Middleton girls cruise to sectionals
When Ema Heimerl arrived at Mansfield Stadium to compete in a WIAA Division 1 regional track and field meet Monday afternoon, the Middleton senior took a look around and sighed.
Like many of her peers, Heimerl pondered whether it would be the final competition of her high school career.
"When I walked into the ring, I was thinking that it possibly could be my last time throwing shot, and I got really nervous. I shouldn't have done that," said Heimerl, whose seventh-place finish in the event wasn't good enough to advance to sectionals.
However, when it came time to compete in her favorite event, the discus, Heimerl said she put any negative thoughts out of her mind.
Heimerl shattered her personal-best mark in the discus by nearly 10 feet, unleashing a toss of 122 feet, 11 inches in the prelims. That mark stood up in the finals to give Heimerl the title and allow her to advance to Thursday's sectional meet in Holmen.
The top four individual finishers and top four relays in each event advanced to sectional competition. The top three individuals and top three relays at sectionals will advance to the state meet on May 30-31 at UW-La Crosse.
"I didn't do great in finals. I was too excited. But my 122 held up," Heimerl said. "I've been having trouble with consistency this year. But I finally was able to relax in the ring, which has been my biggest problem."
Heimerl set a PR in her first toss in prelims and then did it again with her 122-foot toss. Her final throw in prelims was also better than any throw she had made before Monday.
"Every time when we come to (Mansfield), I have a PR here. I don't know why," she said. "But it was our first time here this year. I'm so excited."
So were the rest of her Middleton teammates, who helped the Cardinals finish with 141 points and cruise to the regional title. Madison La Follette (103) nipped Madison Memorial (102) for second place. Middleton qualified 10 individuals and all four of its relays for Thursday's sectional meet at Holmen.
Junior Maggie Bollig had another spectacular evening for the Big Eight Conference champion Cardinals, winning the 800- and 1,600-meter runs and running a leg on the runner-up 1,600 relay, which fell just two seconds shy of setting a school-record.
"What can you say about her? She earned a triple crown in the conference meet. She's hoping to go to state in both the mile and the 800, and she's doing really well," Middleton coach Isaac Mezera said. "She's a premier runner in the state and one of the most humble girls you're going to find. You put her in anything and she says, 'Oh, I'll run it, that's fine.' Tonight was vintage Maggie."
The Cardinals also got first-place finishes from junior Teryn Buchanan in the 100 high hurdles, freshman Erin McCauley in the 300 low hurdles and senior Emily Fowler, who set a personal-best time by nearly five seconds in winning the 3,200 run in 11 minutes, 42.68 seconds.
"I had no idea this could happen. I was just trying to make it to sectionals," said Fowler, who caught Madison West's Laurel Ohm on their final lap and outkicked her down the stretch. "It's like a relief. I was more worried about qualifying. To win and get a PR makes it even better."
Middleton capped the evening with its runner-up finish in the 1,600 relay behind a blazing pace set by the Sauk Prairie quartet of Jennifer Kippley, Kelsey Nonn, Hannah Hubanks and Nicole Ballweg, who won in 9:50.23.
"Hopefully we have two more races, but we're going to get that (school) record," said senior Katie Gaab, a member of the runner-up 1,600 relay and the winning 400 relay. "It was a very exciting night. We're at our peak right now. The whole team is doing well."
Fellow Big Eight Conference rivals Madison La Follette, which qualified nine individuals and two relays, and Madison Memorial, which qualified nine individuals and one relay, also performed well.
Samia Taylor was La Follette's only individual champion, winning the triple jump.
Memorial was led by senior Tiffany Jones, who won the 100 and 200 dashes and the long jump, and Lauren Rock, who won the 400.
"It's my last year. I have nothing to lose so my philosophy is to just go for it," said Jones, who will compete at the University of Wisconsin next year. "I'm just having fun competing and keeping busy."
While Heimerl was pleased to be going to sectionals with a large team contingent, she was also happy that fellow senior Lucas Smith also advanced to sectionals for the Middleton boys with a fourth-place finish in the shot put.
"I told him before the meet that he was going to hit 45 (feet) and he did," Heimerl said of Smith, whose toss of 45-11 was also a personal-best. "I'm happy for both of us. It was like our last stand because we're the two senior throwers and we're going to sectionals."
Heimerl echoed a sentiment that was heard often on Monday and will be oft-repeated around the state during Thursday's sectional meets.
"You know it could be your last meet but you don't want to think about it because it can affect you like it did me in the shot," Heimerl said. "I just tried not to think about it for the discus. You just have to have fun."
GIRLS
Team scores -- Middleton 141, Madison La Follette 103, Madison Memorial 102, Sauk Prairie 79, DeForest 77, Madison East 62.5, Madison West 49, Waunakee 47.5, Monona Grove 40.
Individual results:
100 meters -- 1, Jones, MM, :12.80; 2, Whalen, ME, :13.48; 3, Hovey, Mi, :13.53; 4, Anthony, MG, :13.57.
200 -- 1, Jones, MM, :25.55; 2, Kippley, SP, :26.36; 3, Grassl, W, :26.36; 4, Rock, MM, :27.25.
400 -- 1, Rock, MM, :58.82; 2, Ballweg, SP, :59.27; 3, Grassl, W, 1:00.72; 4, Acker, MID, 1:03.69.
800 -- 1, Bollig, MID, 2:17.97; 2, Cruz, W, 2:20.96; 3, Keepman, MW, 2:27.10; 4, Brickson, ME, 2:29.49.
1,600 -- 1, Bollig, MID, 5:27.19; 2, Baltisberger, ML, 5:33.90; 3, Ramsey, SP, 5:34.16; 4, Howery, D, 5:34.20.
3,200 -- 1, Fowler, MID, 11:42.68; 2, Ohm, MW, 11:45.62; 3, Ramsey, SP, 11:51.49; 4, Crawford, MM, 11:51.84.
100 high hurdles -- 1, Buchanan, MID, :16.59; 2, Troia, ML, :16.66; 3, DuBois, D, :16.78; 4, Parker, ME, :17.18.
300 low hurdles -- 1, McCauley, MID, :48.86; 2, Imse, ML, :49.20; 3, Doyle, MW, :49.50; 4, Bertun, ME, :49.66.
400 relay -- 1, Middleton (Walz, Hovey, Gaab, McGinnis), :51.58; 2, DeForest, :52.56; 3, Monona Grove, :52.99; 4, Waunakee, :53.56.
800 relay -- 1, Middleton (McCauley, Hovey, McGinnis, Landsee), 1:47.22; 2, Madison La Follette, 1:47.41; 3, Sauk Prairie, 1:47.71; 4, Waunakee, 1:50.82.
1,600 relay -- 1, Sauk Prairie (Kippley, Nonn, Hubanks, Ballweg), 4:02.46; 2, Middleton, 4:05.08; 3, Madison La Follette, 4:10.72; 4, Waunakee, 4:19.31.
3,200 relay -- 1, Madison East (Taschwer, Schaefer, Bertun, Brickson), 9:50.23; 2, Madison West, 10:08.14; 3, Madison Memorial, 10:19.12; 4, Middleton, 10:24.68.
Pole vault -- 1, Parker, ME, 10-6; 2, McConville, SP, 10-6; 3, Imse, ML, 9-6; 4, Heller, MM, 9-6.
High jump -- 1, McConville, SP, 5-0; 2, tie, Nehls, D, and Olson, MM, 4-10; 4, Owen, MID, 4-10.
Long jump -- 1, Jones, MM, 17-0.75; 2, Mau, D, 16-11; 3, Taylor, ML, 15-9.5; 4, Gloede, ML, 15-0.5.
Triple jump -- 1, Taylor, ML, 35-10.75; 2, Mau, D, 34-11; 3, McGinnis, MID, 34-8.25; 4, Gloede, ML, 34-1.
Shot put -- 1, Boushea, MG, 40-6.5; 2, McNeal, SP, 39-3.5; 3, Ta. Wade, ML, 35-7; 4, Cooper, D, 34-2.
Discus -- 1, Heimerl, MID, 122-11; 2, Cooper, D, 116-11; 3, Brown, MM, 113-11; 4, Boushea, MG, 110-11.
