By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The Waterford High School track and field squads will send seven athletes to the 2013 Track and Field Championships Friday, May 31, and Saturday, June 1, at UW-La Crosse.
The Wolverine girls will have six athletes at state, while the boys’ squad will have just one.
Senior Jenny Gilbreath qualified in four events.
She won the 400-meter dash, and the long jump. She also took second in the 200, and will be an alternate on the 4-by-100 relay team that also qualified.
In the 400, Gilbreath turned in a season-best time of 59.70 seconds.
“She’s definitely capable of running faster,” head coach Jerry Glisch said.
In the long jump, Gilbreath had a personal best leap of 17 feet, 6.75 inches. That is not among the top 20 jumps this year in Division 1.
“I think she has the possibility of popping an 18-footer,” Glisch said.
Gilbreath turned in a 26.92 in the 200. Her season best time of 26.05 is 17th best in the state.
Last year, Gilbreath qualified for state also in the 200, 400 and long jump. She finished seventh in the 400, 13th in the 200, and 18th in the long jump.
The 4-by-100 relay team of Sam Dziak, Valerie Knurr, Samantha Jahnke and Hannah Zimmerman won that event in 50.44 seconds. That was a big PR for that team and is 15th fastest in the state.
“They ran an awesome race,” Glisch said. “Handoffs were great.”
Gilbreath and Natalie Erickson are alternates at state for that relay team.
The only Wolverine boy to qualify for state was Brandon Miller. He was third in the shot put with a heave of 52 feet 1.5 inches. His best throw this year – 53-02.25 – is 19th best in the state.
Although a number of other Wolverine athletes failed to qualify for state, Glisch was pleased with each of their performances.
“Overall, I thought we had an awesome sectional meet,” Glisch said. “A bunch of kids PR’ed.”
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