The Party’s Over: Track Season Concludes in La Crosse

The 2008 WFHS Track season, the 25th under head coach Arnie Behnke, came to a glorious end this past weekend in La Crosse at the WIAA State Track & Field Championships.

Six of the past ten years, the Wega Track season has ended in La Crosse, and if you ask any of the six girls who were competing in the festivities, it was the opportunity and thrill of a lifetime. For the fifth time in six years, Weyauwega West in Black River Falls has become the temporary home of the WFHS Track juggernaut.

Last Thursday, the Indians contingent of senior Bianca Schreiber, junior Katherine Cloninger, sophomore Carlie Akey, and freshmen Joanna Schroeder, Danielle Johnson, and Dacia Goetsch moved their homes to the Golden Moose Lodge in Black River Falls to compete in the 400 meter dash and the 1600 meter relay.

The team made a quick trip to La Crosse, and the official state meet venue, and actually were able to take a couple steps on the Memorial Stadium track before being shooed away from the area. After a short practice in La Crosse and dinner at Fazolis, it was back to the Golden Moose.

Friday was a long day waiting for completion of the Division 1 portion of the meet, and then waiting patiently for the events to roll along, made it a very long day. Finally at just after 6 pm, the big Puma pounced on the track and the race was on. Katherine’s 400 meter time of 59.99 marked the third straight sub-minute race of the year for her, and magically, wonderfully, marvelously was the ninth fastest time in the D-2 semifinals.

This meant that Katherine accomplished something no other Weyauwega-Fremont girl had done in La Crosse. Katherine ran on Friday in the prelims, and actually made it to the finals of the event on Saturday. It was a most exciting start to the weekend’s festivities.

But then the storm clouds rolled in. Torrential rains, blustery winds, and golf ball sized hail all served to damage the psyches of the Baby Indians and the Wega-Fremont team tent. For nearly two hours, the track meet was shut down, and most athletes were safe and secure in Williams Hall, the UW-LaX indoor track facility. Finally the storm clouds subsided, the clouds disappeared and a gigantic rainbow appeared over the Memorial Stadium track. And the races were back on.

The delay did cause problems for the Indians however, as a few of the girls were racing in the 1600 meter prelims an hour after they normally went to bed. Finally at 10:30, Dacia Goetsch took to her starting blocks. She passed the baton to Dani Johnson who ran the baton into the hands of Joanna Schroeder who quickly handed the baton to Katherine Cloninger who raced to the finish line in 4:14.37. This was the fifth fastest time in school history, but was not good enough to crack the top nine and make it to Saturday’s finals.

By the time the Indians got back to the Golden Moose, it was after midnight, and the race to sleep was a rapid one. Saturday morning was going to come pretty early, after the late running and racing.

In Saturday’s festivities the Wega kids were able to see a new school record in the girls D-2 3200 meter run as Ashley Beutler of Belleville-New Glarus broke a record from 1983 by running two miles in 10 minutes 33 seconds. Paul Annear from Richland Center High School caught the crowds fancy on Saturday morning by clearing the high jump bar set at 6 feet 11 inches, and just missing at 7 feet. It was a day for exceptional performances.

And Katherine did not disappoint any of her fans. In the finals Katherine raced her way to a very solid start, but faded slightly down the finishing stretch. Her time did not break the minute barrier, but nevertheless Katherine Cloninger placed ninth in the 400 meter dash finals in the WIAA State Track Championships. It was an exciting and hectic three days finished off by the Indians return to Wega at 7 pm.

And then there was none. No more sports activities left to coach or compete in for the 2008-2009 school year. All that remains are the awards and banquets, and the memories of a great track season for the WFHS thinclads. And it was a great season for the Indians.

The boys and girls were both over fifty wins for the season, the guys and dolls both won the WFHS Len Rohde Relays, and the 2008 Boys are kings of the CWC-Large world as they won the Conference Championship at Weyauwega on May 10th.

And now for the wrap-ups, the Track & Field Banquet will be held on Tuesday June 10th starting at 6 pm in the high school commons. It will be a pot-luck affair with a short commemoration and presentation ceremony taking place afterwards. Coach Behnke has promised to try and keep the festivities as brief as possible, but the man is a windbag when it comes to the track team. So it’s buyer beware.

Posted by: wfrunning

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