Falteisek, Bohl carry Falcon flag at state

The Falteisek name carries a great deal of weight in Abbotsford, espcially when it comes to track and field.

No one is more aware of this than Ty Falteisek, a junior at Abbotsford High, and one of the top sprinters in the state. Over the years, Ty watched his older sister Kallie compete at state all four years of her career, but COVID-19 robbed Ty of the chance to compete for a spot at state last year, but he made up for lost time, earning a ticket to state this year.

There were some question marks coming into the spring season, especially since Ty was coming of a serious injury.

Those concerns were quickly put to bed at the start of the season, with Ty earning multiple three finishes at every meet he attended.

“To go from having a broken ankle with surgery in November to sprinting to state eight months later is real impressive,” head coach Jake Knapmiller said. “I am sure he will be willing to learn and grow from his experiences. “

When the postseason arrived, Ty was more than ready for it, and quickly earned Marawood all-conference honors.

He used those results to propel him forward once he arrived at the WIAA D-3 regional meeet in Colby. He won the regional title in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash to advance to sectionals.

Falteisek and the Falcons found themselves headed to Boscobel for their sectional, and that particular sectional boasted some of the swiftest athletes in the state, including Lucas Beck, the 2019 state champion in the 100 and 200-meters.

Ty qualified for the finals of the 200-meter dash, but his time of 23.48, which would have ordinarily won him any other meet, was only seventh. He still had the 400-meters, his best event.

It wouldn’t be easy, especially with the temps pushing the mercury in the thermometers into the upper 80s. But it wasn’t the temps that melted the rubber in Boscobel in the 400-meter dash.

The runners scorched through the surface, running blistering times. When the dust settled, Ty had run under 53 seconds for the second time in his career, placed fourth, and was going to La Crosse.

“It means quite a bit to me, making it to state,” Falteisek said. “Coming after my sister Kallie, who made it ever since she was a freshman, it’s been a big goal of mine. I wanted to keep that tradition going.”

The competition would only get harder at state. This year’s event was spread out Falcons

over three days, with D-3 on Thursday, D-2 on Friday and D-1 on Saturday. That meant the crowd’s would be smaller, but in no way did that mean the scene was any less nerve-wracking or special.

Falteisek came into La Veterans Memorial Stadium with an outside shot of cracking the top six and making podium, but he would need to run faster than ever before as he was seeded seventh.

Temps were brutal, and coupled with humidity and high winds. All three elements conspired against Ty, who finished 15th in the 400-meters in 53.31 seconds.

“I feel like the heat definitely factored in a bit, and especially the wind in that last stretch, but I feel like I should have evened out with that backstretch too.”

Nonetheless, it was an excellent learning experience, and one that Ty hopes to apply to next season.

“I always want to try and improve after each race and each event. Next year, I hope to make it back and hopefully podium with it.”

Ty shouldn’t be the only one returning to state in 2022, and he wasn’t the only Falcon to wear Abby’s colors at state this year. Sophomore Marcus Bohl joined Falteisek in La Crosse last week.

“It’s impressive Marcus made it. It was his first year doing high school track. He wasn’t even going to go out because he didn’t want to run,” Knapmiller said. “Coach Bloch deserves a lot of credit for putting the time in and giving all of his throwers the opportunity to be great!”

Bohl surprised everyone when he won the discus title at Boscobel, and his throw of 145-09 was far and away the best of his young career. In fact, it was so good that Bohl was the only underclassmen in La Crosse for the discus throw.

Bohl held his own against older competition last week, placing eleventh overall with his best throw of 134 feet. With room to grow and get stronger, the future is certainly bright for Bohl.

“It was a great way to end a strange year. Proud of all of our kids to stick it out until the end,” Knapmiller said. “The easy thing to do was to quit or not give 100 percent, but our kids that stayed with it got better because of it!”

BUILDING MOMENTUM -Abby sophomore Marcus Bohl prepares to let the discus loose during the state meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Bohl was the only underclassman in the competition.STAR NEWS/MATT FREY