New Richmond relay title headlines Day 2 at state track

The New Richmond boys 4×400 meter relay team captured a state title, marking the third trip of the day to the awards podium for sophomore anchor leg Ben Hoeppner, while Tiger junior Zach Ader, Hudson senior TJ Pennycook and Somerset sophomore Kaleb Mroz all medaled on the second day of the WIAA State Track and Field Championships Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse.

New Richmond juniors Colton Gunter and Austyn Wittek, senior Tae Herron, and Hoeppner lowered their qualifying time of 3 minutes, 21.51 seconds in Friday’s Division 1 4×400 preliminaries to 3:19.15 in Saturday’s finals to beat second place Pulaski by over a half second.

It was the third medal of the day for Hoeppner, who finished second in the 400 meter dash finals and sixth in the 200 finals earlier Saturday. After winning his heat in the 400 in 48.14 seconds Friday, he clocked 48.07 Saturday to take second behind Wausau East senior Parker Schmitt’s winning time of 47.97.

Hoeppner also won his preliminary heat in the 200 meter dash in 21.98 seconds and lowered that to 21.85 in Saturday’s finals to place sixth. The sophomore said he wasn’t intimidated by being on the biggest stage in the state for the first time.

“I had tunnel vision,†he said. “Once I get in the blocks, I just do my thing. When I ended the race. I kind of realized where I placed, and how good I did. I’m just proud that I can do it for my school too.â€

Hoeppner’s teammate Ader was one of five high jumpers to clear 6-feet, 4-inches Saturday and earned the sixth and final spot on the awards podium based on number of attempts. Germantown senior and defending state champion Aidan Dykstra matched his winning jump from last year to take first at 6-9.

Pennycook fought back from sixth place on the second lap of the boys 800 meter run to pass four runners on the homestretch and claim second place with a new school record time of 1:52.09. It took a Division 1 state-record time of 1:51.0 by defending champion Jemekhi Tally of Homestead to hold Pennycook off.

Pennycook said it was chaos on the track on the first lap.

“It was way more packed than I thought it would be,†he said. “Probably about 200 (meters) in there was a guy who almost fell. We just were in a huge lump. I kind of stayed in the pack, and then I realized I was like fifth or sixth, and I had a chance, so I just went for it.â€

Somerset sophomore Mroz also had to work his way from back in the pack to take fourth place in the Division 2 boys 1600 in 4:19.58 and earn a spot next to five seniors on the awards stand, including state champion Carter Kucko of Rice Lake.

Mroz said was looking for redemption after his 15th place finish in the 3200 meter run Friday.

“I really just needed a redemption race for my two miles, so I went for it,†he said. “I mean, it feels great. I know I put a lot of work into this, and it feels really good to be able to do this.â€