By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
LA CROSSE - Rosholt's Jenna Eschenbauch defended her Division 3 100-meter high hurdles championship and the Hornets finished fifth with 24 points in the Division 3 team standings at the WIAA state track and field meet Saturday.
Placing in three events, the Stevens Point Area Senior High boys finished 22nd in Division 1 while the SPASH girls were 27th with eight points.
The Amherst and Rosholt boys both scored four points to tie for 40th place.
Fall Creek won the Division 3 girls meet with 66 points, Edgar was second with 35, Iola-Scandinavia third with 34 and Flambeau fourth with 26.
"Anytime you get in the top five, you did a pretty good job," Rosholt coach Mike Trzebiatowski said. "We had a potential to get second, but maybe they didn't realize it."
Eschenbauch won the 100 hurdles in 15.33 seconds. The junior started to pull away from the field in the last 25 meters. Kim Kissinger from Elkhart Lake was nearly neck and neck with Eschenbauch at the fourth and fifth hurdles and finished second in 15.62.
"I came out of the box a little slow but I ran them down. I wasn't going to let it go," Eschenbauch said.
Eschenbauch's win gives Rosholt three straight titles in the event. Anne Nowak won in 1998 and Eschenbauch finished first as a sophomore last year.
Eschenbauch also finished eighth in the high jump Friday, jumping 4-feet-10-inches. "She missed five-feet on that first try barely and couldn't bounce back," Trzebiatowski said. She made the finals in the 300 hurdles but was disqualified for not leaping a hurdle properly.
Rosholt's 400 relay team of Eschenbauch, Nathasha Check, Kate Kosobucki and Pirjo Eelmaa was fifth in 52.74. "This time we had better handoffs," Check said. "We're happy to get a medal and happy to be on the stand," Kosobucki said.
Trzebiatowski added: "There were three good teams there out in front of us. We probably could've run a tad faster, but I don't know if we could've caught the top three teams."
On Friday, sophomore Tami Scott was third in the 3,200 in 11:42.36. Senior teammate Jen Zdroik was eighth in 12:07.65.
"Tami Scott got out a little fast," Trzebiatowski said. "She had two good girls in front of her who were the top two finishers at the state cross country meet."
"(Jen) was battling in there in the first mile and then she backed off when she didn't need to," Trzebiatowski said. "It's been a little tougher. Jen said the two-milers are getting stronger, and it's true."
The 3,200 relay of Scott, Zdroik, Eelmaa and Kate Flick finished seventh in 10:09.43 Friday.
SPASH's Josh Garbe grabbed two fifth place finishes in his final meet. The senior ran the 800 in 1:58.53 and was a member of the 1,600 relay. Bobby Burtley, Nate Olson and Cory Flisakowski joined Garbe on the relay, which finished in 3:23.03.
"I got out like I wanted to but I wasn't able to finish hard. I just didn't have it today," Garbe said of his 800.
"Josh had some high goals and expectations and he just didn't have the race he wanted," SPASH coach DuWayne Behnke said. "He worked very hard for it but it just wasn't meant to be."
In the final lap of the relay, SPASH was in a group with Madison Memorial, Kettle Moraine and Chippewa Falls. Flisakowski was edged by Memorial (3:22.87) and Kettle Moraine (3:23.03) at the line. Chippewa Falls finished sixth in 3:23.64. Waukesha West won the race in 3:20.34 and Germantown was second in 3:21.54
"We thought we were fourth but we were edged," Garbe said.
The team did set break the school record in the event. "All the work we put in this season, it paid off right here," Burtley said. "It's great to know that these are the best runners in the state and we can stay with them."
Freshman distance runner Chris Solinsky, who entered the 3,200 with the 13th-fastest time, finished sixth in 9:30.92. Solinsky stuck with the second group and made his move with three laps to go.
"We went out fast and it just kept getting faster," Solinsky said, who ran 10:57 in his first 3,200 of the season.
Added Behnke: "He ran it very smart. Here's a kid who came out and went for it. He ran the race he needed to. He was running really smart all year. He gets up with the group and stays."
Senior Travis Laird finished ninth in the long jump with 21-0-1/2. The 3,200 relay of Joe Splinter, Josh Kujawa, Kyle Patoka and Nate Hurst was 16th in 8:17.28.
SPASH's Erin Legro placed in her two hurdle events, a sixth in the 100 hurdles (16.26) and seventh in the 300 hurdles (47.11).
"Erin was disappointed with her 100 race. She ticked the eighth hurdle. She was moving up," SPASH coach Mike Olson said.
"She turned that into a positive in the 300s. She was first or second and then she ran out of gas in the tank. I'm so proud of her approach."
Sophomore Amber Perri also grabbed a sixth place finish, in the 400 in 59.68. She regrouped after Kim Brown of Milwaukee Vincent was disqualified for a false start and the race had to be restarted.
"I didn't run the time that I wanted to but I was happy I placed," Perri said. "I've never been in a race with a false start. I kind of got shaken. I had to get my confidence back and focus."
Also competing for SPASH Saturday was junior Abby Afori-Amoah who finished 15th in the shot put with a throw of 31-7.
Sophomore Kim Klosno did not qualify for the 400 finals after finishing her preliminary race in 1:00.48 Friday. The 1,600 relay of Perri, Klosno, Alexis Sustman and Sarah Schubert did not make it out of the preliminaries either, finishing in 4:11.57.
Rosholt's 3,200 relay of Ryan Boll, Pat Knutson, Rob Cherek and Luke Lane was fifth in 8:17.91 in a tight race. Royall was third in 8:16.93, Boyceville finished fourth in 8:17.20, Brillion was sixth in 8:18.11 and Rib Lake took seventh in 8:18.20.
"The two-mile relay ran well. They were primed and ready to go and they warmed up real well," Trzebiatowski said. "All of the teams were right there. If you look at the times, third to seventh was a second-and-a-half.
Cherek also competed in the 300 hurdles, taking ninth in 41.67. "He had used his tank up in the two-mile relay. Anything beyond that was gravy," Trzebiatowski said.
Amherst freshman Philip Koback made the finals in all three of his events - the 100, 200 and long jump. He finished seventh in the 200 in 23.23, eighth in the 100 in 11.68 and eighth in the long jump with 19-10-1/2.
"I was hoping to get a place (on the medal stand) but I'm satisfied that I got down here and into the finals," Koback said.