Boys Take Second at Conference Track and Field Meet

Posted on: May 13, 2024

Whitewater High School played the role of host for the 2024 Rock Valley Conference Track and Field Meet which featured all 11 teams from both divisions. When the dust settled, the teams finished in 2nd for the boys and 11th for the girls.

Quincy Boudreau, Jack Hefty, Curtis Rossmiller, and Ethan Dugan

On the boys’ side, Ty Bucholtz was the first to claim a medal with a killer 110H hurdle final. Three stepping his final flight of hurdles, he thrusted himself into third by the finish line and earned his first ever medal as a freshman. Not to be outdone, next up was Traysen Thompson who broke 11 seconds for the first time in the 100-meter dash final running 10.99 and capturing the individual title. Not long after, Jack Hefty raced to his first of three conference titles on the day by winning the 1600 and closing in under 60 seconds for his final lap to stop the clock in 4:28.91. The track was still smoldering when the boys’ 4×200 stepped on the track and blazed to a victory in 1:32.97. This relay consisted of Traysen Thomason, Nate Black, Keenan Sheffield, and Quincy Boudreau. If the track wasn’t hot enough, Ethan Dugan was next up in his premiere event, the 400m dash, and was able to handle the field and take the crown in 50.22. Akamion McHenry placed 4th and Curtis Rossmiller placed 8th in the same event. Jack Hefty stepped back onto the track after a few events and was able to earn his second title on the day to win the 800 in 2:01.98, and teammate Nate Holden was fifth in the same race. Ethan Dugan stepped into the blocks for the second time and blazed a trail of fire behind him as he stopped the clock at 22.36 and also claimed his second title on the day in the 200m dash. In the same event, Trayson Thomason took 3rd in his final race of the day and Akamion McHenry placed 6th. Xavier Zei ran a gutsy race, much of it by himself running solo in 3rd and was only passed by one runner and earned a fourth, and final medal, in the 3200. His time was 10:36.91. The final track event for the boys was the 4×400 relay. With the walk-up song of Iron Man by Black Sabbath blaring throughout the facility, the boys got pumped to leave it all out there and did just that. The relay team of Quincy Boudreau, Jack Hefty, Curtis Rossmiller, and Ethan Dugan set a new conference meet record in their win by stopping the clock at 3:25.75. The previous mark was set by Jefferson in 1980. It was the oldest record in the books.

In the field events, Jaylyn Ewing placed 8th in the discus and 4th in the high jump. Quinton O’Toole secured fifth place in the pole vault. Three Whippets scored in the long jump by placing 5-6-7. Traysen Thomason just edged out his teammate by .75″ to lead the trio. Quincy Boudreau was 6th and Nate Black was 7th. In the triple jump, David Rubio placed 5th with a jump of 39′ 3″.

Ethan Dugan was named the male track athlete of the meet based on his performance in the meet. This is the first Whippet to earn this honor since Brett Harms earned it in 2014 when he won the 800, 1600, and 3200 events.

On the girls’ side, A’lani Ross earned a 6th place finish in the finals of the 100 with a time of 13.45. Mady Hefty ran a lifetime PR and placed 8th in the 1600 with a time of 5:53.64. The 4×2 stepped on the track and earned a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:51.95. This relay consisted of A’lani Ross, Sydney Schilt, Ava Alvarado, and Calli Grosinske. The same relay, just in a slightly different order, came back for the 4×100 and secured a top 3 finish by .01 with a hard lean by Sydney Schilt. The relay order was Calli Grosinske, A’lani Ross, Ava Alvardo, and Sydney on the anchor leg. Carley Boudreau placed 7th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 55.27. Athena Soto placed 6th in the 800 with a time of 2:35.63. Sydney Schilt blazed her way down the homestretch in the 200-meter dash to stop the clock in 27.21 and took the bronze medal position. To wrap up the track events, the girls’ 4 x 400 relay of Athena Soto, Calli Grosinske, Carley Boudreau, and Emy Islas took 7th with a time of 4:32.61. Placing in the field events, Myialynn Cobb and Makayla Bazeley took 4th and 6th in the pole vault. They cleared 8′ 0″ and 7′ 6″ respectively. A’lani Ross placed in the triple jump with a leap of 31′ 1.25″ and took 7th overall.