School records fall, state tickets punched

Grafton High School’s track and field team competed in two different seasons last Friday at a Division 2 sectional in Kewaskum. Early sun and heat gave way to dark and cooler conditions.

None of that much mattered to Callie Faust. The senior who recovered from a broken foot to qualify for her fourth straight cross country meet last fall is going back to this week’s Division 2 state track and field meet in La Crosse in three events.

Faust was fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 5 minutes, 18.79 seconds, fourth in the 3,200 in 11:26.25 and helped the 3,200 relay to second in 9:29.82.

Faust came in seeded fifth in the two-mile race. The top four qualify for state.

“My two-mile hasn’t been completely what I wanted from last year coming from my foot recovery, but I’m pretty proud of how it ended up. That was definitely going to be my hardest one,” she said.

“I didn’t really have a plan. Mainly just run it, tempo it, sort of like I did last meet and then just see what I could do at the end and kick really hard. My kick’s pretty strong and I’ve shown that with the 800 being so strong.”

She was seeded fourth in the 1,600.

“Basically, I just latched onto the front and sort of rode with them the whole way,” she said.

“I’m really proud of Callie. She has worked incredibly hard this season to return to the level she was at before her injury,” coach Jason Meinen said. “The journey has involved both physical and mental challenges, and I believe she is peaking at exactly the right time. Qualifying for state in three events for the third consecutive year is a remarkable accomplishment.”

In the 3,200 relay, one of the earliest ones run at the meet, Emily Sewell, Abby Barthelemy and Cali Tagliapietra joined Faust to punch their ticket to state.

“That race is just hard by itself. With the sun beaming on you, it’s so much worse,” Tagliapietra said. “I like that race first. It’s the longest one out of the way.”

Barthelemy said, “In the first race I’m really nervous so it’s nice to calm my nerves. It’s a race we’re pretty good at.”

Meinen regularly allows multiple runners to compete in the 800 before putting the 3,200 relay team together later in the season. The team of Sewell, Tagliapietra, Faust and Marissa Morgan was third last year in a school record time.

“We evaluated several athletes through open 800 races and liked what we saw. We finally assembled the group at the Richmond/Erickson Invitational (May 13), and their performance at the conference meet (beating Slinger) showed they have the potential to compete for another top-three finish on the podium,” Meinen said.

The 1,600 relay of Sewell, Barthelemy, Melanie Morgan — Marissa’s sister — and Tagliapietra finished second 3:59.07.

Last year’s team with Marissa instead of Melanie and the same other three runners was sixth at state in a school record time.

Team chemistry, they said, translates to speed.

“We play volleyball and basketball together. We’re all just friends outside of sports. We have really good chemistry and we know each other super well,” Sewell said.

Morgan said, “I feel like just going into the race we’re all very focused and we all want to run for each other. Even just our hug today right after the run was so much fun. We ran a great time, another personal record for the season.”

Meinen knows the group is unique.

“After winning the Indoor State Championship in the 4x400 relay, they realized they were a special group once again. The 4x400 will be highly competitive, but I know our girls will be ready to compete and challenge for the championship,” he said.

Black Hawks’ boys break two records

Grafton’s boys set school records in the 400 relay and 800 relay while qualifying for state.

The 800 relay of Max Glab, Hunter Klippel, DJ James and Seva Belousov won in 1:28.27.

“We had some good handoffs today. We wanted it really bad today. We talked to each other before the race, and our goal wasn’t to qualify. Our goal was to win the meet,” Glab said.

The 800 relay of Glab, Klippel, Vinh Ho and Belousov was fourth in 43.17 seconds.

“We’re all great friends. We’re all connected on a personal level, so I feel like it’s easier for us to run a relay together,” Belousov said.

Klippel, a sophomore, is making his first trip to state. He is grateful for help from seniors like James, Glab and Belousov.

“Just a great team, man. Especially as an underclassmen, I have these older seniors helping me out with everything, every little detail. It’s a great privilege to be under them.”

Meinen said the boys are motivated.

“The boys have worked all season with last year’s state meet in mind, where they were disqualified in the 4x200 relay and missed the finals in the 4x100 relay by just .03 seconds. Their goal is to reach the podium, and they believe they have a legitimate chance to win the 4x200, as evidenced by their victory at Arrowhead earlier this season,” he said.

Sophomore Sam Heerey qualified in the shot put, taking second with a toss of 50 feet, 8 inches, just 24 inches from first.

“I had a two or three foot personal record. It was definitely a good day today,” he said.

Heerey adjusted his technique throughout the season to maximize his distance.

“I had kind of a hop at the start of the glide. I fixed that lowered my hips and was able to add distance. With my shoulder, I  made sure I finished upward instead of downward because that was also killing my launch angle,” he said.

He is making his first trip to state and is happy to go with teammates.

“It’s going to help a lot, and just their support in general. Walking out to practice with them and just the people that they are. It’s really just a lot of fun, encouraging energy that they bring,” Heerey said.

“What a day for Sam,” Meinen said.

“Since the conference meet, he has really started to put everything together in the shot put. He has now improved by eight feet since his freshman year, which is an incredible testament to his work ethic and dedication.”

Other top sectional performances were: Morgan, fifth, 300 hurdles, 47.58; Glab, fifth, 200, 22.26; Jayden Smith-Kaylor, high jump, 6-2; and James, sixth, 100, 11:1.

“We had three fifth-place finishes that I would have liked to see go our way, but two of those athletes will be back and are already motivated by the experience and determined not to be in that position again next year,” Meinen said.

Jarmuz qualifies in two events

Grafton’s Austin Jarmuz, who runs for University School of Milwaukee, made late moves to win the 1,600 in a personal-record 4:23.94 and finish third in the 3,200 in 9:34.55 to qualify for state.

“In the 1600, I got out strong and settled into the middle of the pack early on. I stayed patient and waited until about 500 meters to go before making my move. From there, I surged into first place and finished with a strong kick,” he said.

“In the 3200, I stayed with the lead pack for the first few laps. Around the fourth lap, I started to separate myself and focused on closing the gap on the runner in first place. It ended up being a perfect night to race. It was warm, but racing under the lights created a great atmosphere.”

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