The 2023 track team wraps up the season at state

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Ahmad Qasam, Staff Writer

On May 25, the Greendale track competed at sectionals hosted by Oak Creek. Eight different events are qualified for state. Individual events were: Senior Izaiah Correa, who won the 110 hurdles and broke a school record held for 31 years with a time of 14.17, senior Javon Murry in the 100-meter dash, senior Noah Adams in the 1600m and senior Savannah Klappenbach in the discus.

The relay teams that qualified were the 4×100 relay with seniors Matt Paul, Anthony Sardina, Murry, and Correa; the 4×200 relay with junior Isaiah Ramirez and seniors Evan Hickey, Murry, and Correa (who reset their own school records); the 4×400 relay with senior Tommy Fritsch, juniors Raygun Uremovich and Gabe Torres and freshman Sebastian Langenfeld, and  the 4×800 with Fritsch, Adams, junior Alex Gey and Langefeld.

“My freshman year was totally a success. Going to state as a freshman really gave me the motivation to do better, and hopefully, I’ll be back next year and win,” Langefeld said.

State took place on June 2–3. The meet performance was okay for Greendale, but there were many rain delays, causing the final race 4×4 to start at around 1:30 a.m.

The best finisher was Murry who qualified for the finals in the 100m and 8th out of 24.

“Track wasn’t really something I thought about doing; I understood I was a fast kid but was really focused on football until I saw Miguel Smith make it to state,” Murry said. “I gave it all I had my junior and senior years, making it to state, and although my track and field career is over, I look forward to carrying everything I learned from Greendale to Des Moines. 

In the mile, Adams finished 20th out of 24 with his best time, and Klappenbach finished 22nd of 24. The 4×200 team of Paul, Hickey, Murry, and Correa finished 14th out of 25. The 4×100 team of Paul, Murry, Sardina, and Correa did not finish due to injury.

In addition, Correa did not finish in the 110 high hurdles due to contact from another competitor. The 4×800 team of Fritsch, Gey, Adams, and Langenfeld finished 22nd of 25, with a season-best time. The 4×400 Fritsch, Uremovich, Torres, and Langenfeld finished 18th out of 24.

“The 2023 track and field season was possibly the best season I have been a part of, and I have been coaching since 1996.  There were several new athletes this year who really contributed. Sending eight events to the state meet was awesome,” Coach Corey Binnebose said. “Being part of three schools’ records shows we had some very talented athletes. I feel like our athletes were always improving performance-wise, and if an athlete did not improve at a meet, it motivated them to work harder for the next meet. Our end result at the state meet was not what we were hoping for, but it just motivates the coaches to plan ahead and work harder as well.”