By Chris Spangler
Eight Fort Atkinson High School athletes have advanced to the state track and field championships taking place this weekend at Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus.
The 125th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Track and Field Championships and the 50th Girls Track and Field Championships are being held Thursday-Saturday, June 24-26.
Local athletes participating in the Division 1 events on Saturday are Adyn Theriault, Travis Sykes, Drew Evans, Lauren Haas, Jada Zorn and Sophie Chapman. The two relay alternates are Mallory Gasper and Maddy Kontny.
At the WIAA Division I Sectionals in Beloit last week, Evans placed first in both the discus and shot put. He won the discus throw by more than 5 feet, with a distance of 154-03, and the shot put with a 51-foot toss, while Sykes, a senior, captured third place in the triple jump with a jump of 40-10.
Among the girls, Theriault took third place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.17, Haas, a senior, placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 99 seconds.
Haas also was a member of the 4×400-meter (1,600-meter) relay team that took first in the event with a time of 4:12.99. Joining her on the track were juniors Theriault, Zorn and Chapman. Gasper and Kontny were alternates.
Zorn also placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.41.
The top three placers in each event at the sectionals qualified for state.
Coach Dennis Schwedrsky said he was pleased by the athletes’ performances.
“I’m extremely proud of the way all of our athletes competed at sectionals,” he said. “Each state qualifier went into the meet knowing they had a significant chance to qualify, and while that might seem reassuring, it also places a lot of pressure on each athlete. But, in each case, our athletes responded with great performances. I am eager to see how they respond to the big stage at state.”
Meanwhile, the state meet is having a different format than the traditional schedule due to continuing COVID-19 accommodations and guidelines. The three-day event is featuring both genders in Division 3 on Thursday, Division 2 and the wheelchair division on Friday, and Division 1 on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.
The order of the events is available on the WIAA website at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Sports/Track/2020/State%20Meet%20Schedule.pdf.
The state meet is being livestreamed by Rush Media on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log onto www.wiaa.tv and click on the subscription image on the home page.
Tickets to attend the meet are $11 and may be purchased at https://www.expressoticketing.com/wiaa/pickevent.aspx.
Fort Atkinson High School track and field athletes advancing to the state championship this weekend include Lauren Haas, from left, Sophie Chapman, Jada Zorn, Travis Sykes, Drew Evans, Adyn Theriault, Maddie Kontny and Mallory Gasper. Photo supplied.
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