Baraboo sends five state qualifiers through at WIAA Sectional Championships
Baraboo turned in a strong Friday at the WIAA Sectional Championships in Verona, with the Thunderbirds boys finishing fourth out of 15 teams with 60 points and the girls taking seventh out of 15 with 41. The meet determined state qualifiers for next weekend at UW-La Crosse in La Crosse, and Baraboo advanced five athletes while adding a school record and several other top-eight finishes.
Isaiah Romano-Thompson led the boys effort with a sectional title in the long jump, winning with a leap of 22 feet, 1 inch to secure a trip to state. Romano-Thompson also advances in the triple jump taking 2nd place with a leap of 43'10". Fellow Senior Drake Niles also advances to the State Meet in the Triple Jump with a leap of 43'9.5" to take 3rd. Baraboo also moved on in the boys hurdles, where Keneil Fairweather placed second in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.18 seconds and second again in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 40.32. The boys added more points in distance races as Will Boettcher placed seventh in the 3,200 in 9:56.84 and Oskar LaFave finished seventh in the 1,600 in 4:44.99. Isaiah Romano-Thompson also scored with a fifth-place finish in the 300 hurdles.
In the field events, Baraboo showed depth beyond its state qualifiers. Senior Aiden Dineen closed his sectional meet with a fifth-place finish in the shot put and a seventh-place finish in the discus. Elijah O'Donahue delivered one of the team’s biggest personal improvements of the day, reaching 145 feet, 5 inches in the discus for fifth place. The throw was a seven-foot personal record and marked the first time this season he had gone beyond 140 feet at the varsity level.
The girls were paced by a pair of state-qualifying performances from Lily Rogers, who repeated as a double sectional champion. She won the shot put with an outdoor season-best 45 feet, 10 inches and added another title in the discus at 141 feet, 8 inches. Hannah Krueger also advanced by finishing third in the 100-meter dash in 12.59 seconds, giving Baraboo another state entry on the track.
One of the most memorable moments of the meet came from the girls 4x800-meter relay team of Madi Madilyn Gilbert, Taylor Sperl, Sydney Dobush, and Mackenzie McKenzie Dougherty, which broke a 21-year-old school record. The group ran 9:52.95 to place fifth, falling short of state qualification but leaving its mark on the program. In the distance events, senior Madi Madilyn Gilbert placed eighth in the 3,200 to close her high school career capping a run of reaching sectionals in all four years.
With clear skies and warm conditions at Verona High School, Baraboo produced one of its deepest meets of the postseason. The Thunderbirds now carry that momentum into the state meet, where Drake Niles, Isaiah Romano-Thompson, Keneil Fairweather, Hannah Krueger and Lily Rogers will represent the Thunderbird Track and Field programs in style on June 5th and 6th at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Full State Meet information can be found at the following link: https://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Spring/Girls-Track-Field/Tournament
Go T-Birds!!
#BarabooProud
