BACK TO BACK
The Medford track and field record book shows the program has never had a female runner that can match Meredith Richter. Her final meet as a Raider was one to remember.
The University of Nebraska-Omaha recruit didn’t just re-set three of her school records, she obliterated two of them and, with the third new record, she repeated as the 800-meter champion at the WIAA Division 2 state championships at UWLa Crosse. With that title and her fourthplace finishes in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, Richter earned three medals, giving her six state medals for her career, which is a program record, breaking Barb Kloth’s previous record of five.
She becomes just the third back-to-back state champion in program history, boys or girls, following Ron Russ, a Division 1 300-meter intermediate hurdles champion in 1993 and 1994, and Wendy Roberts, a Division 1 high jump champion in 1999 and 2000.
She is the girls school record holder in those three races, plus the 400-meter dash.
“She had an incredible meet,” Medford’s outgoing head coach Shawn Sullivan said. “She met every goal we set, except for the 800 state record. We missed by a few tenths.”
Being the competitor Richter is, that near miss of the Division 2 record was still eating at her a little bit Monday, nearly 72 hours after the race. But she also admitted her final weekend of high school track was hard to beat.
“Looking back I’ve done a lot,” Richter said. “It’s crazy. I always ran some sort of 800 at state. My freshman year it was a relay. Even then I was like, ‘wow, this is so cool.’ To go from a relay to open events like my sophomore year in the 800. I was in the slow heat but I still podiumed. That was really cool. I just got a little bit better every year. Last year I won. This year, three medals. It just got a little bit better each year, which is good.”
The 800-meter championship came in her second race of Friday’s session. Entering the race as the number-one seed, she took the lead toward the end of lap one and then pulled away for a winning time of 2:12.05, just 0.25 seconds off the 2016 state record set by Cambridge’s Sydnie Currie. She won by 1.76 seconds over Freedom junior Claire Helmila and 2.61 seconds over third-place finisher Kalena Riemer. Her good friend Nora Gremban of Northland Pines was fourth in 2:16.34.
“All week, coach paced me at a 2:10, 2:11,” Richter said. “The state record is 2:11.8. I wanted to beat that and obviously I wanted to win. I knew if I could run a 2:10, I’d win. I just had to worry about the record then. That’s all I had in my head.
“The first 400 meters I tried to keep it controlled but still fast,” she continued. “I love the 400 race, so once I hit the last lap in the 800 I know I have that kick. That’s when I just, boom, take off. The last 400 I just tried to pull away as much as possible. At the last 100-meter stretch, I saw the clock and I was like, ‘am I going to make it? Am I going to make it? Then I was a quarter of a second away from the record. I was just like, ‘wow, that was not cool.’ But I couldn’t be mad because I won. And back-to-back is pretty cool. I tried not to be disappointed. But I was so close.”
Earlier on Friday, Richter’s fourth-place time in the 1,600-meter run was 4:58.13, smashing her previous best of 5:08.27 set eight days earlier at the Colby sectional.
Seeded fourth, Richter was actually in 10th place after one lap of the four-lap race at 1:14.16. But she bumped up to sixth by the end of lap two and then got the faster negative splits she wanted on the last two laps to climb up two more spots.
“Everyone goes out so fast in the mile and coach is like, ‘if you go out fast you won’t be able to run negative splits,’” Richter said. “If you run negative splits, you hit your pace and you have better times. We’ve been working on it all season. I was in ninth or 10th place definitely at the 200 and the 400 too. Then you just slowly pick it up and click it down and you just pass people and catch them. It makes it fun. It makes it easier to speed up too because you’re thinking you have to catch this person and this person.”
The runners she caught in the last lap, which was timed at 1:10.52, were Sophia Yetter of Winneconne (4:59.34) and Ellie Robinson of Dodgeville-Mineral Point (5:02.11), who finished fifth and sixth. Third-seeded Lilie Fouts of Appleton Xavier won it in 4:49.05, 0.68 seconds off the state record, the top-seeded Gremban was second in 4:50.97 and Bloomer’s second- seeded freshman, Ciara Hartman, took third in 4:55.56.
“All I wanted to do was break five (minutes),” Richter said. “I would’ve been cranky if I didn’t. If you turn out a sub-five in high school, that’s pretty good. That was my goal. I’m glad I hit that one.”
On Saturday, Richter’s lone race was the 3,200-meter run and in this one, much of the hard work that went into the season was rewarded with a time of 10:45.86 that smashed her record of 11:11 set at the May 10 Marshfield Invitational.
Sullivan and Richter both noted how Richter ran 40 miles per week during the season, which was something she actually started during the cross country season on the advice of some college coaches. Tapering down to about 27 miles the past two weeks had Richter feeling fresh, speed workouts during the pre-state week of practice showed it was working and Richter said the success of the previous day brought a strange calmness as she hit the starting line, though she did find something to motivate her.
“I was seeded 12th and that made me mad,” Richter said. “It wasn’t my PR because it was from the sectional and I had two other races that day. For most of the other girls their seed times were their PRs because it was the only race they ran. Just the number 12, I did not like that. I wanted to medal. I wanted three medals.”
Time-wise, Richter’s goal was to break 11 minutes. To do that, Sullivan said the hope was to reach the mile mark at 5:33. A negative split over the next mile would put her right there.
“I had super control over the first mile,” Richter said. “I don’t know exactly what place I was in, eighth maybe. But coach was really about negative splits for this one because it’s a longer race. The first mile was supposed to be a 5:32, 5:33 and I ran a 5:33. I was on pace and that’s when I was pacing at 10:59 or 11. But I must’ve had a ton of juice in the tank because then I just picked it up a bit more and a bit more and I closed with a 5:11 mile and I was like, that’s wild.”
In fact, Richter’s last lap in this race was virtually just as fast as her last lap from the 1,600-meter race at 1:10.9.
“I knew she had a sub-11 in her,” Sullivan said, remembering that on the night Richter ran 11:11 in Marshfield, she still had enough to run a leg in the 4x400 relay moments later. “We had paced her out during the season for that. But to go to 10:45 was incredible.”
Hartman, the sectional champion at Colby, won the state title in 10:30.02, well ahead of Gremban (10:38.97) and Fouts (10:44.31). Bella Grenier from the University School of Milwaukee was fifth (10:48.61).
“I thought I’d be lucky to sub-11,” Richter said. “But a 26-second PR? That’s crazy. I hate to say it, but that was my favorite race of the weekend.”
Now Richter is training for a national meet in North Carolina next weekend where she will run the 800. She heads to Omaha in mid-August and is looking forward to the new challenges being an NCAA Division 1 competitor will bring.
“I don’t know what to expect,” she said. “All I know is I want to get faster. It’ll be fun. It’s an all-girls team. We have a really good coach (Cliff Cisar) and he’s dialed in. He has big goals too and I think that’s the kind of environment I need. It will be awesome.”
The rest of the qualifiers
Three more qualifiers from Taylor County, one from each high school, also competed at the state meet on Saturday.
Gilman’s Chad Konsella had the best finish of those three, taking 13th in the Division 3 boys long jump competition Saturday morning. In the rain, Konsella, who was seeded 15th based on his sectional distance of 20 feet, 2 inches, hit 197.25 on his first jump of the preliminary round. After a scratch on his second jump, Konsella extended his distance 2 more inches to 19-9.75 on his third jump.
While he was not one of the 10 jumpers to reach the finals, Konsella surpassed three jumpers who were seeded behind him to start the competition. Bangor’s Gavin Meacham, the 10th seed, was 14th at 19-1.75. Toby Volkmann of Three Lakes, the third seed, slipped to 15th at 18-11 and 14th seeded Karson Redman of Parkview finished 16th at 18-8.
Top seed Caden Wold of Boyceville, a senior, won the state championship at 2210.75, while Webster’s Nathan Jackson, another senior, was second at 21-10. They were the two jumpers to finish ahead of Konsella, who is a junior at the May 23 WIAA Division 3 Cameron sectional. The other qualifier from that sectional, Turtle Lake-Clayton freshman Brody Tarman went from the 16th seed to the 11th-place finisher with a jump of 19-10.75.
Medford senior Jaylin Machon and Rib Lake sophomore Jed Henderson had the unfortunate results of no-heighting in their events.
Machon competed in the Division 2 girls pole vault and Henderson competed in the Division 3 boys high jump.
Moved indoors due to the rainy weather, the pole vault competition started at 10 feet. Machon qualified for state by tying her personal-best of 10-6 at the May 23 sectional in Colby. She and Seymour sophomore Maya Vande missed their three attempts at 10 feet. Northwestern’s Lillian Hoeffling and Westby’s Madelyn Vonfeldt missed on their first two tries but hit their third vaults to advance to 10-6, where they fell out of the competition. New Berlin West’s Julie Gerny and Richland Center’s Danica Pauls missed one vault before hit-
WIAA Div. 2 girls 800-meter run results 1. Meredith Richter, Sr., Medford, 2:12.05; 2.
Claire Helmila, Jr., Freedom, 2:13.81; 3. Kalena Riemer, Sr., Brodhead-Juda, 2:15.66; 4. Nora Gremban, Sr., Northland Pines, 2:16.34; 5. Sophie Yetter, Sr., Winneconne, 2:16.63; 6. Leanna Weinhold, So., Grafton, 2:16.93; 7. Lauren Wegand, Jr., Little Chute, 2:16.99; 8. Valencia Burgos, So., East Troy, 2:17.33; 9. Erin Schauer, Jr., Madison Edgewood, 2:20.15; 10. Jenna Hursh, Sr., Northwestern, 2:21.8; 11. Josie Kooima, Sr., Waupun, 2:23.33; 12. Natasha Tiry, Jr., Amery, 2:24.71; 13.
Luci Jensen, Sr., Brookfield Academy, Sr., 2:25.77; 14. Samantha Sarner, So., Waukesha Catholic Memorial, 2:26.95; 15. Emily Zeller, Fr., New Berlin West, 2:28.22; 16. Molly Duel, Jr., Laconia, 2:29.22
WIAA Div. 2 girls 1,600-meter run results
1. Lilie Fouts, Sr., Appleton Xavier, 4:49.05; 2.
Nora Gremban, Sr., Northland Pines, 4:50.97; 3.
Ciara Hartman, Fr., Bloomer, 4:55.56; 4. Meredith Richter, Sr., Medford, 4:58.13; 5. Sophie Yetter, Sr., Winneconne, 4:59.34; 6. Ellie Robinson, Jr., Dodgeville-Mineral Point, 5:02.11; 7. Bella Grenier, Jr., University School of Milwaukee, 5:08.42; 8. Callie Faust, So., Grafton, 5:10.86; 9. Annie Norman, Jr., University School of Milwaukee, 5:15.33; 10. Adison Wilde, Sr., Baldwin-Woodville, 5:15.79; 11. Annie Robinson, Jr., Dodgeville-Mineral Point, 5:15.81; 12. Elizabeth Curtis, So., Westby, 5:15.85; 13. Terese Gutierrez, Sr., Pius XI Catholic, 5:26.39; 14. Anna Miller, Fr., Green Bay Notre Dame, 5:30.36; 15. Molly Duel, Jr., Laconia, 5:31.24; 16. Cassidy Somogji, So., New Berlin West, 5:31.87.
WIAA Div. 2 girls 3,200-meter run results
1. Ciara Hartman, Fr., Bloomer, 10:30.02; 2.
Nora Gremban, Sr., Northland Pines, 10:38.97; 3. Lilie Fouts, Sr., Appleton Xavier, 10:44.31;
4. Meredith Richter, Sr., Medford, 10:45.86; 5.
Bella Grenier, Jr., University School of Milwaukee, 10:48.61; 6. Ellie Robinson, Jr., Dodgeville-Mineral Point, 10:48.96; 7. Greta Peters, Jr., Altoona, 10:51.71; 8. Faith Wehrman, Jr., New Berlin Eisenhower, 10:52.5; 9. Sophie Yetter, Sr., Winneconne, 11:05.35; 10. Annie Robinson, Jr., Dodgeville-Mineral Point, 11:16.92; 11. Elizabeth Curtis, So., Westby, 11:21.57; 12. Amie Gronert, Sr., Shorewood, 11:25.64; 13. Ashley Wilson, Jr., Little Chute, 11:25.78; 14. Callie Faust, So.,
ting 10 feet and then did not clear 10-6.
Casidi Pehler, the Colby sectional champion, won the state title by clearing 12 feet, while the Colby runner-up, Kelly Fern of Amery, was second by clearing 119. McFarland’s Julia Ackley hit 11-6.
Machon was making her third state appearance. She was seventh in the pole vault in 2022 and was part of an 11th-place 400-meter relay team in 2021. Machon left her mark not only as a pole vaulter, but had success as a sprinter and a hurdler in her prep track career.
“She’s a great kid and such a versatile athlete,” Sullivan said. “She is such a good leader. She leads by her willingness to take on hard events and she did well in all of the events she wound up doing. She showed up every day and worked hard.”
Henderson qualified for state by tying his personal-best of 6-1 at the Cameron sectional. The competition started in the rain Saturday morning at 5-10. Henderson was one of five high jumpers who missed the opening height on all three jumps, joining Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran’s Titus Radichel, who Henderson jumped with at the sectional, Zander Thompson of Lena-St. Thomas, Peyton Mueller of Ozaukee and Dane Britain of Madison Abundant Life.
This was the first state appearance for Henderson, who ended last year jumping at 5-6.
Jack Schlesner of Cashton, the second seed coming into the meet, won the state title by clearing 6-3. He won the tiebreaker over Wauzeka-Steuben’s Lucius Cooley, the fourth seed. Alex Richter of Markesan and Elias Mikunda of Ladysmith were third and fourth. Both cleared 6-2.
Nearly all of entrants did not jump as high as they did at their respective sectionals. Drummond’s Clayton Bjork and Manawa’s Nathan Gorman, pulled out of the competition.
Grafton, 11:27.24; 15. Rose Erlinder, Jr., Brookfield Academy, 11:32.81; 16. Lia Peterson, Sr., Amherst, 11:54.87.
WIAA Div. 2 girls pole vault state results
1. Casidi Pehler, Sr., Arcadia, 12-0; 2. Kelly Fern, Jr., Amery, 11-9; 3. Julia Ackley, Jr., McFarland, 11-6; 4. Sienna Hewitt, Jr., Campbellsport, 11-3; 5. Mya Gencuski, So., Pius XI Catholic, 11-0; 6.
Michelle Marquard, Sr., Wisconsin Dells, 11-0; 7. Cailey Peterson, Jr., Wrightstown, 10-6; 7. Gabby Patterson, Sr., New Berlin Eisenhower, 10-6; 9.
Caroline Basehoar, So., Appleton Xavier, 10-6; 10. Hannah Orth, Sr., Shoreland Lutheran, 10-0; 11. Julia Garny, Sr., New Berlin West, 10-0; 11.
Danica Pauls, So., Richland Center, 10-0; 13.
Madelyn Vonfeldt, So., Westby, 10-0; 13. Lillian Hoeffling, So., Northwestern, 10-0.
Jaylin Machon, Sr., Medford, NH; Maya Vande Kolk, So., Seymour, NH.
WIAA Div. 3 boys long jump results
1. Caden Wold, Sr., Boyceville, 22-10.75; 2.
Nathan Jackson, Sr., Webster, 21-10; 3. Tyler Janikowski, Sr., Three Lakes, 21-3; 4. Isaac Howard, Sr., Horicon, 21-0.25; 5. Bryce Hughes, Sr., Albany, 20-11.25; 6. Lucius Cooley, Sr., Wauzeka-Steuben, 20-5.25; 7. Coltan Breit, So., Stratford, 20-4.25; 8. Jeremiah Dye, Sr., Nekoosa, 20-3.5; 9. Joey Hess, Sr., Shiocton, 20-3.25; 10. Ayden Price, Sr., Fall River, 20-2.25. 11. Brody Tarman, Fr., Turtle Lake, 19-10.75; 12. Bennett Cornwell, Jr., Kohler, 19-9.5; 13. Chad Konsella, Jr., Gilman, 19-9.25; 14. Gavin Meacham, Jr., Bangor, 19-1.75; 15. Toby Volkmann, Sr., Three Lakes, 18-11; 16.
Karson Redman, Sr., Parkview, 18-8.
WIAA Div. 3 boys high jump results
1. Jack Schlesner, Sr., Cashton, 6-3; 2. Lucius Cooley, Sr., Wauzeka-Steuben, 6-3; 3. Alex Richter, So., Markesan, 6-2; 4. Elias Mikunda, Jr., Ladysmith, 6-2; 5. Wyatt Maurhoff, Sr., Brookwood, 6-0; 6. Bryce Hughes, Sr., Albany, 6-0; 7.
Reid Rydzewski, Sr., Random Lake, 6-0; 8. Bennett Schmidt, Sr., Shiocton, 5-10; 9. Toby Volkmann, Sr., Three Lakes, 5-10.
Titus Radichel, Sr., Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, NH; Zander Thomson, So., Lena-St. Thomas, NH;
Jed Henderson, So., Rib Lake, NH; Peyton Mueller, Jr., Ozaukee, NH; Dane Britain, Jr., Abundant Life, NH; Nathan Gorman, Sr., Manawa, DNS; Clayton Bjork, Sr., Drummond, DNS.
Meredith Richter
