Tyler Krueger vaults to state silver

LACROSSE —  Tyler Krueger saved his best effort for the final track and field meet of his prep career.

The Boyceville senior registered a personal best vault of 13’ 6” during the boys’ division 3 state pole vault competition held  June 2 in LaCrosse.

The jump bettered Krueger’s previous high-water mark by six inches and led the three-time state qualifier to a second-place finish and the silver medal during the 122nd running of  the WIAA State Track and Field Championships held last Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3 in sweltering heat at UW-LaCrosse’s Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.

While the sun’s bright rays sent temperatures soaring into the high 80s Friday and to the mid-90s on Saturday, they also highlighted the efforts of Krueger and his vaulting teammate Brandon Kenefick who also achieved a personal record jump of 12’ 6” to finish ninth in the same competition.

“It’s incredible,” said Tyler Krueger following the awards ceremony. “Everybody is in the stands and the seats are packed. It’s an incredible feeling, indescribable.”

The broad smile just would not leave his face.

“After all this time. I took 13th my sophomore year, 7th junior year, and wanted to take either first or second this year,” added Krueger. “(And to do so) behind Zastrow, the kid’s incredible.”

The Zastrow kid of which Krueger spoke was Spencer senior Noah Zastrow, who set a new state record of 15’ 4” (beating the old mark of 15’ 3” set back in 2010 by Bryan Klister of Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas) in winning the 2017 vaulting event. Zastrow finished second a year ago.

“13’ 6” has been attainable but like an inch out of reach the whole year,” noted Krueger.

But not last Friday.

Krueger’s cleared 13’ 6” on the third and final jump with room.

Just Krueger, Zastrow and two others cleared that height to remain in contention for the gold.

But it was a fortuitous and insightful decision by Krueger and his coach Corey Day that pushed the Boyceville senior into the second slot.

After passing at the opening height of 11’ 6” and 12’, Krueger cleared 12’ 6’ and 13’ on his first jump. With the heat and humidity rapidly rising, Day instructed his vaulter to pass on 13’ 3”, a move that Zastrow emulated.

The other two remaining vaulters had misses at 13’ 3” before clearing. That gave Krueger an advantage if he could clear 13’ 6” for the first time in his career.

He did as did the other three. 

But at 13’ 9”, Krueger along with Zach Schmitt of Dodgeland and Eleva-Strum’s Jedediah Lorenz exited the competition exited the competition with three straight misses while Zastrow, who passed at that height, went on to clear a record-breaking 15’ 4” mark for the gold.

But because he had passed at 13’ 3” and Schmitt and Lorenz had misses at that height, Krueger took the second-place silver medal.

“Tyler Krueger ended his career the way that you would hope as a coach, who has watched him put in the time and effort since middle school.,” said Coach Day.  

“Tyler had his eyes on the school record of 14’,” added Day.  “He fell short of that goal. “Aim for the stars and you will hit the moon!”  I believe that is what Tyler did.  He cleared 13’6 by a foot, but when the bar moved to 13’9” he was getting tired from the heat with no shade on the turf.  

Day also noted that Krueger had thumb surgery from an injury in football and he was still doing physical therapy and was not cleared until after the second week of practice for track.

“Coming off of surgery, it feels good to get back into my prime,” stated Krueger.

Krueger will likely see more days on the UW-LaCrosse track as he will be attending there this fall to major in chiropractic and compete in track which made Coach Day and assistant Coach Peterson happy as both are UWL alums.

Teammate Brandon Kenefick also had a banner day last Friday. 

The junior vaulter reached new heights like Krueger, posting a personal record of 12’ 6” in the state competition to place ninth.

“Brandon Kenefick made 12’6 in the pole vault for a PR and a 9th place finish,” said Day. “There were only two juniors that placed ahead of him. The rest of the field in the top eight were seniors. I was very pleased with Brandon’s season, and I know he will put in the time to keep improving.”

Unfortunately, the eight team  points that Krueger garnered in the pole vault were the only points that the Bulldogs scored in  the two-day meet.

Senior Cassie Malean making her fourth straight appearance in the state meet struggled in the high jump competition finishing 13th after clearing just the opening height of 4’ 10” as she was not able to get back to the early season success she had when she tied the school record with a jump of 5’ 5”.

Malean also anchored the girls’ 4×100 meter relay team that also included fellow seniors Erica Sempf and Carlee Schultz as well as freshman Naomi Hillman. The quartet finished 15th in Friday’s preliminary heats with a time of :53.39.

Like Malean, Sempf is a multiple state meet participant having competed in three state championships. Schultz was a two-time participant.

“These three senior girls will be greatly missed,” stated Day.

Junior Paulina Wenke was the final Bulldog to take the state stage when she competed in Saturday morning’s division 3 girls’ discus and placed 11th with a top throw of 104’ 5’ which happened to be her first ever attempt at state.

“Paulina got a taste of state and is already looking forward to getting back for next year,” Day said.

Coleman won the boys’ D3 state title with Algoma claiming the girls’ team title.