Tigers state runners-up!
By Casey Krautkramer
Stratford’s varsity boys track and field team on Saturday won its first WIAA Division 3 state runners-up trophy in 24 years. Stratford edged Edgar by only two points, 34 to 32, to bring home the silver trophy.
The Stratford boys last won the Division 3 state runners-up trophy in 2000 when Andrew Rock, who became a U.S. Olympian, won four events to score the team’s 40 points. Stratford last won the Division 3 state championship in 2008 when current assistant coach Derek Joswiak was a senior in high school.
This is the first time that head coach Nathan Heeg, also a Stratford track alumni, has led the Tigers to win a state trophy. He kept using the word “grateful” when describing what it means to him to guide Stratford’s boys track and field squad to the Division 3 state runners-up trophy.
“It’s an amazing experience,” Heeg said. “I am grateful to the Lord for the opportunity, grateful for my family that is here, grateful for these coaches because this staff is amazing and grateful for these kids.”
Stratford sophomore sprinter Jett Schoenherr did his best on Saturday afternoon to avoid the possibility of the boys team sharing the WIAA Division 3 state runners-up trophy with arch-rival Edgar.
Joswiak, who is his sprinters coach, told Schoenherr that he needed to finish in fourth place or higher in the 200-meter dash to avoid the Tigers tying with the Wildcats if Edgar’s 4x400-meter relay took first place. Schoenherr took third place in the 200-meter dash to avoid sharing the trophy.
Senior Peyton Glenn said his teammate is “amazing.”
“Jett has a clutch gene in him and he delivered for our team,” Glenn said about Schoenherr’s performance in the 200-meter dash.
Stratford’s boys 4x100-meter relay took first place at state on Saturday to pave the way for Schoenherr’s third-place finish in the 200-meter dash in 22.22 seconds for a team state-runners-up finish. The 4x100-meter relay finished the race in 42.54 seconds, which is only three hundredths of a second slower than the state record of 42.51 seconds by Brookfield Academy in 2011.
Members of Stratford’s state champion 4x100-meter relay are Glenn, Schoenherr and sophomores Coltan Breit and Zander Zawislan. Schoenherr said it was a “huge” accomplishment for the relay to take first place at state.
“We took first in meets the whole year and for us to come out here and have perfect handoffs both days, I couldn’t be happier,” Schoenherr said. “We did it for our senior (Payton Glenn) who was our first leg in the relay and it was our last race together.”
Schoenherr took fourth place in the 100-meter dash in 11.24 seconds on Saturday. The top six athletes and relays that finish in each event land on the state podium.
Stratford’s 4x200-meter relay placed third at state on Saturday in one minute, 30.54 seconds and includes junior Brandon Knetter with Glenn, Breit and Zawislan.
Knetter made the state podium with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with 42 feet, 7-1/2 inches. Breit just missed making the state podium after taking seventh place in the long jump with 20 feet, 4-1/4 inches.
See STATE RUNNERS-UP/ page 19
STRATFORD’S STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 4X100-METER RELAY- Members of Stratford’s state champion 4x100meter relay pose for a photo with the boys team’s WIAA Division 3 state runner-up trophy at Veterans Memorial Field on the UW-La Crosse campus. Pictured, from left to right are: Coltan Breit, Jett Schoenherr, Payton Glenn and Zander Zawislan.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
RUNNING IN THE RAIN- Stratford sophomore sprinter Jett Schoenherr runs as fast as he can in the rain during Saturday morning’s 100-meter dash at the WIAA Division 3 state championships in La Crosse. Iola-Scandinavia sophomore Jensen Rice is shown running just ahead of Schoenherr in the last push toward the finish line. Rice won the 100-meter dash state championship while Schonherr took fourth place.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER State runners-up
Continued from page 12
Stratford’s 4x800-meter relay took seventh place at state in 8:21.09 and includes juniors Ethan Heeg, Cree DeFoe, Derek Wiese and Garrett Zuelke. Alternates are junior Reid Miller and freshman Cooper Bosmans.
The Tigers 4x400-meter relay didn’t make it out of preliminaries on Friday to Saturday’s finals. The 4x400-meter relay placed 11th in 3:30.72 and included juniors Garrett Zuelke and Kaden Foster, sophomore Zander Zawislan and freshman Austin Niehaus. Alternates were junior Xander Curtice and freshman Connor Kraft.
Senior Koehler Kilty didn’t place in the shot put after fouling on his three attempts.
Stratford freshman Brianna Sherden took fifth place at state in the girls 100-meter dash in 12.99 seconds,10th place in the 200-meter dash in 26.27 seconds and 16th place in the long jump with 15 feet, 6-1/2 inches. Sophomore Dawnyel Martin placed 15th in the 300-meter hurdles in 49.80 seconds.
LANDING ON THE STATE PODIUM- Stratford junior Brandon Knetter is shown competing in Friday’s triple jump at the WIAA Division 3 state championships in La Crosse. He took sixth place to make it on the state podium.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
