Under cloudy skies and a steady, gentle rain, junior Traysen Thomason settled into the blocks for the final of the 100m dash one last time. Once the gun fired, Traysen lived up to the phrase “shot out of the blocks” as he easily had the best, and most explosive, start in the field. Traysen then began to put together his most complete race of the season over 100m. His drive phase was smooth and he battled as the finish line neared. His ability to stay loose through the finish line, rather than tightening up and forcing it, allowed him to be faster than Eli Kerner from Northland Pines as both athletes finished in 11.14, and the officials needed to go the 1000th of a second to break the tie. Traysen was faster, 11.134 to 11.139, and earned himself a spot on the podium for the first time in his career in 4th overall. Traysen finished his season as the fourth fastest 100m sprinter in school history with his season best time of 10.93 at the WIAA Sectional Meet. Traysen is the highest finisher in this event for the Whippets since Matt Gordy finished 3rd in 2006.
The rain had stopped moments before junior Jack Hefty stepped onto the track in an attempt to defend his state title from one year ago. After a physical start that saw Jack get tripped up, he regained his footing and settled into the back 1/3 of the race. Like an African lion hunting his prey, Jack methodically made moves throughout the race, first moving up from 11th after lap one to 6th place after two laps. Still eyeing his prey, and knowing it would take every ounce of his ability to earn another title, he moved up after three laps into 4th place. Moving onto the shoulder of Owen Clark of Lakeland and Cam Weiland of Lakeside Lutheran with 300m to go, the race was truly on. Cam was soon left behind, and it became a two-horse race at that point. With 120 to go, and the over 6,000 fans in attendance beginning to roar, Jack sprang into attack mode and went for the jugular. They were neck and neck down the homestretch before Jack was able to inch away and secure his second straight state title. To make the victory even sweeter, Jack ran a new lifetime best by over 3 seconds, lowering his school record from one year ago, down to 4:13.00. Across all divisions, Jack’s time was the fourth fastest and earned him All-State Honors in this event. The top six individuals in each event earn this honor.
Senior Ethan Dugan was ready to take on the 400m dash final one last time in his career. Having finished eighth last year, he was ready to make his first appearance on the podium and see how much he had in him as he tried to take down Addison Uddin from Osceola. As the second fastest seed in the final, Ethan was lined up with Addison to his (left) inside lane and would not see him due to the stagger, but rather Addison had the advantage to see him to his right, on the outside lane. As the race unfolded. Ethan got out quickly trying to distance himself from Addison. Ethan did just that and later said he felt Addison coming up on his left, and he continued to press on the accelerator. Ethan continued to fly down the backstretch and final curve before going into overdrive to put all he had left in the final 100 meters. Ethan charged across the finish line to secure a silver medal and ran a lifetime best, lowering his school record. Ethan’s time of 48.61 was the 5th fastest across all divisions, and like Jack, earned All-State recognition. Ethan is the highest Whippet finisher since Matt Ninneman was 2nd in 1999.
The 4x400m relay was the final race of the day on the track, and the Whippets did not disappoint. Ethan Dugan started very well and made up the stagger on the field early on. He stormed down the front stretch splitting a 49.4 second relay leg as he handed off to teammate Quincy Boudreau with the lead. Quincy took the stick around the track uncontested as the team held the lead. Quincy ran a lifetime best of 51.6 as he handed off to Jack Hefty. Jack then took off around the first curve trying to run away from a storming Lakeside Lutheran athlete before battling down the front stretch to hand off the baton for the final time to Nate Holden with the relay in second place. Jack also ran a lifetime best, a 50.93 fully automatic timed split. Nate Holden ran with guts and determination and chased the Lakeside Lutheran athlete as he rounded the curve for the final time in a Whippet uniform. Nate was only passed by one runner as he, like Quincy and Jack, also ran a lifetime best in his leg of the race, a 51.29 second fully automatic split. The team secured the third position and a spot on the podium to cap off a terrific day. Their time of 3:23.52 was just .10 seconds off the school record, but the third best time in school history. This is the highest relay finish in the 4×400 since 2008 when the relay team of Aaron Holschbach, Sam Moffatt, Alex Adkinson, and Grant Bughman won the state title.
Full Results: D2 BOYS , D2 GIRLS
Article Submitted by Chad Carstens
Whitewater High School Track and Field Coach
ccarstens@wwusd.org
Photos Courtesy of Erica Holden
