The 128th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Track and Field Championships and the 53rd Girls Track and Field Championships will be held Friday-Saturday, May 31-June 1, at the Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
DIVISION 1 NOTES - BOYS: Arrowhead has the most entries in the meet with 17, including representation in 14 individual events and three relays. De Pere and Menomonee Falls are next with 12 entries. The Redbirds have entries in 11 individual events and one relay, while the Phoenix has representation in nine individual events and three relays. Four individual events and three relays have their champions from last year returning this year. Senior Ben Smith of Hortonville is the two-time returning champion in the shot put. He will be among the contenders for the title again this year after qualifying with the second-furthest sectional throw of 65-7 1/2. In addition, he looks to recapture the gold medal in the discus this year. He earned the championship in 2022 and was runner-up last season, despite eclipsing the former State record in the event. He has the second-best throw qualifying distance this year at 208-0. The top qualifier in the event this season is senior Bryce Ruland of Waterford, the defending champion in the event. He set the State record last season and will threaten that mark again, entering the competition with a qualifying mark of 213.0 at sectionals. Senior Nathan Taylor of Menomonee Falls returns to the 110 hurdles after winning the title last year. He has the eighth-quickest qualifying time this season at 14.99. Senior Logan Hicks of Arrowhead appears poised to contend for his second straight championship in the 300 hurdles with the fastest qualifying time of 37.92. He should also contend with Taylor for the title in the 110 hurdles with the fastest-qualifying time of 14.21 after finishing third last year. The four-time qualifier in the event also finished fourth in 2021 and 2022. The Kaukauna 400 relay has qualified this year with a time of 43.45 after capturing the title last season. That seed time ranks 23rd out of 24 qualifiers in the event. The Neenah 1,600 relay attempts to retain its State title won last season, qualifying with the fifth-best sectional time of 3:21.26. Stevens Point was the champion in the 3,200 relay a year ago. The Panthers return to the event this season with a qualifying time of 8:00.95, which ranks as seventh-fastest on the list of qualifiers.
DIVISION 1 NOTES - GIRLS: Arrowhead has the most entries in the meet with 19, including representation in 15 individual events and all four relays. Mukwonago has the second-most entries with 15, including 12 individual events and three relays. Six individual events and four relays feature the return of their champions from 2023 with one additional 2022 champion seeking a return to gold-medal status. Senior Abigail Sadler of Mount Horeb won the 800 run last season. She attempts to defend the title, entering the race with the second-fastest qualifying time of 2:12.18. Sophomore Ella Anschutz of Muskego has the fastest qualifying time in the 1,600 run at 4:54.62 after winning the event last season. Senior Stacy Kipkoskei of DeForest won the 300 hurdles a year ago. She returns with the fifth quickest qualifying time in the event this year at 45.45. She will need to contend with senior Eva Brandenburg of Homestead, who won the 300 hurdles in 2022 and finished fifth last season. She has recorded the fastest qualifying time at 44.77. Junior Anisa Barnett of Homestead returns to the triple jump after winning gold last season following a fifth-place finish in 2022. She has qualified this season with the second-best jump at sectionals last week at 40-0 1/2. Junior Keira Fax of Wauwatosa West attempts to defend her title in the shot put last season, which came on the heels of a sixth-place finish in 2022. She enters competition this week with the ninth-best qualifying toss of 40-8. Junior Thea Kral of Ashwaubenon appears to be positioned to repeat as champion in the discus. Her qualifying effort 152-2 is almost 11 feet further than the next-closest distance in the competition. Two-time defending champion West De Pere seeks its third straight title in the 1,600 relay. The Phantoms possess the event’s best qualifying time of 3:58.13. West De Pere is also back to defend its crown in the 800 relay with a seed time of 1:42.51, which is just .01 seconds off the fastest qualifying time this season. The Muskego 400 relay returns to the meet seeking a second straight championship, but it will most likely need to shave time off its qualifying time of 50.01, which is positioned 20th in the event. In addition, the Homestead 3,200 relay has the event’s eighth-fastest qualifying time at 9:36.56 in an attempt to defend the crown it won a year ago.
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