fun experience for me,” Eckelburg said.

Eckelburg also finished in fourth place in the wheelchair shot put competition.

The Marshfield Tigers sent five competitors in Division 1. On the girls’ side, Meg Bryan finished in ninth place in the long jump. Nadia Ougayour took 19^th in the discus. On the boys’ side, Adam Maki finished in 13^th place in the pole vault. Adam Elhendy-Gunnarsson took 18^th in the long jump. Joey Goettl finished 18^th in the triple jump.

A number of area athletes took part in Division 3 competition in La Crosse.

Jessica Jakopin of Marshfield Columbus Catholic took 13^th in the shot put, after a third-place finish at the Division 3 sectional at Marathon May 24.

Several Spencer athletes brought home some hardware from La Crosse.

Logan Zschernitz captured a silver medal as he finished in second place in the Division 3 shot put competition. He also took fourth in the discus. Hannah Zastrow took third place and a bronze in the 100-hurdles. Hannah also finished fifth in the high jump and seventh in the pole vault. Sabrina Vircks finished fourth in the high jump. Aaron Pankratz was a fourth-place finisher in the 400. Collin Nieman earned a trip in the 800, and finished in ninth place in state competition.

Auburndale sent the most athletes of any school to the state meet, and two Apache relay teams captured silver medals. Auburndale’s 1,600-meter relay team of Kali Karl, Isabelle Hilber, Isabelle Jewel and Paityn Hamus finished in second place, and the Apache 3,200-meter relay team of Karl, Macie Schmeiser, Erricka Zenner and Taylor Stanton took second as well. Karl also finished sixth in the 800, Jewell took ninth in the 400 and Julianna Kollross finished in 12^th place in the pole vault.

Loyal’s Mason Malm was a medalist. He took third place in the 110 hurdles. Malm also finished fifth in the 300 hurdles and tenth in the high jump. Savannah Schley of Loyal took fourth in the 800, and seventh in the 400. The Loyal boys captured fifth in the 400-relay event, while Waylon Froeba took sixth in the 110-hurdles. Tamerat Kubista finished in 15^th place in the 3,200.

Greenwood’s Kelly Nielsen finished 11^th in the girls’ Division 3 triple jump, and 12^th in the long jump.

Ana Klein of Pittsville qualified in the pole vault, and finished 13^th in state competition. Her teammate Amanda Piotrowski qualified in the discus, and finished 15^th.

Stratford’s Parker Hoffman finished 18^th in the Division 2 triple jump.