Rauch leads strong state performance for Peshtigo

Max Rauch entered Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse last Friday as the top seed in the Division 2 boys pole vault.

The Peshtigo junior lived up to his billing.

Rauch shook off any nerves he was feeling in his first WIAA state track & field appearance to claim the D2 championship by clearing 14 feet, 6 inches.

“It feels surreal,” Rauch said. “It’s almost hard to believe.”

Rauch captured the 26th state title in the history of the Peshtigo boys team and is the first member of the squad to do so since Brad Neumann won the D2 100-meter dash in 2012.

After going to several vaulting camps during the offseason, Rauch was able to punch his ticket to state by breaking the school record to win the Freedom sectional and earn the top seed for state with a vault of 14-9.

“I do a very specific routine before I pole vault every time,” Rauch said. “I started it freshman year because that’s what felt good to me.”

Rauch broke a 25-year-old Packerland Conference record on May 14 by clearing 13-7 to eclipse the previous mark of 13-6, which was set by Southern Door’s Joe Gilson in 1993. Gilson went on to win the state title and help the Eagles win the team title that year.

Peshtigo featured a strong squad this year and had five state qualifiers, overall. The Bulldogs tied for 12th in the D2 team standings with 17 points.

In addition to Rauch, junior Mitchell VanVooren reached the state podium with a sixth-place finish in the 300 hurdles and was a leg on the fifth-place 1,600 relay team, which also included junior Reid Marquardt, senior Cameron Barrette and sophomore Jerod Jandt.

It was the third straight year the Bulldog’s 1,600 relay placed at state.

Marquardt also finished 10th in the 800 run at state.

VanVooren broke the 300 hurdles school records during state preliminaries with a time of 39.78 seconds. He broke the 110 hurdles school record with a time of 14.87 seconds to advance to state.

After finishing ninth in the 110 hurdles, VanVooren was determined to reach the state podium in the 300 hurdles.

Four of the six medalists for the 300 hurdles were from the Freedom sectional.

“I ran a bad race, but it got me on the podium, so that’s what matters,” VanVooren said about his time of 40.70 seconds in the finals. “I wish I would have did what I did (in preliminaries) but it got me on the podium and that’s all that matters.”

Follow PrepsAgenda.com on Facebook