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Janesville Craig junior nearly pulls off difficult triple

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Big 8 Conference Track Meet

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JANESVILLE — Tommy Meister knew exactly what he was getting into in the Big Eight Conference track and field meet here Tuesday night.

The Janesville Craig junior set his sights on winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 races. A grueling task, considering there is only one race in between the 800 and 3,200.

Meister nearly pulled off the feat, winning the 800 in record fashion and cruising to the win in the 1,600. His tank was empty at the end of the 3,200, and he finished second.

Meister’s sparkling performance was one of many for Janesville athletes at Monterey Stadium.

Maggie Slatter won the 100 and 200 to lead the Craig girls to a second-place finish. Sun Prairie repeated as the girls champion with 124.5 points, followed by Craig with 99.

Verona outlasted Janesville Parker to win the boys team title with 121.5 points. The Vikings were a close second at 112.5, and Janesville Craig was third with 82.

Meister’s winning performance of 1:55.44 in the 800 set the automatically timed Big Eight record, and his winning time of 4:17.97 in the 1,600 was only a second off the conference mark. He fell behind Madison West’s Sam Hacker early in the 3,200 and could not recover.

“There’s no excuse for the 3,200,” Meister said. “It was my fault. I went out and did not run a smart, technical race. I didn’t go out early fast enough, and when Hacker made his move, I was boxed in.

“But I had a blast tonight. I’d never done this triple before. It was new and exciting, and it’s always so much fun to compete against these great runners.”

The Cougar boys also got wins from seniors Tom Kitching in the pole vault (12-6) and Cy Badertscher in the long jump (22-3.5). Badertscher also was second in the triple jump, losing to Verona’s Jason Tiedt by a half-inch.

Parker’s boys dominated the hurdles and won the 800 relay en route to an impressive second-place finish. The Vikings got wins from Austin Lloyd in the 110 high hurdles (15.14), and the 800-meter relay team of Adam Vesterfelt, Erik Albeck, Justin Shelton and Matt Simon.

“I’m really proud of our kids across the board. Our team has gotten better, and as a coach, that’s all you can ask for,” Parker boys coach Joe Dye said. “Now we have to circle the wagons and get ready for the tournament.”

Slatter was untested in winning the 100 and 200. The sophomore won the 100 in 12.76 and the 200 in 26.58. She also anchored Craig’s winning 800 relay team that also included Ashley Pohlman, Mia Metcalf and Aisha Coleman.

“I don’t know if Craig has ever had a girl win the conference in the 100 and 200,” Craig coach Mark Marsden said. “I know it hasn’t happened since I’ve been here.

“And considering we didn’t score in five events and still finished second, that’s says a lot about our team. It was a great night.”