Grafton quartet reaches gold record

They knew before the race was over; even before it started.

Grafton’s 800-meter relay of Max Glab, Hunter Klippel, DJ James and Seva Belousov was going to win a state title at La Crosse on Saturday.

“We knew this would come the day before. We’ve been practicing the entire year for it. We did it together as brothers,” Glab said.

The words rang true. The team finished in 1 minute, 27.5 seconds, edging Brown Deer’s 1:27.74 to bring gold back to Grafton, breaking their own school record in the process.

“One of the greatest moments I’ve ever had,” Klippel said.

Glab started the race well. Since the beginning is staggered, it’s hard to tell where he ranked, but he ran 200 yards so fast he was nearly sick.

“I wanted to throw up because that’s how tired I was, but I somehow got some energy and I sprinted down the entire football field to go yell at Seva while he was running,” Glab said.

Klippel got the baton next.

“We were pretty much ahead from the start. He did it all, I just had to do a good job, hand it off to DJ,” Klippel said.

James stayed right at or near the front.

“We were a little ahead and I just gave it to Seva. Right after I handed it off, I sprinted down to Max. When (Seva) got past 100, I knew we were going to win,” James said.

Belousov heard James say “stick,” put his hand back for the baton and took off.

He and Michael Essoka of Brown Deer got the stick at nearly the same time.

“But I got out really good so I passed him right away on the curve. I knew I had to win, had to do it for the boys at home,” Belousov said.

He wasn’t the only one sprinting. In addition to Glab, Klippel quickly got up after lying down, and James just kept on running toward the finish line.

“It felt amazing. All the hard work paid off. The job is finished finally,” Belousov said.

Grafton’s last track and field state titles came in 2014. Sprints coach Erick Huertas, then a senior, won the 200, 400 and anchored the 1,600 relay to gold.

Coach Jason Meinen said he knew the Hawks would win after he saw James with the lead.

“The first two were so good. By the time DJ got it, it’s over,” he said.

He knew the relay had something cooking when it won the Myrhum Invite at Arrowhead in early May.

“When you can outback Arrowhead at their own meet, you know you have something,” he said. “That’s when they were starting to believe.”

Belousov is the only one who has been in track for four years. Glab has been in for three, originally just to get faster for football.

“After my sophomore year I fell in love with it. My eyes are focused on football during football season and my eyes are only on track during track season,” he said.

James came out as a junior.

“They all convinced me to join. It meant a lot. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.

Belousov cherishes his last memory of the season.

“We stand up on the podium looking up at the crowd seeing everybody cheering for us, screaming. We did it. We made it happen,” he said.

Klippel, a sophomore, will be looking for another trio next season.