Troy A. Bruzewski, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Troy A. Bruzewski Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School freshman Maddy Pietz, left, runs in the 100-meter dash Friday in the WIAA Division 2 Track and Field State Championships. Pietz had the second-best time in the preliminaries and will compete Saturday in the 100 and 200 dashes.
Leader Photo by Troy A. Bruzewski Clintonville High School senior Chrissy Betz tries to catch the leader during the 100-meter hurdles Friday at the WIAA Division 2 Track and Field State Championships at La Crosse. Betz qualified for Saturday’s competition.
Clintonville High School senior Allison Johnson earned a state title for the Truckers in the WIAA Division 2 State Championships at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday.
Johnson finished the 800-meter run in 2 minutes and 12.72 seconds to finish ahead of Mary Hanson (2:13.23) of Dodgeville/Mineral Point.
Johnson’s win gave Clintonville a tie for fourth place in the team standings heading into the tournament’s second day, when a majority of the events are decided.
Clintonville senior Chrissy Betz qualified in the 100 hurdles. Her time of 16.56 placed her 13th after the first day; Lakeside Lutheran’s Meghan Pingel led the field at 14.92.
Clintonville senior Skyler Lehman reached the state final in the boys pole vault and finished 15th after not recording a qualifying effort Friday.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood girls are in contention in several events Saturday.
Freshman Maddy Pietz ranked second in the 100 with a preliminary time of 12.56. Mount Horeb’s Nadia Williams led the field at 12.38.
Williams (18 feet, 9.25 inches) also leads the field in the long jump; Pietz (16-5) is 11th.
Pietz (25.29) also was second in the 200, again behind Williams (25.07) heading into the second day.
Fellow Wittenberg-Birnamwood freshman Paige Norrbom (5-2) was 10th in the high jump in the first day of state competition, not far behind Brooke Blazei (5-5) of Martin Luther in first.
The Chargers also have two relay teams in the state final, with success in one and struggles in the other. Mikayla King, Emily Norrbom, Paige Norrbom and Pietz (4:02.74) were third in the 1,600 relay, led by Dodgeville/Mineral Point (4:01.27) after the first day.
In the 400 relay, the Chargers were 15th on the opening day. Samantha Kasprak, Kylie Linke, Micah Nier and Paige Norrbom finished in 1:49.17. Lakeside Lutheran leads the field at 1:43.71.
Competition resumes at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.