Pierce County athletes claimed one state championship and several notable finishes at the WIAA State Track and Field Meet in La Crosse Friday and Saturday. All told, there were seven podium finishes across the different events, one for Prescott, two for Ellsworth, and four for River Falls. Claiming the top spot on the podium at La Crosse was Ellsworth senior Parker Woodland, who won the high jump with a jump of 6-04.00, earning Ellsworth 10 team points.

Woodland battled a crowded field to claim the title.

“Any time you are able to get a state champion in any event it is a great accomplishment,” said Ellsworth Head Coach Drew Pechacek. “Dealing with the weather, a tight field and the stress of being at state all had to be overcome. With the rainy conditions all morning, he had to be sure of his footing and with a tight field couldn't afford any misses at the heights. When he cleared 6-4-00 on the first try, he put a lot of pressure on the rest of the field and that turned out to be enough. I'm sure he wanted to try to top his own school record and in a normal year under better conditions could have definitely done that. I'm excited to hear that he will continue to jump in college and feel that this isn't the last we have heard from him.”

Starting out the state meet action Friday at La Crosse was River Falls, with the Division 1 school seeing Taurus Eastgate place fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 46-02.50. The River Falls boys, as a team, finished impressively in sixth place with 23 team points in Division 1. That meet was won by Arrowhead for the fifth consecutive year with 60 points, followed by Onalaska with 44 points, West DePere and DePere with 36 each, Chippewa Falls with 26 and River Falls, Janesville Parker and Kimberly with 23 points.

River Falls Coach Max Haskins said his team impressed him.

“As always, having kids compete in La Crosse is exciting. We set two new school records (800 meter, 4x400 meter relay) and put three individuals (800 meter - Quinlan Andrews, high jump - Ty Bauschelt, triple jump - Taurus Eastgate) and one relay (4x400 meter - Jack Silloway, Robbie Anderson, Ty Bauschelt, Quinlan Andrews) on the podium. To have this many people finish the season top six in the state is always the mark of a successful season. I'm proud of our kids and what they were able to accomplish over the two days in La Crosse,” Haskins said.

Continuing on to Division 2 schools, Ellsworth and Prescott each saw podium finishes at La Crosse as well, with Parker Woodland and Maleah Petersen medaling for Ellsworth in the high jump (Woodland) and discus (Petersen) while Sophie Ripley medaled for Prescott in the 400 meter dash.

As for Ellsworth, Woodland placed first in the boys’ high jump with a height of 6-04.00, also competing in the triple jump. Petersen placed fifth in the girls’ discus with a distance of 121-09. Pechacek shared more on state track meet results at La Crosse.

“Maleah was a top performer in the conference all season in the shot and discus,” he said. “We had some of the toughest competition in the state in this area. She had to battle each week to succeed and do what she was capable of. She had to face and fight through adversity all season and was not even one of the four performers in the sectional meet and had to qualify for state as an extra qualifier due to the competition in our sectional. Then at state in less than ideal conditions, she had to battle through a wet ring, drizzle and top competition to battle for a top spot. Her second throw put her in the top six and her steady performance led to her to the podium. She has constantly improved all season and we have high hopes for her next year in her senior year.”

Pechacek also commented on the 100 meter dash, in which Levi Nelson finished 12th in the preliminaries with a time of 11.44.

“Levi was a definite underdog in this event,” Pechacek said. “I thought that for his first time in an individual event he did alright. I think that he was disappointed in his time due to his times over the past couple of meets. I'm excited for him next year as he should return as one of the top people in the event and think that he has a very bright future ahead.”

Pechacek also shared thoughts on the Ellsworth relay team, which finished 12th in the 4x200 meter preliminary with a time of 1:30.61.

“We knew that this was going to be a very competitive race as almost all of the times were very close to one another,” he said. “We however felt very confident that this group could reach finals as they have been improving their times steadily over the past month. Again, the boys were disappointed that they ended the way they did and felt they could have done better. We are still very proud of everything that this group accomplished this year, breaking a record at sectionals from a group that were state champions in the event. It was a tough field and I am extremely proud of them.”

Moving to Prescott results, the Cardinals saw one podium finish, with Ripley placing sixth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 58.56, setting a new school record and breaking the one she had previously set. Prescott head Coach Emily Calabrese shared more on how things went at La Crosse.

“Overall, our state performances had their ups and downs,” she said. “Throughout the weekend, we had some mishaps in our relays that significantly affected their outcomes. For example, a couple troublesome handoffs in the boys 4x100 meter race during prelims took away their chance at qualifying for finals. Unfortunately, it’s all in the nature of the sport. These boys worked really hard all year to perfect their relay, but on that particular day, things didn’t go as planned. They recovered from it the best they could, and I’m proud of that group for their performances this year altogether (Andrew Lesso, Ethan West, Will Packard, and Josh Peterson). Our boys 4x200 and girls 4x400 did about as well as expected, running well but not quite enough to make the final. Boys 4x400 got stuck in a tough spot with our second to third leg handoff that cost some time, but they ran well otherwise. Breckin had a great performance in his open 800 on Saturday, especially considering he was just getting back from illness that had him down 8 pounds leading up to it. Ethan’s vault performance started out a little tough missing some lower heights, but he came back well to vault 13’6” in the end for a ninth place finish. He made the 100 final on Friday afternoon, which was outstanding. He wasn’t seeded to make the final initially, so that was pretty exciting. Unfortunately, mishap struck again and he stumbled a bit out of his blocks in the final. He recovered well from it to place ninth overall. Sophie made the 400 final on Friday and ran very well on Saturday for a sixth place podium finish and a school record (she set it last year and then reset it a couple times this year). It was a great way to cap off a very successful career for Sophie."

Full state track results from La Crosse are as follows:

Division 1

River Falls boys’ team

800-meter run

Quinlan Andrews with 1:52.41 for second place in the finals.

4x200 meter relay

17th place with a time of 1:30.28. Relay team members including alternates were Jack Silloway, Jacob Lane, Charlie Burke, Tyler Bauschelt, Jack Karnau, and Owen Koepke.

4x400 meter relay (preliminary)

Fifth place in the preliminary with a time of 3:21.00 (preliminary) and fifth place in the final with a time of 3:19.55. Relay team members including alternates were Jack Silloway, Robbie Anderson, Tyler Bauschelt, Quinlan Andrews, Jack Karnau, and Owen Koepke.

High Jump

Ty Bauschelt in third place with a height of 6-06.

Long Jump

Taurus Eastgate in 16th place with a jump of 20-10.

Triple Jump

Taurus Eastgate in fourth place with a finish of 46-02.50.

River Falls girls’ team

3200 meter

Olive Halverson with a time of 11:44.47 for 22nd place.

4x100 meter relay

22nd place in the preliminary with a time of 50.33. Relay team members including alternates were Isabelle Russell, Jayla Johnson, Tirfe L’Allier, and Brooke Dusek, Abby Gilbertson and Kendalynne Boevers.

4x200 meter relay

14th in the preliminary with a time of 1:45.50.  Relay team members including alternates were  Russell, Jayla Johnson, Tirfe L’Allier, and Brooke Dusek, Abby Gilbertson and Bailee Bishop.

D1 team standings

River Falls boys - tied for sixth place with 23 points.

Division 2

Ellsworth and Prescott boys’ teams

High jump

Parker Woodland of Ellsworth placed first with a distance of 6-04.00

Pole vault

Ethan West of Prescott placed ninth with a vault of 13-06.00.

Triple jump

Parker Woodland of Ellsworth placed 15th with a distance of 41.00.25

100 meter

Ethan West with 11.34 for eighth place in the preliminary and 11.38 for ninth place in the final.

Levi Nelson of Ellsworth with 12th place in the preliminary with a time of 11.44.

800 meter

Breckin Schommer with a time of 1:59.82 for 11th place in the final.

4x100 meter relay

Prescott boys with 14th place in the preliminary with a time of 43.91. Relay team members including alternates were Andrew Lesso, Ethan West, Will Packard, Finn Stanton, Josh Peterson and Andrew Russell.

4x200 meter relay

Ellsworth boys with 12th place in the preliminary with a time of 1:30.61. Relay team members including alternates were Logan Mueller, Michael Holst, Jack McCabe, Levi Nelson, Ryker Tieman-Hoyer, and Kehan O’Neil.

Prescott boys in 14th place in the preliminary with a time of 1:31.40. Relay team members including alternates were Andrew Lesso, Ethan West, Will Packard, Finn Stanton, Josh Peterson and Wyatt Budworth.

4x400 meter relay

Prescott boys in 15th place in the preliminary with a time of 3:30.19. Relay team members including alternates were Jack Kraeger, Breckin Schommer, Andrew Russell, Will Packard, Kyle Cogan, and Wyatt Wrisky.

Ellsworth and Prescott girls’ teams

400 meter

Sophie Ripley of Prescott in seventh place in the preliminary with a time of 58.93. Ripley took sixth place in finals with a time of 58.56.

4x400 meter relay

Prescott in 11th place in the preliminaries with a time of 4:06.92. Relay team members including alternates were Ava Budworth, Amanda Miller, Marissa Cogan , Sophie Ripley, Natalie Huppert, and Zoe Anthony.

Discus

Maleah Petersen of Ellsworth in fifth place with a distance of 121-09.

D2 Team Standings

Ellsworth boys - tied for 20th place with 10 team points

Ellsworth girls - tied for 39th place with four team points

Prescott girls - tied for 46th place with three team points