'It means the world to me': Iola-Scandinavia's Charlie Vater wins state title in 3,200, leads area winners

LA CROSSE – As the sound of thunder started to echo in the distance, Charlie Vater ran like lightning Friday.

The Iola-Scandinavia junior raced to a 13-second victory in the 3,200-meter run to win gold in Division 3 at the WIAA state track and field championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Just a few minutes after Vater crossed the finish line in 9 minutes, 23.43 seconds, rain started to fall and then lightning in the area forced a delay of more than an hour.

Vater said he didn’t hear thunder during the race. He had other things on his mind.

“I was very locked in to just the race,” he said. “I kept looking at the board with the video and I just couldn’t see anyone else in the frame. Each 200 that I clicked off, it was like closer and closer to becoming a reality and then it was done, and it happened.”

Vater, who placed fourth in the 3,200 last year, was content to run with the pack early in the race before kicking into gear on the third lap of the eight-lap race.

“That was the plan today, just because of the heat,” he said. “I didn’t want to do anything too crazy too early, so I just figured I’d hang with the rest of the guys and then see who else wanted to go the third lap and no one wanted to go.”

He led by 13 seconds after one mile and pushed his lead to 22 seconds with two laps remaining before coasting to the finish line over the final two laps. Wesley Pronschinske of Cochrane-Fountain City was second in 9:36.88 and Connor Sheahan of Athens was third in 9:36.94.

“It means the world to me. I’ve wanted this for so long and I’ve put in work like never before this season, and we did it,” Vater said.

Athens' Janke throws to gold

Aiden Janke was hoping for a personal record. He got that, and another gold medal.

The Athens senior won the shot put title in Division 3, repeating as the champion in the event.

“It feels nice to get back up there again. I miss that feeling definitely,” Janke said of the top spot on the podium. “It feels great to be back up there.”

Janke threw 54 feet, 1.25 inches on his fourth attempt to take the lead. He then bettered it with a personal record of 55-2.75 on his fifth attempt to secure the title. Jacob Klitzke of Shiocton was second with a toss of 53-3.

“I feel like I maybe had a target on my back this year since I won it last year,” he said. “I wanted to go out there and PR. I wanted to PR for sure and win it again if I could, and that’s what I did.”

Janke’s previous best was 54-8.5, which he did last year in winning the title.

Medford's Richter runs to redemption

Meredith Richter’s day didn’t start out well, but it had a happy ending.

After finishing 10th in the 1,600-meter run in Division 2, the Medford junior came back and won the 800 with a time of 2:14.08.

Richter outran Rachel Ulrich of Osceola (2:15.64) and Claire Helmila of Freedom (2:16.24) to the finish line.

“The mile did not go how I wanted it to,” Richter said. “My coach is like, ‘You run well when you’re mad, so use that energy.’ And so I did.”

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Richter’s time is her personal best, eclipsing the 2:17.72 she ran to win the event at the Colby Regional on May 22.

She said her goal coming into the meet was to finish on the podium, but after struggling in the 1,600 her outlook changed.

“The mile kind of set me off in a different mindset,” she said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t want to go back there.’ So I just tried to stay positive and it worked out well.”

Rosholt's Bablitch runs to second

Rosholt junior Sophia Bablitch took second place in the 1,600-meter run in Division 3, finishing with a time of 4:59.30.

She was almost 7 seconds behind champion Autumn Michalski of Chequamegon, who finished in 4:52.35.

“My plan was to just run my own race,” Bablitch said. “I knew that it might go out a little fast. I wish that I went out a little bit harder, but I’m happy with how I paced myself and just focused on how my race was going to go.”

Bablitch, who also finished second in the event last season, was in fourth place at the halfway point, then moved up to third with one lap to go just a couple seconds behind Michalski.

“That last lap I definitely had my eyes waiting for her to maybe come back a little bit, but she didn’t. She ran a really good race, so I just tried to finish the best I could. I just took it step by step,” Bablitch said.

Pacelli relay takes fourth

The Pacelli boys 3,200 relay team of Gabriel Hoerter, Sam Carpenter, Luke Eiden and Adam Eiden took fourth place in Division 3 with a time of 8:13.36. Fennimore won the event in 8:06.93.

Wheelchair athletes excel

Senior Drake Carlson of Marathon took second place in the mixed 800-meter wheelchair event with a time of 2:15.35. Gianni Quintero of Milwaukee Marquette won in 2:00.32.

Carlson also finished second in the mixed shot put with a toss of 19-3.25.

Renaya Horvath of Greenwood took second with a toss of 11-8.

Newman's Galang takes fourth

Newman Catholic senior Sidney Galang tied for fourth place in the Division 3 pole vault, clearing a height of 10 feet in the third round before not clearing 10-6 in any of her three attempts in the next round. Alena Sanfelippo of Fall Creek took first at 11-1.

Also on the podium

The Medford boys team of Zachary Rudolph, Adyn Griepentrog, Josh Clark and Silas Wipf placed sixth in the 3,200 relay in Division 2 in 8:05.72. … Isaac Scheer of Columbus Catholic took sixth in the 3,200 in Division 3 in 9:47.92.

Division 1 meet delayed

The Division 1 meet was delayed by 2 hours, 35 minutes Friday night due to weather.

The meet was underway with the boys 3,200-meter relay completed and several field events in progress when the weather siren was sounded at 6:51 p.m. The meet did not resume until 9:25 p.m.

Because of the late ending to Friday night's Division 1 events, the WIAA altered the schedule for Saturday. All Division 2 and Division 3 track events, wheelchair events and Division 1 field events will go on as scheduled. The Division 1 running events will then be contested following the completion of the D2 and D3 running events.

This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Iola-Scandinavia's Vater blazes to state track title in 3,200 meters