LA CROSSE — Lilly Dettwiler has competed in many events for the Logan High School track and field team.
But she knew she wanted to narrow some of her focus when came to the long jump this season because she could see success, and Dettwiler saw that through on Saturday.
The sophomore pulled off a jump of 17 feet, 8.5 inches to claim fourth place among Division 2 competition at the WIAA state track and field meet.
Dettwiler had her scoring jump early — her second attempt — and made the most of her opportunities with no scratch jumps.
“A lot of hard work this year paid off,” she said. “To get on the podium feels amazing.”
Dettwiler said she had her eyes on the 18-foot mark, but that the real goal was to have her name announced as she stepped onto the podium.
“It take take some time before you realize you want to be serious about a specific event,” Dettwiler said. “It kind of locked in my brain in the middle of the season where I decided what I wanted to be great at.”
Dettwiler competed in the 100, 200, 400, 800 relay, 1,600 relay, long jump and triple jump for the Rangers this spring.
The long jump was where she wanted to make her mark, and she said appreciating the opportunity she gave herself just by qualifying helped her on Saturday.
“This was just the meet where I could give it everything I had,” Dettwiler. I was already here, so I didn’t have to worry about anything other than that.
“I really focused on getting up (in the air). You can’t just jump far. I just tried to be really springy.”
HACKBARTH BRINGS HOME SIXTH: Logan senior Jacob Hackbarth closed out his career with a sixth-place performance in the Division 2 discus.
Hackbarth hit his scoring throw of 164-10 on his third attempt and had five clean throws after a scratch on his opener. His other four all ranged from 158 feet to 158-4.
Hackbarth also ran on the Rangers’ seventh-place 1,600 relay. Logan just missed out on the podium with its time of 3:24.98, which trailed sixth-place Prescott (3:24.52).
Gabe Driscoll, Briggs Schaffer and Andrew Leaver also ran on the relay, which qualified from the prelims on Friday and moved up from eighth to seventh after one lap in the 1,600 relay but couldn’t get any closer to the front.
CORNETT HAS APPEARANCE TO BUILD ON: Logan junior Madelyn Cornett was one of six non-seniors to qualify for the Division 2 finals of the 100, and she came out of the 10-person field with a time of 12.63 and seventh place.
Four of the runners who beat Cornett could be back in the event next year, but she made progress from Friday’s prelims by shaving down on her qualifying time of 12.72. That gave her an eighth seed that she improved on.
