Another track season is wrapped up. For five years in a row, Coach Hallberg and I have taken athletes down to La Crosse for the state track meet. It never gets old. I mentioned it before, but it is a surreal experience, with thousands of spectators in attendance. I don't think there is another state sporting event that compares. Most team sports compete largely in front of their own fans. Track athletes compete in front of such a massive audience of fans from all over the state. As a spectator, you get to witness amazing athletes from other districts and parts of the state. Those of us from small schools can watch incredible athletes from big city schools. You can watch state records being broken and every once in a while, there is a performance that makes the whole audience sit up and watch. As a coach, it is a thrill on so many levels. It's exciting to cheer on athletes from other West Lakeland schools that we have competed against multiple times throughout the season. It's exciting to bring athletes into the stadium for the first time and for them to experience the scale of the meet, the energy of the crowd, and even for our relay alternates to get a chance to do some warm-up laps on the red track. It's exciting to watch athletes compete with the absolute best in the state and with a feeling that the only thing that truly matters is to get out there are compete one last time at the highest level. It can be hard to appreciate just how tough events are at state. We have phenomenal athletes who are used to winning their events and then end up finishing, say, 13th at state. But those other dozen athletes are REALLY good. There's no shame in that. Because just to have been here means that you're among the best in the state. As a coach, I can get really stressed out during the Regional and Sectional meets, hoping that our athletes perform well enough to advance. But in La Crosse, that stress is largely (though maybe not entirely) gone. Because this is it. There's nothing left. Sure, we'd love to get medals and end up on the podium. But we've made it to the end. There's a real sense of accomplishment in that. Sophomore Alli Peterson came to La Crosse last year as a freshman, having set the school records in long jump and triple jump. She competed in triple jump at state two years in a row now, finishing 11th this year. She has done an incredible job in these events and demonstrates a natural talent for them. There's no question that she will continue to be successful next year. The girls 4x800m relay, made up of freshman Alexis Slater, sophomore Kylie Robelia, and seniors McKenzie Rombach and Gracie Gerber, had a strong finish to the season, shaving huge chunks of time off of their race one meet after another. The 2016 team had set a new school record, which Gracie was a part of as a freshman, so it was well-deserved for her to make it to state in this event. The relay team faced strong competition and finished 17th out of 18 teams. The girls 4x400m relay, made up of freshman Sarah Chenal, senior Linda Harmon, as well as Alexis and Gracie, has run times very similar to the 2017 girls team, which also made it to state that year. And of course Linda and Gracie were members of that team, so this was a return visit for them. It's a thrill to watch these girls run; they're so strong and determined. These girls epitomize was it means to be a runner. This relay team placed 15th overall. Senior David MacKean has developed into an incredibly talented and natural multi-sport athlete. Being 6'6" tall can create some physical challenges, but David has proven to be a great athlete in football, basketball, and track. While he's had excellent times in multiple races, the 800m run is where he's done the best. This year at sectionals, he ran a blisteringly fast time. His heat at state was tightly packed and cost him an opportunity to match that time, and he finished 16th out of 17 runners. Senior Nate McKinley, as I've mentioned multiple times, is an amazing 400m runner. Never have I seen an athlete own an event like Nate owns the 400m dash. Last year he missed a shot at state by a fraction of a second against tougher Division 2 runners. This year he finally made it and finished 6th, earning a spot on the podium. David and Nate were obviously essential members of the boys 4x400m relay, but two runners can't carry a relay team. I've seen multiple relay teams with three solid runners set some really fast times, but those teams never make it out of sectionals. To make it to state, a relay team has to have four solid runners. This year, we had exactly that. Sophomores Derek Lee and Jared VanWatermeulen shaved about 5 seconds off their 400m times from last year to get this relay down to a time that is likely the closest any team has been to the school record since it was set in 1997. These four (mostly) chill guys are such a thrill to watch because they just step up and go. No drama. They placed 7th overall, missing the podium by less than half a second. With the season over, we finally get a break. Us coaches get to see our family at a reasonable time again. But for some of our athletes, they're already planning the next phase. They're planning summer work-outs. They're looking toward fall sports. They're setting goals for 2020. Some are already talking about coming back to La Crosse next year. While there's a couple months of the year when track isn't really on my mind, it's an incredible thrill to watch these athletes be consumed by the desire to better themselves. Thank you so much to our fans, parents, and others who have supported us throughout this season. Thank you to the Burnett County Sentinal, the Inter-County Leader, and We Are Grantsburg for all their coverage. Thank you to our assistant coaches Steph Berkholtz and Lisa McKinley for working so hard to better our athletes. And thank you to our athletes for making track such a blast to coach. See you all next March, when we'll have some new faces. |