Wold captures state long jump silver, Rasmussen medals in high jump
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COMPETING in her third state high jump competition, Boyceville senior Haylie Rasmussen earned her first state medal as she tied for fourth place after clearing 5’ 2” during the Division 3 competition which was held Saturday, June 3 in La Crosse. Above, Rasmussen is shown taking a high jump attempt at this year’s WIAA State Track and Field Championships. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
STATE RUNNER-UP — Boyceville junior Caden Wold is shown taking an attempt in the WIAA Division 3 boys’ state long jump competition which was held Friday, June 2 at Veterans Memorial Field Complex in La Crosse. After he finished third in the event a year ago, Wold set a new school record with a leap of 22’ 7” to finish second in the event and take home the silver medal. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
LA CROSSE — Boyceville’s Caden Wold and Haylie Rasmussen had been here before.
Wold made his second straight state appearance during the 2023 WIAA State Track and Field Championships held this past Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3, at Veterans Memorial Field Complex on the UW-La Crosse campus while Rasmussen was competing for the third and final time.
Both did the Bulldogs proud as they persevered through the heat and humidity and returned home, each with a medal in tow.
Wold changed out the color of his medal at this year’s state meet, going from a bronze in the long jump to a silver and state runner-up finish with a personal best and school-record jump of 22 feet 7 inches on his third jump in Friday’s Division 3 competition. The effort bested Wold’s previous school-record leap, set just the previous week at the sectional meet, by a quarter of an inch.
Grantsburg senior Jordan Gaffney also turned in what turned out to be the gold-medal winning distance of 23’ 7.75” on his third attempt.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs’ junior jumper just missed the podium, which was reserved for the top six finishers in each event, in the triple jump. Despite being limited to two jumps by apparent cramps brought on by the heat, Wold was able to leap 42’ 1” to finish seventh in the event after making the state cut as an extra qualifier.
Elmwood-Plum City senior Trevor Asher soared to the D3 triple jump state title with a leap of 45’ 3.25”.
On the strength of Wold’s finishes, the Boyceville boys scored 10 points and finished in a three-way tie for 28th with Cadott and Bangor.
In a close race, Shiocton won the boys’ Division 3 state title with 38 points. Athens took the silver trophy with 32 points as it edged out Glenwood City, Iola-Scandinavia and Eau Claire Regis all of whom finished with 31 points.
Competing Saturday in the Division 3 girls’ high jump, Haylie Rasmussen cleared 5 feet 2 inches to earn her first state medal with a fourth-place finish that she shared with three other competitors in a field of 20 jumpers. In last year’s state meet, the senior also cleared 5’ 2” but finished ninth due to more misses.
This year, Rasmussen cleared the first three heights – 4’ 10”, 5’ 0” and 5’ 2” – on her very first attempt before exiting the competition with three straight misses at 5’ 4”.
Erin Gluch, a Westby sophomore, claimed the high jump crown with clearance of 5’ 8”.
Splitting the team points four ways, Rasmussen earned 3.5 points which gave the Lady Bulldogs 54th place in the final Division 3 girls’ standings. Fall Creek rolled up 55 point to easily win the girls’ Division 3 state team championship over runners-up Lancaster and Chequamegon who each scored 28 points.