Monday wasn't about making statements, but it was hard to ignore the message coming from Madison La Follette's boys track and field camp.

 On the same day it was revealed that three of the Lancers' distance runners rank among the top four percent of the school's graduating class, distinguished seniors Andy Buchanan, John Pruszynski and Garrett Eklof made sure they stood out from sun-up past sundown.

 Buchanan won the 800 and 1,600 meters and Pruszynski and Eklof led a 1-2-3 La Follette finish in the 3,200 as the Lancers went to the head of the class at the WIAA Division 1 Madison Memorial regional.

 Big Eight Conference champoin La Follette won nine of the 14 events and took the team title with 173 points -- 2 1/3 points shy of the next two teams (Monona Grove and Madison Memorial) combined. Not bad for a team with runners who use their heads as well as their legs.

 ``It kind of gives us three an extra component to compete at,'' said Ekloff, an Iowa State recruit. ``We're always competing at something. Now it's who's getting better grades in Calculus and those things.''

 On this night, it was all about making the grade on the track.

 Buchanan, who will run at Columbia University next season, got it started, anchoring the victorious 3,200 relay and winning the 800 and 1,600. But that was just half the battle for the Lancers' distance crew, who -- after winning the state cross country title last fall -- made it a their goal to be a presence at state in track this spring.

 Prusynski and Ekloff gave La Follette two qualifiers for Thursday's sectional in Holmen with their 1-2 finish in the 3,200. They turned around in time to see teammate Brently Bohn catch Madison West's Brett Kelly, the top seed in the event, to complete the sweep.

 ``It's great to have three guys getting through,'' said Pruszynski, who will attend the University of Wisconsin this fall and is being encouraged by his teammates to walk-on with the Badgers. ``We train with these people so much; it's nice to see them succeed.''

 That success seemed to be contagious.

 Tyler Knight (triple jump), Chris Redman (high jump) and Dayton Sheppard (pole vault) helped La Follette fare well in the field events while Caleb Krueger won the 300 hurdles and joined Knight won the winning 800 relay. It was a rewarding night for Krueger, who also agreed to run a leg of the 800 relay over a chance to compete in the 110 high hurdles.

 ``With the 110 hurdles, statistically, it was looking like state was a little far from reach,'' said Krueger, a senior who also ran on the 1,600 relay that took second to DeForest. ``The coaches wanted me to step up and help out in the 4x2 relay and I was more than willing to. It's a team effort. If I can help the team more doing a 4x2, I'll do it in a second.''

 In the girls competition, Madison Memorial's Tiffany Jones got her postseason off to a rousing start. The UW recruit, who qualified for state last year in the 100 and 200, won regional titles in both events as well as the long jump.

 ``I have high hopes for all my events,'' said Jones, whose winning time in the 200 (25.55 seconds) was her best of the season. ``Basically, my philosphy is just go hard. It's my last year. Nothing to lose.''

 That's the same approach Ema Heimerl and the Middleton girls took in cruising to the regional team title. The senior won the discus with a toss of 122 feet, 11 inches -- almost 10 feet better than her previous best as the Cardinals rode their relays and distance runner Maggie Bollig to a 141-103 victory over La Follette and gained confidence for the trip to Holmen.

 ``One meet at a time,'' Middleton coach Tara Franklin said ``We get up to Holmen and it's a tough sectional. But we're obviously looking strong going up to that one. Hopefully, we can hold onto that and continue the journey and head back up the same path (to La Crosse and the state meet) a week from now.''

BOYS

Team scores: Madison La Follette  173, Monona Grove 89, Madison Memorial 86 1/3, Madison West 79, Waunakee 67 1/2, DeForest 63 1/3, Madison East 62 1/2, Middleton 43 1/2, Sauk Prairie 36 5/6.

100 meters -- 1, Davis, MW, :11.23; 2, Nkemnji, MM, :11.44; 3, Jacobs, MM, :11.54; 4, Lawless, MG, :11.56.

200 -- 1, Simmons, D, :22.36; 2, Badger, MM, :22.54; 3, McDonough, W, :23.19; 4, Sanders, ML, :23.31.

400 -- 1, Simmons, D, :50.04; 2, Davis, MW, :51.09; 3, Samz, SP, :51.24; 4, Schwellinger, ME, :51.26.

800 -- 1, Buchanan, ML, 1:57.28; 2, Olson, ME, 1:59.18; 3, Noltemeyer, MM, 1:59.36; 4, Fisher, Mi, 2:00.55.

1,600 -- 1, Buchanan, ML, 4:26.35; 2, Brill, ML, 4:26.71; 3, Reilly, W, 4:27.25; 4, Williams, MW, 4:27.43.

3,200 -- 1, Prusynski, ML, 9:43.29; 2, Eklof, ML, 9:43.68; 3, Bohn, ML, 9:48.00; 4, Kelly, MW, 9:48.04.

110 high hurdles -- 1, Smith, MG, :14.79; 2, Neblett, MM, :15.27; 3, Fosler, D, :15.34; 4, Hopkins, ME, :15.80.

300 intermediate hurdles -- 1, Krueger, ML, :40.61; 2, Neblett, MM, :40.65; 3, Sample, MW, :41.49; 4, Ta. Scharnke, ML, :42.47.

400 relay -- 1, Waunakee (Radel, McDonough, Weber, Johnson), :44.17; 2, Madison Memorial, :44.40; 3, Madison La Follette, :44.46; 4, Middleton, :44.70.

800 relay -- 1, Madison La Follette (Krueger, Vacek, Sanders, Knight), 1:31.20; 2, Madison Memorial, 1:31.73; 3, Waunakee, 1:32; 4, Monona Grove, 1:33.80.

1,600 relay -- 1, DeForest (Fosler, Knuteson, Hedberg, Simmons), 3:28.60; 2, Madison La Follette, 3:30.68; 3, Midddleton, 3:30.70; 4, Madison West 3:31.25.

3,200 relay -- 1, Madison La Follette (Scharnke, Seye, Brill, Buchanan), 8:00.60; 2, Sauk Prairie, 8:02.09; 3, Madison East, 8:08.19; 4, Madison Memorial, 8:10.95

Long jump -- 1, Pearson, MW, 20-8 1/2; 2, Redman, ML, 20-6 1/2; 3, Radel, W, 20-6; 4, Hammonds, MG, 20-3 1/2.

Triple jump -- 1, Knight, ML, 45-1 1/4; 2, Parrott, W, 43-7; 3, Smith, MG, 43-1; 4, Pearson, MW, 42-8.

High jump -- 1, Redman, ML, 6-6; 2, Morehouse, MG, 6-4; 3, Schwarz, SP, 6-0; 4, Maly, W, 6-0.

Pole vault -- 1, Sheppard, ML, 13-6; 2, Simeon, ME, 12-0; 3, tie,  Kessenich, SP, and Furbee, 11-6.

Shot put -- 1, Mahaffey, MM, 53-1; 2, Grosso, MG, 51-11 1/2; 3, Aguayo, ME, 47-3; 4, Smith, Mi, 45-11.

Discus -- 1, Grosso, MG, 162-2; 2, Reed, MG, 151-7; 3, Bakke, D, 144-2; 4, Mahaffey, MM, 139-7.

GIRLS

Team scores: Middleton 141, Madison La Follette 103, Madison Memorial 102, Sauk Prairie 79, DeForest 77, Madison East 62 1/2, Madison West 49, Waunakee 47 1/2, Monona Grove 40.

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, Mi, 1:03.69.

800 -- 1, Bollig, Mi, 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, Mi, 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, Mi, 11:4268; 2, Ohm, MW, 11:45.62; 3, Ramsey, SP, 11:51..49; 4, Crawford, MM, 11:51.84.

100 high hurdles -- 1, Buchanan, Mi, :16.59; 2, Troia, ML, :16.66; 3, DuBois, D, :16.78; 4, Parker, ME, :17.18.

300 low hurdles -- 1, McCauley, Mi, :48.86; 2, Imse, ML, :49.20; 3, Doyle, MW, :49.50; 4, Bertun, ME, :49.66.

400 relay -- 1, Middleton (Gaab, Hovey, Walz, 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.

Long jump -- 1, Jones, MM, 17-0 3/4; 2, Mau, D, 16-11; 3, Taylor, D, 16-11; 4, Gloede, ML, 15-0 1/2.

Triple jump -- 1, Taylor, ML, 35-10 3/4; 2, Mau, D, 34-11; 3, McGinnis, Mi, 343-8 1/4; 4, Gloede, ML, 34-1.

High jump -- 1, McConville, SP, 5-0; 2, tie, Olson, MM, and Nehls, D, 4-10; 4, Owen, Mi, 4-10.

Pole vault -- 1, Parker, ME, 10-6; 2, McConville, SP, 10-6; 3, Imse, ML, 9-6; 4, Heller, MM, 9-6.

Shot put -- 1, Boushea, MG, 40-6 1/2; 2, McNeal, SP, 39-3 1/2; 3, Wade, ML, 35-7; 4, Cooper, D, 34-2.

Discus -- 1, Heimerl, Mi, 122-11; 2, Cooper, D, 116-11; 3, Brown, MM, 113-11; 4, Boushea, MG, 110-11.