Baraboo sends deep regional group to sectionals after strong showing at Sauk Prairie
| Place | Participant | Eventtitles | Sectionalqualifiers | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | 5 | 11 | null |
| 2 | B | 2 | 6 | null |
Baraboo turned in a strong all-around performance Tuesday at the WIAA Division 2 regional at Sauk Prairie Stadium, with the Thunderbirds boys finishing third as a team and the girls placing fifth while piling up individual titles, personal records and sectional qualifiers. The top four finishers in each event advanced to Friday’s sectional in Verona, and Baraboo produced that kind of depth across throws, jumps, hurdles, relays and distance races.
Lily Rogers led the girls effort with a sweep of the throwing events, winning the girls discus at 139-09 and the girls shot put while setting facility records at Sauk Prairie High School. Rogers, who is ranked No. 1 in Wisconsin in the girls discus with a personal-best throw of 157-8, also got support in the discus from Ella Haskins, who placed sixth with a personal-best 95-05, and Evelyn Mjelde, who took seventh at 89-11. In the boys throws, Elijah O'Donohue won the discus at 137-03, and Aiden Dineen followed in second at 134-01 to give Baraboo a 1-2 finish. Dineen also captured the boys shot put title with a personal-best 49-06.75, while Jacob Ringelstetter Baraboo added a sixth-place finish at 42-03.25.
The Thunderbirds were just as productive in the horizontal jumps. Isaiah Romano-Thompson won the boys long jump with a personal-best 22-01.50, then came back to place second in the boys triple jump at 44-01.75, another personal best. Drake Niles also advanced in the triple jump by finishing fourth at 43-02.25 and added sixth place in the boys long jump at 20-05.00. Those field-event points played a major role in Baraboo’s boys team finish and sent multiple jumpers on to the next round.
On the track, Baraboo’s hurdlers and middle-distance runners continued the push. Keneil Fairweather placed second in the boys 110-meter hurdles in a personal-best 15.63 to qualify, while Samuel Kappel was sixth in 17.36. In the boys 300-meter hurdles, Isaiah Romano-Thompson took second in a personal-best 41.58 and Keneil Fairweather Baraboo finished fourth in a personal-best 41.90, giving the Thunderbirds two sectional qualifiers in the event. Olivia Miessau delivered a personal-best 4:44.50 to place third in the boys 1600, Will Boettcher ran a personal-best 10:03.87 to finish second in the boys 3200, and Killian Duncan added a personal-best 2:05.61 in the boys 800 for seventh. Carson Hasheider placed fifth in the boys 400 at 54.37, and Brayden Ferrera-Hunter was seventh in the boys 200 at 23.99.
The girls also broke through in key track events. Hannah Krueger qualified in the girls 100-meter dash with a fourth-place personal-best 12.97. Ella Mayer finished third in the girls 400 in a personal-best 1:00.67 to secure a sectional berth, and Madilyn Madi Gilbert moved on in the girls 3200 with a fourth-place finish of 11:57.32. Baraboo’s relay groups added more advancement spots. The girls 4x800 relay of Madilyn Gilbert, M. Dougherty, S. Dobush, T. Sperl - and teammates placed third in 10:06.62, a season best, and the girls 4x400 relay of Evelyna Mayer, S. Dobush, I. Thola, T. Sperl - Girls and teammates took second in 4:08.24, also a season best. On the boys side, the 4x800 relay of Tanner Goeckermann, B. Meise, K. Duncan, D. Holmes - Boys and teammates finished fourth in 8:19.54 to extend Baraboo’s day into sectionals.
In a regional that featured a large field of teams, Baraboo consistently found points and qualifying places throughout the meet. The Thunderbirds now send a sizable group to Verona High School for the sectional at 4 p.m. Friday, carried by regional champions in the throws and jumps, multiple personal-best performances on the track and relays that continued to peak at the right time.
