Track and field: As clock strikes midnight, Oregon's Delaney Nyenhuis earns state medal in 800

Just after midnight struck, Delaney Nyenhuis found herself a state medalist.

The Oregon junior was the Panthers’ lone podium finisher at the WIAA Division 1 state meet on Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3, at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse.

“It was a good, hard race,” said Nyenhuis, who placed third in the 800-meter run. “But it worked. It was amazing to get on the podium. That felt incredible knowing the work you put in paid off at the biggest meet of the year.”

Division 1 competition on Friday was scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m., but the start of the meet was delayed two hours because of lightning. After roughly 30 minutes of competition, there was another two-hour weather delay. The meet resumed at approximately 9:30 p.m. and concluded after 1 a.m.

The 800 run was one of four events that took place after midnight in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

“The race delays messed with your head,” Nyenhuis said. “But you just have to disregard it, play it to your advantage. We weren’t in the sun. We got to run in this perfect temperature.”

Nyenhuis clocked in with a time of 2 minutes, 15.3 seconds to place third.

Mount Horeb junior Abigail Sadler ran away with the 800 title with a time of 2:11.64. Cedarburg freshman Charlize-Trinity McKenzie earned runner-up honors with a time of 2:13.56. Nyenhuis was seeded ninth with a sectional time of 2:19.15.

Nyenhuis said her goal was to podium, but wasn’t expecting to shave off four seconds.

“I just wanted to run my hardest and stick with people,” Nyenhuis said.

Nyenhuis was bunched up in a pack after the first lap, but was in a comfortable third-place position down the home stretch of the race.

“It was pretty packed,” Nyenhuis said. “I got pretty boxed in there. I felt like it was breaking my stride. I got a little gap and went for it. I exploded the gap and had a really hard kick and just kept powering through.”

Nyenhuis advanced to the state meet last season in the 400 and was a spot short of advancing to the finals of the race.

“Last year was such a heartbreaker being one spot away from making the finals,” Nyenhuis said. “This year I came back with a strong vengeance.”

Vorontsov puts cap on illustrious career

Oregon senior Dasha Vorontsov capped off a standout racing career with a pair of 10-top finishes at state. Vorontsov was just a spot short of podiuming in the 3,200. She clocked in at 10:56.11 to take seventh in the event Saturday night. Middleton freshman Olivia Chellevold placed sixth with a time of 10:52.22.

Vorontsov also reset her own school record in the 1,600 by over five seconds – going sub-five minutes with a time of 4:59.88. That time was good for 10th out of 23 runners. The race was originally split into two sections, but was combined on Friday for time purposes.

Vorontsov was one of four Division 1 girls named WIAA Scholar Athletes in April. Vorontsov advanced to state four times in cross country. She earned two state medals in her cross country career.

Panthers race in prelims

The Oregon girls competed in three preliminary relay races during the first session – with the Panthers’ best finish coming in the 1,600 relay. The Oregon relay team of juniors Sophie Herweijer, Belah Fry, Reese Evans and Nyenhuis clocked in at 4:10.36 to take 13th. 

Juniors Addie Peters, Anna Johnson and Emma Schell teamed with Herweijer to place 16th in the 400 relay prelims with a time of 50.40. In the 800 relay prelim, it was Schell, Herweijer and Nyenhuis teaming with freshman Jaclyn Schelitzche to take 16th with a time of 1:45.23. The top 10 teams advanced to finals.

On Saturday, the 3,200 relay team of Ava Weink, Ava Skripka, Evans and Fry took 22nd with a time of 10:09.30.

Yoerger leads Oregon boys

Oregon brought a pair of boys to the state meet – sophomores Quyen Wirts and Jacob Yoerger. In the pole vault, Yoerger went 13 feet to place 17th. Hartford Union senior Aaron Cummings shattered the state record with a height of 16-8. The previous record was set in 2014 at 16-1. In preliminary action on Friday, Wirts placed 18th in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.74.

The Oregon girls had eight points to tie for 32nd. Despite just having two state qualifiers, DeForest won the Division 1 girls team title with 46 points. Arrowhead and Stevens Point shared the boys state team title with 47 points each.