Algoma shines with silver lining
One point.
The one point that could be made about the Algoma girls track & field team as the sun came out for the first time last Saturday at the WIAA state meet in La Crosse is this group sure did shine.
“Their actions have always spoken for themselves,” Algoma track & field coach Steve Schmiling said. “They’re fighters right down to the end.”
The Wolves finished as the Division 3 state runners-up with 39 points, just one point shy of winning a share of a second straight state championship.
As difficult as it can be to come so close to the ultimate goal, the thing that gets lost in the big picture is how tough it can be for a team just to be in the running for a team trophy in a sport like track & field.
After all, one point in the opposite direction can knock a team out of contention for one all together. That’s often loss when you review the places, tenths of a second and inches it takes to add up to a championship.
Bottom line, to come away with some state hardware in back-to-back years, that’s pretty impressive.
Since the WIAA state track & field meet expanded to three classes in 1975, there has never been a girls team from the Green Bay area to finish in the top two of a class or division in back-to-back seasons.
That was until this group from Algoma came along.
The Wolves became only the fourth local team to win a girls team state title for track & field last year, joining Sturgeon Bay (1972), Green Bay Notre Dame (2010) and Wrightstown (2011).
Sturgeon Bay won the Class B title in 1972 and finished as the runner-up in 1974. That’s the most consistent success a girls team has seen at the state level prior to Algoma, which featured seven seniors this year, including Morgan Davister, Courtney Guilette, Elizabeth McClure, Alli Spitzer, Lucy Wiese, and Katelyn and Khloe Williams.
“Last year, a lot of strange things happened,” Schmiling said. “This year, there were no gifts. Everybody took care of their own business. We lost to a really good team.”
The Benton co-op scored 40 points to win the team title, while Ozaukee and Wausau Newman tied for third with 38 points.
There were still a few strange things that happened this season as well.
It started off Saturday morning when senior Katleyn William’s second discus throw in preliminaries knocked a bucket hat off an official’s head. She got a rethrow and went on to finish as the runner-up in the event with a toss of 144 feet, 7 inches.
“I’ve never experienced that or seen it, so I didn’t know if it was going to count,” Williams said about her preliminary throw that knocked the hat off of the official.
“My stomach dropped because I wanted him to be OK. But everybody got a little worked up. I just tried to stay calm, and they let me rethrow.”
It was the fourth straight year Williams reached the state podium in the discus.
The Drake University recruit finishes her decorated prep career as a nine-time state medalist and a 12-time state qualifier, including a four-eventer this season in the 100-meter dash, shot put, discus and as the anchor leg of the 400-meter relay.
The 400 relay consisting of the senior foursome of Williams, her twin sister, Khloe, Courtney Guilette and Morgan Davister advanced to state for a third straight year and placed for a second time by finishing third with a school-record time of 51.20.
For Khloe Williams and Davister, who ran the second and third legs, respectively, of the relay, they thought for a moment they had won when walking across the infield since the digital results board momentarily had put Algoma as the winner by mistake.
“I thought we won,” Khloe said. “I went to Morgan and was like, ‘Is that, right?’”
McClure played a big part in setting the bar high for Algoma.
She placed fourth in the pole vault to make her second trip to the state podium this year after winning a second straight high jump title last Friday.
The UW-Oshkosh recruit finishes her prep career with five individual medals, having placed three times in the pole vault and twice with the back-to-back state championships in the high jump, which she made four state appearances in.
“I was thinking in my head this is the last time I’ll be doing this,” McClure said. “It’s sad, but it’s exciting because I’m going to the next step in my life.”
Algoma won Packerland Conference, regional and sectional titles before finishing as the D3 state runner-up.
To accomplish all those things, you need to get big-time points from individuals like Katelyn Williams and Elizabeth McClure.
But just as important is having individuals fill a variety of roles, like Alli Spitzer, who ran legs on the 800 and 1,600 relay at state this year after finishing ninth in the 400 as a sophomore and then ninth in the 1,600 as a junior.
The wide-ranging talent extends to Algoma’s underclassmen, as it had sophomore Jenny Farley (pole vault), sophomore Anna McClure (high jump) and freshman Bobbi Blahnik (shot put) advance to state in individual events.
“I think our relationship is the biggest part about how well we compete together,” Katelyn Williams said.
Schmiling enjoyed seeing the seven seniors shine one more time as they took photos with the runner-up trophy, which had “filed” instead of “field” written on it.
But make no mistake, this group was special.
“It’s going to be tough to see them go,” Schmiling said.
“They established not just a level of performance, but a level of expectations on how you do things. I think our young ones have very much been picking up on that.”
On the boys side, Algoma sent another individual to the state podium with junior Max Schoening placing fourth in the shot put Saturday with a throw of 52-3¾. It’s the second straight year Schoening placed in the event.
After having his throws dip down into the low 40s earlier in the season, Schoening returned to the state podium and was the third member of the Algoma boys team to do so this year, joining Ryan Feuerstein (triple jump) and Sam Utesch (pole vault).
Senior Aidan Wallace also finished eighth in the shot put for Algoma to tally a point for the boys team, which scored 17 points to finish 14th with its four individuals.
“It felt good coming off,” Schoening said about his second throw in preliminaries. “But it was definitely a tougher year.”
Follow PrepsAgenda.com on Facebook
How Algoma fared by event at state
Girls
100
16, Katelyn Williams, sr., Algoma, 13.36
400 relay
3, Algoma (Khloe Williams, sr.; Courtney Guilette, sr.; Katelyn Williams, sr.; Morgan Davister, sr.; alternates Alli Spitzer, sr. and Lucy Wiese, sr.), 51.20 (8, 51.37 prelims)
800 relay
14, Algoma (Courtney Guilette, sr.; Alli Spitzer, sr.; Lucy Wiese, sr.; Jenny Farley, so.; alternates Anna McClure, so. and Elizabeth McClure, sr.), 1:50.94
1,600 relay
9, Algoma (Courtney Guilette, sr.; Liberty Ansorge, jr.; Alli Spitzer, sr.; Jenny Farley, so.; alternates Khloe Williams, sr. and Payton Panger, fr.), 4:17.39 (8, 4:11.91 prelims)
High jump
1, Elizabeth McClure, sr., Algoma, 5-4
12, Anna McClure, so., Algoma, 4-8
Pole vault
4, Elizabeth McClure, sr., Algoma, 10-0
14, Jenny Farley, so., Algoma, 8-6
Shot put
3, Katelyn Williams, sr., Algoma, 41-6¼
7, Bobbi Blahnik, fr., Algoma, 37-8¾
Discus
2, Katelyn Williams, sr., Algoma, 144-7
7, Morgan Davister, sr., Algoma, 120-11 (Extra qualifier)
Boys
Triple jump
6, Ryan Feuerstein, sr., Algoma, 42-7
Pole vault
2, Sam Utesch, sr., Algoma, 13-6
Shot put
4, Max Schoening, jr., Algoma, 52-3¾
Discus
8, Aidan Wallace, sr., Algoma, 146-3