PrepsAgenda.com’s Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year: Preble’s Gavin Buergi
Gavin Buergi looked like he had been in a heavyweight fight by the end of the WIAA state track & field meet this year.
The Green Bay Preble senior was sporting a swollen lip from a shot he took during the Division 1 boys 100-meter dash to go along with scrapes and bruises from a tumble at the conclusion of the 200.
“There has been some bloodshed in everyone so far,” he said.
There were also a couple tears shed for Buergi after he glanced up at the results board following the final race of his career.
Buergi placed sixth in the 200 to earn another trip to the state podium – his third on the day – to cement his legacy as one of the best sprinters Preble has ever produced.
People ask me why I’m doing this. For moments like this one. Gavin Buergi’s reaction after finding out he took 6th in the D1 200 to give him 3 medals on the day #hsswi 🏅 🏅 🏅 pic.twitter.com/QkJoyDQ1O2
— Andrew Pekarek (@AndrewPekarek) June 2, 2018
“I didn’t think he would be a school-record holder at the beginning of the year,” Preble coach Nick Marcelle said. “But come May, the dude was just dropping time. He was looking elite.”
That he was.
Buergi tied Jake Wallenfang’s school record in the 100 with a time of 10.73 seconds in state preliminaries. After qualifying for the state finals for a third straight year, Buergi earned the first trip to the state podium of his career with a fourth-place finish.
Buergi also broke a school record in the 200 with a time of 21.79 seconds in state preliminaries. For good measure, he anchored the 400 relay to a fifth-place finish. He became the first individual from Preble to earn three state medals in a year since Wallenfang and Robert Starnes did so in 2013.
For his efforts, Buergi is PrepsAgenda.com’s boys track and field athlete of the year.
“There is always the mindset I want to make it to state,” Buergi said. “But at the same time, I’m just going to do what I can do and whatever happens, happens. You can’t be mad at yourself if you did your best, and I did the best I could.”
Buergi’s best was pretty tough to beat throughout his career, which included:
- Three-event state medalist as a senior in the 100, 200 and 400 relay
- Seven-time state qualifier, including state finalist in the 100 three times
- Six-time FRCC champion, including three times in the 100
- Six regional titles and four sectional titles
- School records in the 100 and 200, ranks third in the 400 and 400 relay
- Led the Green Bay area honor roll in the 100 three times
Believe it or not, one of Buergi’s biggest goals for the season wasn’t to reach the state podium. He simply wanted to run a good time in the 400 for his coaches.
The Preble sprinter did just that at the Fox River Classic Conference meet May 15 by winning the 400 with a personal-best time of 50.20 seconds to help him complete the triple crown of winning the 100, 200 and 400.
It showed how far he had come from his days as a talented freshman, who would stay at the back of the pack for workouts until cruising to the front for the final repetition.
“He probably wasn’t the most liked runner in our program as a freshman,” Marcelle jokingly said. “He figured out that he had to do every one of these reps really well to become an elite sprinter.”
Buergi didn’t exactly have the looks of an elite sprinter. The 5-foot-9, 151-pounder didn’t have the big stride of a taller runner and didn’t sport tree trunks for thighs like Wallenfang had.
But Buergi was durable throughout his track and football career, never missing a meet or a game.
In addition to his work ethic, what separated him from the pack was his technique and pure determination.
That was evident when you look back at his finishes at state. He was at his very best that day.
“This is probably the last competitive thing I’ll ever do in my life,” Buergi said. “It’s a good feeling, knowing I can relax in the next while. But at the same time, I’ll never be able to have a full competition where I put absolutely everything I have into it like I did with this.”