La Crosse - Brookfield East has had an impressive showing in most jumping events in track this season.
And, Friday was no different as the Spartans continued to shine in many events at the first day of the WIAA State Meet in La Crosse.
East had two of the top hurdlers in the state in the 110 meter hurdles and it showed as senior Aaron Dillon finished first (14.78 seconds) overall and classmate George Kotsonis (15.56) finished 14th in the preliminary rounds of the event.
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The Spartans also boast a nice 1-2 punch in the high jump, and again it showed on Friday as senior CJ Gregg finished 13th while teammate Darius Barnes walked away with a silver medal.
Not bad for someone who just learned how to high jump a little more than three months ago.
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“I’m happy but I fell like I could’ve gotten better,” Barnes said.
The senior explained that after two failed attempts to clear the 6-foot, 8-inch mark (which was good enough for first place), he cleared the bar on his third try only to see it fall after he had already cleared it.
“It is what it is,” he said. “My 6’8” jump was supposed to be a clutch moment but it just failed to stay on the bar.”
Other area jumpers had success as well.
Sussex-Hamilton’s Cameron Clinton-Earl finished just behind East’s Dillon in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.99 seconds.
The senior-standout didn’t have his best time in the 300 hurdles however, as he finished one place shy of qualifying with a time of 40.35 seconds.
On the girls side, the triple jump proved to be a hot event with four area girls competing.
Menomonee Falls sophomore Mikayla Robertson, who took fourth last year in the same event, finished sixth this time around with a distance of 36 feet, 7.25 inches.
Teammate Becca Fuchs (33-08.25) finished 22nd while Whitefish Bay’s Sophie Yang (34-02.75) took 20th and Brookfield Central’s Kara Krugel (35-10.75) finished tenth.
Bay also had success in the pole vault as Nawoo Kim finished just shy of the podium in eighth place with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches.
Hamilton’s Shannon Burke placed 20th and Nicolet’s Kim Charles 23rd, each finishing with a mark of 9 feet.
Field events resume on Saturday at 9:30 a.m., with the track portion of the day starting an hour later at 10:30.
