Rogowski caps career with four top-10 finishes

Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Reese Rogowski stamped an impressive high school track and field career with four top-10 finishes at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championships on June 2-3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex in La Crosse.

Rogowski qualified for the finals in her three sprint events and also reached the finals in the long jump. Despite competing in all four events on a hot and sunny June 3 morning and afternoon, she placed second in the Division 2 long jump after a top mark of 18 feet, 2 inches and third in the 400-meter dash in 56.45 seconds. Rogowski took sixth in the 200 (24.94) and was 10th in the 100 (12.65).

“It was very exhausting at times during the meet, but just staying hydrated and staying in the shade as much as I could definitely helped me get through the weekend,” said Rogowski.

Rogowski made her lone mark in the long jump count. It came on her second attempt in the preliminary round, which was just after her 400 final, and it briefly put her in first place.

The senior decided to forgo her final prelim attempt after running the 200 finals; however, she was unable to post a mark in the long jump finals, leaving her in second.

Rogowski qualified for the 400 finals after a seventh-place finish in the prelims with a mark of 59.6 seconds. After not trying to overexert herself in the prelim, she trimmed three seconds off that mark to take third.

“I’ve been focusing on improving certain things in the 400 all year, and one of the main things that helped me achieve the place I did was pushing through the last 100 meters,” said Rogowski.

Rogowski made the 200 finals after taking fifth in the prelims with a time of 25.12 seconds. Even with a 0.22-second improvement in the finals, she found herself in sixth in a loaded field.

In another stacked field in the 100, Rogowski turned in a time of 12.75 in the prelims to qualify for the final. Even after knocking off one-tenth of a second, she was unable to improve that place in the final.

“I was really happy with how I placed this year, considering the level of competition, particularly in the sprint field. So just being able to get four top-10 finishes this year was super exciting, especially for it being my last high school meet ever,” said Rogowski.

Sophomore teammate Faith Resch made a name for herself at state with a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles.

Resch was seeded seventh in the 18-hurdler field coming into state and things followed suit in the prelim, with Resch taking seventh in 46.81 seconds.

Resch jumped all the way up to third after posting a time of 45.19 seconds in the final.

“I just knew what I was capable of after that conference meet (when she placed first) and I knew I just had to push myself and try to keep with Joey (Perry, the second-place finisher in 43.7 seconds) and the other girl (Elletta Uddin, who set a new state record in 43.56 seconds) that got first,” said Resch.

Being only a sophomore, Resch is eager to accomplish more going forward.

“It just makes me want to keep improving and pushing toward a higher place at this meet next year and the year after,” said Resch.

Suring

Suring’s Christine Sleeter capped off her high school career with a pair of fourth-place finishes in Division 3 events.

Sleeter tied for fourth in the pole vault competition that took place on June 2 and then tied for fourth again in the high jump competition on June 3.

Sleeter had similar showings in her two events.

In the pole vault, the Suring senior cleared heights of 9, 9-6 and 10 feet on her first attempts. Sleeter was unable to clear 10-6 after three tries.

“I’m really happy with how pole vault went,” said Sleeter. “That was only my second time making 10 feet and I made it first try so that was huge. I was ranked like seventh and ended up getting fourth — huge comeback from last year getting like 17th. I’m just grateful for being down here and that I did so much better than last year and I actually got on the podium and placed this year.”

Sleeter cleared heights of 4-10, 5 and 5-2 on her first attempts in the high jump competition. She was unable to clear 5-4, leaving her tied for fourth with four others.

“I knew that since I got here that misses would be big, because it was for pole vault too, and I just knew I had to keep making it first try if I wanted to get on the podium,” said Sleeter.

Lena

One of Sleeter’s competitors in the high jump was Lena’s Eva Brooks. The sophomore placed 11th at state after clearing 5 feet.

Brooks cleared 4-10 and then 5 feet on her first attempts before running into problems at 5-2.

“Today I know I did not compete the best of my ability and I am capable of getting more height,” said Brooks. “I think I let the nerves get to me but now I know what I have to work on for next season.

“This experience was so amazing to have for my future seasons and a huge learning curve for things I need to improve on. I’m beyond happy that I got to be part of it.”

Shawano

Shawano had a relay team compete at state, and three members of the relay team also competed in an individual event.

The girls 4x800 relay team of Adalyn Barkley, Grace Chelberg, Lily Guenther and Bailey Hendricks placed 13th in 9:51.47.

“The experience was really enjoyable,” said Hendricks. “The run was good, just running against all these great athletes, obviously the best in the state. I feel like how we ran was really good and I think when we come back next year, we’ll be ready.”

All four members of the relay team will be back, and after breaking the school record and getting some state experience this year, Hendricks said they want to make the podium next spring.

Chelberg competed in the 800, which was a scheduled for a timed final on June 2 before a couple weather delays pushed the start of the race to around midnight. She said she warmed up once before the weather delay hit and then was thrown another curveball when the lights at the stadium went out at 11 p.m., after she had warmed up again.

The junior placed eighth in 2:17.62, which was a little over two seconds off the third-place finisher and roughly six seconds off the top finisher.

“It was a good, I got a PR. Despite the circumstances, I think I ran the best I could,” said Chelberg.

“I really enjoyed running at night. I mean, it definitely put a damper on what I think I could have done because I was tired and again it’s not a normal time to run, but I enjoyed it.”

She added that she gained some valuable experience and now has something to work toward as a senior.

Barkley also had to deal with the couple delays on June 2 when she competed in the 400 prelims. The sophomore was able to place eighth in the prelims to secure a spot in the finals on June 3, where she placed 10th in 1:01.6.

“It’s just really motivating to see all these girls that I get to compete with that are older than me, so even though I’m younger, I can be up with them,” said Barkley. “It’s just cool to see that I may be one of the younger people, but you can stay with them with the work you’ve put in.”

Guenther was the final Shawano athlete to compete at state, finishing 20th in the 3,200 on June 3.

The junior finished the first lap in 17th place before falling back to 22 by the end of the third lap. Guenther dug deep and moved up to 20th by the halfway point and then held that position the rest of the race. She turned in a time of 11:53.31.

“Competing at state my junior year for my first time was really special because it’s shown me the amount of work it takes to do well,” said Guenther. “Having made it though is going to push me to work even harder over the next year and hopefully encourage teammates to as well.”

Pulaski

Pulaski freshman Olivia Sprangers was also affected by the delays when she competed in the D1 200 prelims on June 2.

Sprangers placed 16th in the prelim with a time of 26.54 seconds, missing a spot in the finals by 0.52 seconds.

The freshman said that she was happy to have made state, but that the accomplishment didn’t hit until she actually arrived in Madison.

“Once I got up to run at 12:10 a.m., I saw all of the upperclassmen I would be running against and I immediately got nervous,” said Sprangers. “I don’t feel I ran as good of a race as I could have.”

She said she was disappointed in her finish, but that it was a good experience to learn from and build on going forward.

“I am going to use this experience to prepare me and keep me motivated for the rest of my high school career,” said Sprangers. “I will make it a goal to push myself and stay disciplined, in hopes of making it to state in the upcoming years. Overall, I look forward to working hard and getting back there next year.”

Bonduel

Bonduel sent a relay team and an individual to state on the girls side of things.

Bonduel’s 4x800 relay team of Kendra Troxel, Ashlyn Kurey, Cierra Schnell and Mariah Wondra opened the track portion of competition on June 3. The quartet placed 15th in 10:27.26.

“Getting to the state meet is crazy in itself,” said Troxel, a senior. “Although the team didn’t PR like we wanted to, I think we all tried our best, especially with the heat. We were all happy to just be there no matter how we did and it was fun to take in the whole experience.”

Later in the day, Wondra competed individually in the 3,200, taking 15th in 12:36.27.

Wondra was in 11th after a lap before falling to 12th over the next two laps. She was in 14th the next two laps before being in 15th the rest of the way.

“I definitely think my adrenaline caused me start off way too fast, and that combined with the heat resulted in not the time I was hoping for,” said Wondra. “But I was really glad I was able to run the race and gain the experience, which will really help me for the rest of my high school career. “

Full state results can be found at pttiming.com, while more state photos can be found on the NEW Media Inc. Sports Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NewMediaIncSports.

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