Abby track sends six to state

By the end of the D-3 sectional meet held on Thursday, May 26, five Falcons had qualified to compete at the state meet to be held at UW-La Crosse. A sixth member of the the Abbotsford track and field team would later learn that he would be joining his teammates in their pursuit of the podium this coming Friday and Saturday.

Junior Marcus Bohl came to Mondovi having easily taken first place in the discus at the regional meet. His throw of 142 feet, 11 inches easily outpaced the rest of the field, with the second place finisher reaching a maximum distance of 127 feet, five inches. At sectionals, Bohl cleared his own regional mark by nearly four feet, posting a distance of 146 feet, ten inches. This even beat his winning distance of 145 feet, nine inches from last year’s sectional. However, after all was said and done, Bohl found himself on the outside looking in, having placed fifth in an incredibly difficult sectional.

Sometimes, that’s just how the cookie crumbles, so to speak. Luckily for Bohl, however, his season would not end just yet. His personal best had actually been the eighth best throw among all four D-3 sectionals and surpassed the division’s extra qualifying standard of 146 feet, three inches in the event. This would allow him to make a return appearance in La Crosse, where he would get a chance to improve upon his 11th place finish in last year’s meet.

Joining him on the journey to Veterans Memorial Stadium is teammate and fellow state track meet veteran Ty Falteisek. Like Bohl, the senior qualified for the same event he participated in one year ago in La Crosse. His time of 51.93 seconds in the 400-meter dash earned him fourth place at the sectional last Thursday and will give him another opportunity to compete against the best athletes in the state. Falteisek also ran in two other events at the sectional meet. He took ninth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.81 seconds and seventh place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.58 seconds.

Sophomore Warren Flink also competed at the sectional meet for the Falcon boys team. He matched his personal best in the pole vault, clearing a height of ten feet, which would earn him tenth place.

While Bohl and Falteisek have a background at the state level, it will be a new experience for the Falcon girls’ 4x100-meter relay team. The relay of sophomores Sommer Brodhagen, Briseida Escalara and Sydney Falteisek and freshman Chloe Cihlar secured their place in La Crosse by finishing fourth in the event. Onetenth of a second was the difference between the relay moving on to state and their season ending at Mondovi. Their time of 52.55 seconds narrowly edged out the fifth place relay from Kickapoo/La Farge, which came across in 52.68 seconds. Standing in as reserves for the relay are sophomore Calley Ruesch and freshman Sophie Kulesa.

The members of the state-bound relay also competed in several other events at sectionals. The same team participated in the 4x200-meter relay, where they placed 11th with a time of 1:53.61. In addition to the two relays, Brodhagen participated in the discus, where she placed seventh with a throw of 105 feet, one inch and the triple jump where she placed 14th with a leap of 30 feet, ten-and-a-half inches. Cihlar also took part in the triple jump. She placed 16th with a final distance of 30 feet, two-and-a-quarter inches. Falteisek ran the 300-meter hurdles in 54.50 seconds, good for 14th in the event.

Senior Bridgett Pogodzinski took eighth place in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 17.63 seconds in the final heat. She also took 13th in the long jump, with a jump of 13 feet, eight-and-a-half inches. Freshman Margo Pogodzinki rounded out the field events for the Falcons, placing 16th in the shot put with a distance of 26 feet, six inches. The 4x800 relay of Iris Cruz, Ana Flores, Reese Molitor and Azul Diaz took tenth with a time of 11:47.66.

The Abbotsford athletes who qualified for the state meet will be competing in La Crosse on Friday, June 3, at UW-La Crosse’s Veterans Memorial Stadium. They will participate in the preliminaries for these events for the opportunity to move on to the state finals on Saturday. Friday’s D-3 state meet will be held concurrently with D-2’s events and both track and field events are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.