WIAA State Outdoor Championships 2011

    LA CROSSE -- Tyler Schwartzman experienced the lowest of lows and the highest of highs Saturday at the WIAA state track and field meet. Seeded second in the 110 hurdles in the Division 3 competition Schwartzman was disqualified. The Tri-County junior redeemed himself in the 300 hurdles, winning the state title in 39.94 seconds, edging Marathon's Cody Ewert and giving him three medals for the weekend. "I was even more determined in the 300s after how disappointed I was after the 100s," said Schwartzman, who was also on the Penguins' fifth-place 800 relay team and earned a bronze in the triple jump on Friday. "This was my first state championship and I want to come back and do it again next year."  

Shortly after she won her third state title this month, a reporter asked Milwaukee Bradley Tech standout Elexis Fuller-Stewart if she could have pictured a better end to her high school career. "Having a team behind me, yeah," she said. "It would have been a lot better than to be by myself." Indeed the 2012 season was an adjustment for the senior who for the previous three seasons was a part of state championship and record-setting teams. Instead of being a cog in the machine this year, she was a one-person wrecking crew. The Journal Sentinel's track and field athlete of the year brought home three state titles, winning the 100 and 200 meters in Division 1 and repeating as the 100 high hurdle champion. And she did it all while nursing hip and knee injuries that appeared to hamper her production. The 100 and 100 hurdles is a combination rarely seen because the races are run back to back. At state, Fuller-Stewart had about 20 minutes between the events. That, however, was a piece of cake compared to the regional meet, where she had preliminary heats in the 100 and 200 and finals in the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles, or the state indoor, where she had to run three heats of the 55 and 55 hurdles to win titles. Despite the unique challenge and her nagging injuries, Fuller-Stewart dominated...

  Haley Johnson finished her career at Plymouth High School as the only female runner in the area in at least the last 17 years to accomplish two things. First, she broke the 11-minute barrier in the 3,200 — first at the WIAA Division 1 State Meet last year and then again this year — to win state gold in her senior season. Second, she became the only runner in area history to break 5 minutes in the 1,600 with a time of 4:58.60 — good for third place at State. The Sheboygan Press All-Area Athlete of the Year helped lead a strong Panthers showing at State along with fellow seniors Niki Rhyan and Jenni Rathsack. Johnson won the 3,200 on Day 1 while Rhyan took home gold in the 800 on Day 2 in 2:13.80, which is the fastest time in at least 17 years in that event. The trio led Plymouth to a second-place finish as a team, the area's best team finish in Division 1 ever.  

A dedicated ESPNHS team managed the Gatorade State Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year selection process, resulting in winners based on the program's three pillars: athletic production and impact in the 2012 season, high academic achievement and exemplary personal character.  ESPN's High School 2012 Wisconsin Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year Winner: Carl Hirsch  

If the 24 state championships in three sports don’t indicate the level of talent Bonnie Draxler has, the number of recruiting letters that have come through her family’s mailbox will. (via www.greenbaypressgazette.com)