| Girls
win state team title
The Prairie girls track team won the state team championship at the State Track Meet held Friday and Saturday, May 19-20 at Middleton High School. Prairie scored 59 points to edge Valley High School by 2 points with the win in the 4x400 relay, the last event of the meet, putting them over the top. It is the first team title in 10 years and the fourth overall for the program. It was definitely a come-from behind effort as Prairie scored 18 points in the final two events. Valley had scored all of their 57 points prior to those two events as they did not have anybody in either the 1600 or the 4x400 relay. Chaye Uptmor wound up placing 4th in 5:32.89, good for 4th place and 5 points while Ciara Chaffee also earned a state medal by finishing in 6th in 5:36.87, a personal best and the third fastest 1600 ever by a Prairie runner, and 3 points. Uptmors time was her second fastest ever, about 1½ seconds shy of her school record. Needing a second place finish to tie for first or a win to take the team title, the relay team of Theresa Wemhoff, Jordyn Higgins, Uptmor and Laney Uhlenkott won the 4x400 by over 4 seconds in a time of 4:21.23. The 4x200 team of Wemhoff, Mykaela McWilliams, Higgins and Uhlenkott also brought home a first place finish in 1:49.47. The same 4 girls made up the 4x100 team which placed second in 52.03. Uptmor, the defending state champion in the event, was third in the 800 in 2:25.02, 2 seconds faster than her winning time last year, and 5th in the 3200 in 12:26.29, a personal best time. McWilliams placed third in both hurdles races. She had a time of 16.48 in the 100 hurdles and 48.50 in the 300 hurdles. Her 300 hurdles time was just .28 seconds shy of her school record set at state 2 years ago. Chaffee also finished 9th in the 800 meter run in 2:29.47, a personal best. Madison Ulmer earned a point for the team with an 8th place finish in the discus at 1008, a personal best. On the boys side Ryan Glimp earned a state medal with a 4th place finish in the discus with a mark of 1337. He was also 15th in the shot put at 396. Sean Spencer finished 14th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46.17. Patrick Chmelik, who competed with Prairie all season but for district and state had to compete as a Summit Academy athlete, placed 10th in the high jump with a mark of 58. We believe Chmelik is the first ever Summit Academy student to qualify for state in track and field.
Jordyn Higgins is about to hand off to Mykaela McWilliams in the 4x200 relay. |
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