June 5, 2023 at 9:15 a.m.
Hodags' Buchmann takes 6th in state discus
Hodags' Buchmann takes 6th in state discus
The freshman made her next throw count and left La Crosse with a medal as a result.
Buchmann recorded a throw of 117 feet, 2 inches in her third and final toss of preliminaries. That mark wound up being good enough to finish sixth overall in the competition.
Buchmann became Rhinelander's first podium finisher at state since 2019, when Rebecca Lawrence placed second in the D2 high jump and the Hodag boys made the medal stand, taking fifth in the 4x200-meter relay and sixth in the 4x100.
"Really, really proud of her to, first off, make it to the final, but second of all, to make the podium, it's amazing," Hodag track coach Aaron Kraemer said.
It took a clutch throw to get there. Buchmann sat sixth out of eight throwers in the opening flight after two throws. Her first traveled only 96-2 and her second landed out of bounds. After a brief delay to secure some tents that started to blow away due to gusty conditions, Buchmann responded with her second best throw of the season - only three inches shy of her qualifying mark at regionals - to move up to fourth place and put herself soundly in contention.
"It didn't feel like it went too far, but I knew it was good enough," Buchmann said, adding that the brief wind delay provided a bit of levity prior to her throw of record.
"It was pretty funny watching the tents. We got to talk some of the other girls while waiting," she said.
"She just had a rough release on the first throw," Kraemer said. "The second throw, she bombed on, just out of bounds kind of like the end of the sectional round last week. The third one, there was a difference in the approach compared to what conference was like. She was confident that she was going to get one in and she took the best throw she possibly could. She (nearly) equals her PR. It was a really good release, really good throw. I think if it would have been a little bit higher, she would have been a little bit further even."
From there, Buchmann had to sit through the second flight, with the eight top qualifiers for the event, to see if her mark would hold within to top 10 and earn her three more throws in the final round. Only two ended up bettering that toss, putting Buchmann in podium contention, in sixth place through the preliminaries.
Buchmann was unable to improve upon that mark in the finals. She had a toss of 105-1 with her fifth throw and scratched on the other two. But those positioned behind Buchmann struggled to improve as well. Only Notre Dame Academy's Jacqueline Zacharias bettered her mark from the preliminaries, but that checked in at 114-5 and by the time that Buchmann threw her final disc she had already clinched a spot on the podium.
"It actually wasn't too stressful. I was more excited and nervous," Buchmann said.
"I thought 120 was going to have to be the number (to make the podium) but we saw clearly as the second flight was going on that Libbey and a really good shot," Kraemer said. "Sometimes you just put a marker out there and everybody else has to chase it, and she did just that."
Jefferson senior Ayianna Johnson won the championship in the event with a D2 state-record toss of 154-2. New Berlin West's Meghan Schultz (132-11), Fox Valley Lutheran's Emma Nilson (128-6), Waupun's Michieleah Borchardt (119-11), Campbellsport's Aubree Koenings (119-9) and Buchmann rounded out the podium positions.
"It was cool watching the other girls, especially the girl (Johnson) who broke the state record by like three inches. She was cool to watch, really good form," Buchmann said.
Buchmann finished ahead of all three throwers who beat her in sectionals a week prior. Arcadia's Casidi Pehler took ninth, Daelyn Reick of Colby finished 10th. Ruby Goldstein of Somerset failed to get a throw in bounds during the preliminaries and did not make the finals.
Both Buchmann and Kraemer said Friday's performance will give her something to shoot for next year.
"Next year's goal is definitely going to be higher. I'd like to come back to state. That's definitely a goal and, probably, rank higher than sixth," Buchmann said.
"Getting on the podium, once you taste it, victory is one of those feelings, once you taste it, you want more and more of," Kraemer added. "My job now is just to cultivate that fire in her and continue to teach her to get better and better. She had a great year and it's all the credit to her for the hard work she put in, especially since she's a two-sport athlete. Her and coach (Brock) Snyder worked really hard to make sure she was able to get where she could and what a great finish today."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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