LA CROSSE — Luther High School junior Nathan Dobberstein wasn’t quite sure how he’d react to the environment at the WIAA state track and field meet.
His weekend schedule contained three events, and he competed in all three during a warm and sunny Saturday at the Veteran Memorial Field Sports Complex.
Dobberstein just missed out on a medal in his first final, but he stormed back to place fourth in the sext two and some necessary state experience to bank on when he attempts to qualify again as a senior.
Dobberstein earned fourth-place medals in the high jump and the 300-meter hurdles after finishing seventh in the 110 hurdles.
“I’ve never been in front of this many people before,” Dobberstein said. “It can be nerve-racking, but I think it went pretty good.”
He credited his form for a time of 39.5 seconds in the 300 hurdles that closed out his meet.
” Form was important, but it was also my final race of the year,” Dobberstein said. “With the 300s, it’s also a lot of running between the hurdles.
“My start was good, and the curve went alright. I think it all went pretty good.”
Dobberstein checked in with a cleared height of 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump. He got over the bar in one attempt at 5-10, 6-0 and 6-2 before missing all three attempts at 6-4.
“I was so close at 6-4,” he said. “I kept catching the bar with my hips (on the way down). I was just short of holding my hips up. I almost had it.”
Dobberstein started his Saturday in the finals of the 110 hurdles, and his time of 15.19 left him in seventh place and 0.02 seconds behind sixth-place Trevor Trowbridge of Auburndale.
