Highlights from 2025 state track and field meet in La Crosse
Track and field athletes from across Wisconsin gather in La Crosse to compete at the 2025 WIAA state meet.
Michael Whitlow, Zac Bellman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Avery Bott of Arrowhead finished top three in the 100, 200, and 400-meter races.
- Sydney Falkowski of KML won the D2 400-meter final and anchored a record-breaking 4×400-meter relay team.
- Kyenret Rinkam of Brookfield Central won the D1 100-meter title in a photo finish.
The final day of the 2025 WIAA state track and field championships commenced in La Crosse and the greater Milwaukee area’s talents were on full display throughout the final day of the season.
Here’s a look at some of the girls highlights from around the area, including what feels like an endless list of champions and top finishers across all three divisions to close the 2025 season.
Port Washington’s Peyton Keller wins Division 1 high jump state title in jump-off
Four jumpers tied for the final podium place and it may not have been the wildest part of the Division 1 high jump competition. Port Washington junior Peyton Keller became the first Pirate in program history to win the D1 high jump title with her best clearance before the tiebreaking jump-off at 5-6 against Waunakee’s Lainey Chancellor.
Arrowhead’s Avery Bott goes 1-2-3 in the sprint triple
Avery Bott’s frantic weekend finished with not only being a key contributor to Arrowhead’s back-to-back team state title push, but finishing in the top three in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter finals in D1.
Bott took third in the 100, followed that with a runner-up finish in the 400 and then finally took the top spot on the podium in the 200 with a time of 23.87 seconds.
“It was my first year doing all opens,” Bott said on doing all three sprint events. “It was definitely new and I had to figure out how to get past all that. I just made sure I tried my best to recover in between all of my races and just do all I can to perform my best in the next race.”
Mukwonago defends D1 4×100-meter relay state title
One of the Milwaukee-area relay teams to defend its 2024 state title was Mukwonago in the 4×100-meter relay final with a time of 47.61 seconds, anchored by 100-meter final fifth-place finisher Laela Presendofer. Scarlett Ansell, Emma Craig, triple jump podium finisher Ella Schueler and Presendofer outpaced Classic 8 Conference rival Arrowhead by .19 seconds to win their second straight title.
KML’s Sydney Falkowski wins the D2 400, runs anchor leg on record-breaking 4×400-meter relay title
Not many were busier in D2 than Kettle Moraine Lutheran’s do-it-all Sydney Falkowski. The junior dominated the 400-meter preliminaries and then rolled to a :55.42 in the final to win the title.
She then followed that up by anchoring the defending champions in the final event of the season during the 4×400-meter relay final. Emma Wagner, Hayden Lauer, Gabriella Wallin and Falkowski broke their own state record in the event with a time of 3:52.73 to repeat as 4×400 champions.
“It just felt so awesome,” Falkowski said on the 4×400 victory. “We wanted this race. In our prayer before the race, we were like, ‘We’re just gonna give it our absolute everything. It’s the last race of the day. We just want to prove ourselves again’, and we all did just that.”
Germantown, Wisconsin Lutheran go 1-2 in D1 4×200-meter relay
Four teams from the area finished on the podium in the D1 4×200-meter relay final, including the top two teams. Germantown’s quarter of Kaliyah Terrell, Sophia Zastrow, Lydia Taraboi and Addison Braidigan won the crown with a time of 1:40.62. Wisconsin Lutheran’s team of Faith Kerobo, Samariyah Walker, Aiyanna Crockwell and Annabelle Coudron finished as the runner-up with a time of 1:41.19.
New Berlin West breaks own state record to win back-to-back state titles in 4×200-meter relay
The queens of the D2 4×200-meter relay continued to rule over the event.
New Berlin West’s title-winning team of Caroline Gerovac, Aubrey Lane, Raquel Gerovac and Ashley Babcock rolled to a 1:41.35 and the state title for the second straight year. The Vikings’ time also broke their own state record they set the previous day in the preliminaries.
“I think it’s just great. We have the same team next year because we have no seniors,” Babcock said on the repeat title. “It’s really nice to have that reassurance to know that we can do it again next year.”
Cedarburg’s Charlize-Trinity McKenzie wins a D1 800/1,600-meter title double
Things got a bit sweaty for Cedarburg star junior Charlize-Trinity McKenzie to start her day on the final day of the season.
McKenzie steamrolled the competition out of the gate through the first 1,200 meters, but Menomonie’s Lauren McCalla came roaring back with about 100 meters to go. McKenzie fended off McCalla’s comeback to win her first 1,600-meter title at the line, and then ran away from the field to repeat as the 800-meter champion by just under four seconds against McCalla.
“We always say in my family that no championship ever comes easy,” McKenzie said on the challenge of running the 1,600 before her stronger event in the 800. “Never underestimate anybody. I’d say I was definitely a little less weary during the 800. I was a little more comfortable.”
University School of Milwaukee’s Bella Grenier and Annie Norman give Wildcats another distance double podium
Had it not been for a fourth-place finish from Freedom’s Madison Schaper toward the end of the meet, University School of Milwaukee would’ve been the D2 state team champions.
That can be largely credited to the dynamic duo of Bella Grenier and Annie Norman, who picked up 29 team points between the 1,600 and 3,200 finals alone. After Grenier won the 3,200-meter title with Norman finishing fourth on Day 1, the duo went 2-3 in the 1,600-meter final behind champion Ciara Hartman from Bloomer. Grenier finished with a time of 4:57.43, while Norman checked in with a 4:58.96.
Brookfield Central’s Kyenret Rinkam wins D1 100-meter title in incredible photo finish
Brookfield Central sophomore Kyenret Rinkam won her first individual state title in arguably the most exciting race of the entire weekend. Rinkam won the D1 100-meter title with a time of 11.88 seconds, .01 seconds faster than defending champion Lydia Lazarescu from Holmen. There was a delay in the stadium until the results were revealed, which was followed by oohs and ahhs from many in attendance.
Catholic Memorial’s Analena Peterson captures D2 double on her birthday
Happy birthday, Analena Peterson.
The Catholic Memorial speedster pulled off the D2 100/200-meter title double on her birthday during Day 2 action. Peterson won the 100-meter title by .08 seconds over Brodhead/Juda’s Stella Arn at :12.06, and then rolled to a :24.19 in the 200 to complete the title double on her big day.
The :24.19 set a state record that Peterson broke in the preliminary heats, which was previously held by former Shorewood star Delea Martins. Peterson said she had the goal of breaking the record previously held by the current University of North Carolina sprinter.
“I don’t even need a birthday gift,” Peterson said with a huge smile. “Just winning two state medals and being able to break a record (in the 200) … perfect birthday gift right there.”
Shorewood’s Kaymin Phillips, Wisco’s Samariyah Walker take back-to-back runner-up finishes in D2 and D1 hurdles
The area got off to a strong start on Day 2. Shorewood’s Kaymin Phillips and Wisconsin Lutheran’s Samariyah Walker each finished as the runners-up in the D2 and D1 100-meter hurdles finals in back-to-back heats. Phillips ran a :14.59 behind three-champion Elletta Uddin from Osceola, while Walker raced to a :14.65 behind defending champion Sydnee Nelson from Oshkosh West in the D1 final.
Other top area finishers throughout Day 2 finals
- Burlington’s Emma Tenhagen finished fourth in the D1 high jump competition with a top clearance of 5-4.
- Grafton’s Tatum Wiedenhaft finished third in the D2 shot put competition with a best throw of 40-10.
- In the D1 4×400-meter relay final, Homestead (3:55.13) took second place, while Germantown came in third (3:55.64). Brookfield Central (3:57.48) rounded out the area finishers in fifth.
- In the D2 4×400-meter relay final, New Berlin West (3:54.83) finished third, Lake Country Lutheran (3:55.83) finished fourth, Catholic Memorial finished fifth (3:56.62) and Grafton finished sixth (3:57.06).
- East Troy’s Amya Pluess finished on the podium in fifth place in the D2 long jump competition with a best jump of 17-8.5.
- In the D1 200-meter final, Wauwatosa East’s Alma Homberger finished fourth (24.69) and Wisconsin Lutheran’s Annabelle Coudron finished fifth (:24.88).
- The D2 200-meter final featured a 1-2-3-4-5 area finish behind Peterson. Falkowski finished second, New Berlin West’s Aubrey Lane finished third (:24.94), Dominican’s Sydney Knautz finished fourth (:25.06) and New Berlin West’s Ashley Babcock finished fifth (:25.19).
- In the D1 800-meter final, Brookfield East’s Isabelle Yttre finished third with a time of 2:12.93.
- East Troy’s Valencia Burgos finished fourth in the D2 800-meter final with a time of 2:15.94.
- In the D3 shot put competition, Ozaukee’s Paige Kurlinski finished fifth with a best throw of 40-8.
- In the D1 300-meter hurdles final, West Bend West’s Rylee Faehling took second place (:42.94) by just .15 seconds behind Wausau West’s Maci Heise. Waukesha North freshman Jaidyn Krumenacher also took third with a time of 44.90 seconds.
- In the D1 4×100-meter relay final, Arrowhead took second (:47.80), Oconomowoc took fifth (:48.76) and Germantown finished in sixth (:48.88) on the podium.
- Pius XI Catholic’s 4×100-meter relay team of Caylen Todd, TyJah Horton, Ameena Harris and Alanna Loyd finished third in the D2 final with a time of 49.36 seconds.
- The Prairie School’s 4×100-meter relay team of Isabelle Baumgardt, Meg White, Larkin Hrouda and Amiyah Galica finished sixth in the D3 final with a time of 50.22 seconds. Galica also took third place in the D3 300-meter hurdles final with a time of 44.73 seconds.
- In the D1 4×200-meter final, Wisconsin Lutheran (1:41.19) finished as the runner-up, while Wauwatosa East (1:42.85) and Wauwatosa West (1:42.90) took fourth and fifth, respectively.
- In the D2 4×200-meter relay final, East Troy took third place with a time of 1:42.85. Lake Country Lutheran finished fifth with a time of 1:44.57.
- Three long jumpers finished on the podium in the D1 long jump competition from the area. Mukwonago’s Ella Schueler (18-3) took third, Arrowhead’s Payton Eicher (18-2.5) took fourth, and Divine Savior Holy Angels’ Daniella Riemer (18-0.5) finished sixth. Schueler also ran the third leg on Mukwonago’s title-winning 4×100-meter relay team.
- D1 3,200-meter champion Ella Anschutz from Muskego finished fifth (4:58.10) in the 1,600-meter final. Wauwatosa East’s Katie Rea finished third in the same race with a time of 4:54.82.
- Franklin’s Brielle Boudjou (39-4.75) finished fifth and Muskego’s Jaelynn Mick (39-4.5) finished sixth in the D1 shot put competition.
- Mukwonago’s Laela Presendofer (12.22) finished fifth in the D1 100-meter dash.
- Dominican’s Sydney Knautz finished third in the D2 100-meter dash with a time of 12.36 seconds. She also finished fourth in the 200-meter final.
- Kenosha St. Joseph freshman Madeline Zernia finished on the podium in fifth place with a time of a 31.41 seconds in the girls wheelchair 100-meter dash.