June 21, 2021 at 8:53 a.m.
Track: Worrall, Hodag high jumpers qualify for WIAA state meet
Track: Worrall, Hodag high jumpers qualify for WIAA state meet
Cole Worrall was the sectional champion in the 110-meter hurdles and finished second in the 300 hurdles, while long jumpers Rebecca Lawrence and Jaden Beske both finished in the top three to advance to state at a WIAA D1 sectional in Schofield on Thursday.
The Hodags entered the day with nine sectional entries. That nearly half of them will compete this weekend in the state meet was music to coach Aaron Kraemer's ears.
"I'm very, very excited about what we were able to accomplish today," he said. "Even those that didn't make it to state, we had some good times. I'm smiling from ear to ear and I can't wait to see what we do in La Crosse next Saturday."
Worrall, a junior, entered as the top seed in both the 110 and 300 hurdle events. He put down a time of 15.18 seconds to edge out Chippewa Falls' Brayden Warwick by 0.12 seconds in the 110s.
"I can't honestly express how good it feels right now," said Worrall, who posted the third-fastest time statewide in Division 1 at sectionals. "It's all muscle memory. When someone asks me what do I need to do different or what I can improve on, it's just repping it out, doing the same thing over and over again. That's the biggest thing about hurdles. It's not that sprinting thing where there's stuff you have to work on. Hurdles is a different breed of people. You really have to put the work in."
Warwick turned the tables in the 300, edging Worrall (41.20) by 0.13 seconds, but Worrall had more than a second of cushion as he advanced to La Crosse.
"Form-wise, I could have done a little better. I started to stride out a little bit, but when is there ever a race where you say you couldn't do better," Worrall said.
Worrall's performances did not come as a surprise to Kraemer.
"Cole, he deserves it, not just because of how hard he's worked and how he's trained, but he's taken to coaching from Enrique Llanos and he's done an amazing job of leading by example all year for our team," he said. "He's the type of kid you want to make it to state because of the type of person he is. He's a grade-A type kid. He lives and breathes track and field. This is his deal. I'm very happy for him."
Lawrence, the state runner-up in Division 2 in the high jump two years ago, is headed back to La Crosse thanks to a jump that matched her personal best - 5 feet, 2 inches.
The Hodag senior was one of six finalists who cleared 5 feet, and did so in a low number of jumps that put her in good position in case of a tiebreaker. That wasn't necessary as, on her third and final attempt at 5-2, she made it over, clinching her spot at state.
"It feels amazing," she said. "I hadn't cleared (5-2) this year and I was pretty bummed out most meets. When I cleared it on the third jump and I knew I didn't touch the bar, I was so excited because I knew I was going to make it to state."
While Lawrence could not clear 5-4, which would have tied Taylor Wissbroecker's 2012 school record, 5-2 was good enough for second place - just as it was for her at state two years ago.
"She did exactly what she needed to do," Kraemer said. "I'm really happy and excited for her because once you get there, that's the high water mark you want to achieve again. If you don't make it there, it's a huge disappointment for yourself. Even if she didn't make it, I'd be proud of the season that she's had and what she's accomplished in her four years of track and field, but she's going to get an opportunity to jump again."
Beske was one of three jumpers who cleared 6 feet, which put him through in the boys' high jump.
"It feels pretty good. We had Rebecca go, so it's like it's my turn now," Beske said. "We were hoping for 6-2. That's a mental block. We've just got to get over it this week and go clear 6-2 at state."
Only the top three finishers in each event advanced. Caleb Olcikas finished sixth in both the 100 and 200 meters, Jacques Tulowitzky was seventh in the 100 and Ty Welk took seventh in the 400.
Olcikas (11.44) missed out in the 100 by 0.39 seconds while Tulowitzky finished 0.01 seconds behind him. Olcikas' time of 23.44 in the 200 was 0.43 seconds off the mark.
"Those are really, really competitive events," Kraemer said. "You look at the guys from New Richmond in the 100. They are very, very fast and very difficult to chase down. Sixth and seventh in one of the most difficult sectionals in the state, I'm very pleased with them. Hopefully Caleb comes back hungry for next season and he wants to get himself where he needs to be to finish in the state top 10, top 20."
Welk ran a personal-best time of 55.91 seconds to take seventh in the 400, but was nearly 2.7 seconds off the qualifying mark.
Rhinelander also advanced in the 4x100-meter relay but - in an almost identical mishap to what happened to the Hodag girls' squad in last Monday's regional - a bad exchange led to the team dropping the baton and not finishing.
Rhinelander was seeded eighth of eight sectional qualifiers in the event, and Kraemer said the team rolled the dice looking for a few extra tenths.
"Anytime you switch up in the 4x1 there can be problems," he said. "Because the margin is so slim in that event. You have to be perfect. Anything can go wrong there. Because of the switch up there was a miscommunication between the second and third runner and a dropped baton. That ended up costing us."
Freelance reporter Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report from Schofield.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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