By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – Several central Wisconsin athletes are state champions, following the 2019 WIAA State Track & Field Finals May 31 and June 1 at UW-La Crosse.

Noah Eckelberg of Marshfield Columbus followed up last year’s state titles with two more gold medals in the wheelchair events he won a year ago, and he beat his 2018 times in both events. Eckelberg captured a state title in the 400-meter competition, with a time of 1:04.58, beating last year’s championship time of 1:05.45. Noah also captured gold in the 800-meter event, with a mark of 2:13.94, beating his 2018 time of 2:17.65. Eckelberg is also a state champion in the 1,600-meter wheelchair event, with a time of 4:41.23. All totaled, Eckelberg brought home four state medals, after finishing in third place and capturing bronze in the wheelchair shot put.

Hannah Zastrow of Spencer High School captured a gold medal by winning the Division 3 100-meter race, with a championship time of 14.98.

After grabbing a D-3 silver medal a year ago, the Auburndale High School girls 3,200-meter relay team won gold this year, winning the event with a time of 9:51.18. Team members included Vanessa Mitchell, Jordyn Karl, Erricka Zenner, and Macie Schmeiser. Two of those girls – Zenner and Schmeiser – were on last year’s runner-up team. Meanwhile, Auburndale’s 1,600-meter relay team finished in third place to take home the bronze medal in an event they won silver in a year ago. Team members were Schmeiser, Paityn Hamus, Isabelle Hilber, and Isabella Jewell. They recorded a time of 4:07.79.

Marshfield High School athletes did well in Division 1 competition. Caden Pearce took fourth place in the 400-meter event, with a time of 49.33. Pearce also finished in fifth place in the 200-meter competition, with a time of 22.03. The Tigers had two other fifth-place finishers. Gracie Holland was a medalist in the girls’ pole vault with a mark of 11 feet. Molly Meyers took fifth in the girls shot put competition.

Logan Zschernitz of Spencer grabbed a silver medal in the Division 3 discus throw, recording a silver-medal mark of 172 feet, 11 inches. Logan also captured silver in the shot put competition, following up his second-place finish a year ago.

Anastasia Klein of Pittsville High School finished in seventh place in the girls pole vault, improving on her 13th-place finish a year ago. Sara Lacoursiere also had a seventh-place finish for Pittsville, competing in the girls 300-meter hurdles. Chris Snook was an eighth-place finisher in the boys 400-meter dash. Hunter Wilke captured ninth in the 800-meter run. Amanda Piotrowski took tenth in the girls discus. Julia Redmond competed in three events. She finished in seventh place in the girls 200-meter dash, ninth in the long jump and 12th in the 100-meter dash.