By David Paulsen
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Burlington High School senior Mickael Pauly accomplished his goal Saturday.
According to head boys coach Trent Tonn, Pauly went into the WIAA State Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at La Crosse hoping to break the BHS record in the 800. It was a record that had stood for over 15 years.
Pauly broke the record, turning in a time of one minute 56.51 seconds. The previous BHS record was 1:57.1, Tonn indicated.
That is quite an accomplishment for Pauly, who spent this year at BHS as a foreign exchange student from Belgium.
“He was a wonderful addition to our team,” Tonn said.
The 1:56.51 was good enough for ninth overall at state.
Pauly also completed in the 400 at state where he ran a 49.63 in the qualifying race and a 49.69 in the finals. That was seventh overall, which meant he narrowly missed being on the podium.
The 49.63 was a full second ahead of his previous season best time of 50.64 set at sectional one week earlier.
“He had a great meet,” Tonn said of Pauly.
Pauly’s accomplishments at state are all the more amazing when Tonn revealed that Pauly came down with food poisoning Friday night and was up most of the night. Tonn indicated that Pauly got an hour or two of sleep Saturday before he ran in the 400 finals and the 800.
“The kid’s a fighter,” Tonn said.
Pauly was not the only Demon athlete competing at state.
Seniors Max Shenkenberg and Audra Weis, plus freshman Emma Fettig also were there.
Shenkenberg had qualified in the pole vault and triple jump.
In the pole vault, Shenkenberg set a new personal record by clearing 13-00. That tied him for 16th place.
In the triple jump, Shenkenberg was 15th with a leap of 41-11.75. That leap was not a personal best, but Tonn was still pleased with Shenkenberg’s effort.
“I’m extremely proud of both of the guys (Pauly and Shenkenberg),” he said. “They’re going to be highly missed.”
On the girls’ side, Weis went into state tied for the second-best height in pole vault, but could not match that at state.
Weis had cleared 11-06 during the season, but managed only 11-00 at state. That put her in 11th position. Last year, 11-00 put her in sixth.
“It just shows how competitive things were this year,” head girls coach Dan Luneau said.
This was the third consecutive trip to state for Weis. Last year, Weis was sixth and in 2011 she was 15th.
Luneau noted that Weis was sailing along until she hit 11 feet. After a couple misses, she cleared that height and attempted 11-06.
“When she got to 11-06, she was over it and hit her elbow on the way down,” Luneau said. “It’s too bad.”
Luneau added that Weis will be sorely missed next season.
“She scored a lot of points over the past four years,” he said.
Fettig competed in the long jump, and finished 21st with a leap of 16-00.75. That was the same position she was seeded at.
Luneau expects Fettig to return to state next year.
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