LA CROSSE — State championship glory and record-breaking performances highlighted a historic weekend for local Division 2 track and field athletes at the WIAA State Championships at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Oconto Falls senior Brady Bursa and Marinette senior Mason Hofherr both captured individual state titles to lead their respective programs on the state’s biggest stage. For Oconto Falls, the weekend was a masterclass in peak performance, with both the boys and girls squads overcoming high-stakes pressure to bring home school records and podium finishes.
Oconto Falls boys head coach Joseph Hinz credited the program’s success to an intentional weekend environment designed to keep the athletes grounded and excited. “The experience at State Track & Field is unlike anything our student-athletes experience all season, and we embrace that,” Hinz said. “We see the bluffs, find great spots for food that will also fuel them for their events, and overall have a great time. This, I hope, gets our athletes excited about competing at such a high stakes track & field meet, and the results speak for themselves! For the second season in a row, the Oconto Falls girls and boys showed up to state ready to compete, achieving school records and podium finishes.”
The relaxed yet focused strategy paid massive dividends for Bursa in a dramatic boys long jump competition. Entering the event under immense scrutiny as a top contender, the senior standout remained remarkably poised.
“Then there’s Brady Bursa,” Hinz said. “We all knew the pressure going into the competition and what he was capable of, which can be tough on any student-athlete. However, he embraced it as I hoped he would. He showed up ready to go, not fouling a single time on any of his attempts.”
Bursa’s golden moment came down to his penultimate jump in the finals. “I will remember his 5th attempt out of 6, the one that won him the gold,” Hinz recalled. “He was currently ranked 4th and needed a big jump to put him over the top. His run-up and board were near perfect, and when he landed in the pit, the whole crowd cheered when they saw him landing further than any competitor.” The massive leap measured at a spectacular 23 feet, 2 inches, cementing his place at the top of the state podium. “Brady will forever remember that jump of 23’ 2”, since it is rare that high schoolers hit over 23 feet! It was, of course, a school record,” Hinz said. “I hope Brady’s performance inspires others at Oconto Falls to dream big because Brady proved that a small community like Oconto Falls can produce a Wisconsin State Champion.”
The Oconto Falls girls team matched that championship fire by rising to the occasion in the 4x100-meter relay. “This season, the girls’ 4x100m relay ran their two best races all season in prelims and finals, achieving a school record and finishing 5th on the podium,” Hinz noted. Oconto Falls girls head coach Travis Kopke shared that immense pride, emphasizing the historic magnitude of what the relay team accomplished. “I echo a lot of what Joe has already said about the experience we try to create for our athletes,” Kopke said. “In respect to the girls 4x100m relay team of Emery Pagel, Brooke Fenlon, Gracie Miller, and Rylie Shallow I would like to say I am extremely proud of how they maintained their composure against an extremely competitive field. Prior to this year there has only been 8 times where a girls D2 team ran in the 48’s, and those four did it twice at state this year.”
The quartet peaked flawlessly on the big stage, navigating the track in a swift 48.78 seconds during the preliminary rounds before securing their podium spot. “The respect they have for each other, and the other competitors is what you like to see in your athletes,” Kopke added. “These four worked extremely hard to make it to the big stage, and to podium for a second year in a row was great to see. We hope to harness their drive and success to act as a catalyst for future team-wide success.” Reflecting on the entire experience, Hinz noted, “As mentioned earlier, I try to make the whole weekend of state an enjoyable experience so the student-athletes have a great time and stay relaxed by the time they have to compete. I hope these performances are a result of that, something I hope to continue to experience in the future.”
The Marinette program put together an incredibly strong showing of its own, powered by elite speed and historic record-breaking performances in the boys’ sprinting events. “I am extremely proud of all of the athletes that competed at State, any time you can make it is a huge accomplishment and then to top it off with a podium finish is fantastic,” said Marinette head coach Jessica Konyn. “They all had big goals to accomplish this season and they were able to accomplish those (Break 4x100 school record, qualify for state, breaking the 200m record).”
Hofherr spearheaded the attack by capturing the state title in the boys 200-meter dash, flying across the finish line with a premier time of 21.65 seconds. “Mason has worked extremely hard to perfect his craft to be ready to compete against and with the best in the state,” Konyn said. “He is the first state champion for Marinette since 2013 (Dustin Valind - Discus and the 4x100m relay) and definitely deserves that top spot.”
Hofherr also competed individually in the 100-meter dash, placing 13th in the preliminary rounds with a time of 11.37 seconds. He later joined teammates Luke Adams, Derek Montalvo, and Kaiden Brown on the 4x100-meter relay team, which clocked a 42.49-second preliminary time before securing a sixth-place finish in the state finals at 42.76 seconds. Kaiden Brown added to the point total with a stellar individual workload, advancing through the 100-meter dash preliminaries in 11.35 seconds and placing ninth in the state finals with a time of 11.20 seconds, while also placing 15th in the 200-meter dash finals with a time of 22.82 seconds.
The Peshtigo girls team relied on an impressive blend of underclassman speed and veteran throwing to leave their mark on the state meet. Freshman running standout Berkeley Chaltry led the Badgers by earning a spot on the state podium in the 800-meter run, finishing fourth overall with a stellar time of 2:15.61. Chaltry also battled through a highly competitive 1600-meter run, placing 14th in the state with a time of 5:16.48. Fellow freshman Mya Boettcher gained valuable state experience in the 400-meter dash, finishing 17th in the preliminary rounds with a time of 1:00.97. In the field events, senior Athena Powers represented the program well across both throwing categories, finishing 10th in the state in the shot put with a top toss of 38 feet, 11.00 inches and taking 13th place in the discus throw with a final mark of 117 feet, 8 inches.
In the final team standings, the Marinette boys team parlayed their sprinting success into a 15th-place finish in the state with 13 total points. The Oconto Falls program saw point-scoring achievements on both sides, as Bursa’s long jump title put the boys in a tie for 19th place with 10 points, while the girls’ school-record relay performance earned four points to place them in a tie for 39th. The Peshtigo girls program finished the weekend tied for 35th place in the state with five points, entirely supported by Chaltry’s podium finish in the 800-meter run.
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