Grace Coon is headed back to a familiar place next week.
The St. Mary’s Springs junior track star qualified for the WIAA State Track and Field Championships in three different events for the second-straight year.
"[Last year] I was in two relays and an open event," Coon said. "I'm excited to be in two open events this year because I probably could have made it last year, but [the relays] were really good last year."
Coon’s two individual events are the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She placed third in the 100 and fourth in the 200.
The Horicon Sectional featured some of the top sprinters in the state, including Isabella Albert from Dodgeland, and Coon said that motivated her to perform well.
"I was looking at all the times and I was like, 'This is a hard sectional,'" Coon said. "I was really excited to get past [the 100] and once I got to the 200 and I was just exhausted, but I'm too competitive to not make it.
"I just gave it everything I had."
Coon also anchored the 4x200 relay and erased a deficit from when she got the baton to when she finished.
She said she hopes to use her experience to lead the young relay team, which includes freshman Gwen Weaver and sophomore Scarlett Gaertig.
"Going to state my freshman and sophomore years is really awesome for me this year just because I'm going to have a lot of experience going into it," Coon said. "Especially with a young relay team, it'll be helpful to have experience."
In addition to Coon, Springs qualified three more events. Sophie Norton, Lexi Coon and Scarlett Gaertig each placed third in their respective events.
Lexi Coon jumped a PR 16-feet, 8.5-inches. She said she even surprised herself with the distance; her career best prior to Thursday was 16-feet at the conference championship.
She said she has had the goal of making it to state since her sister, Springs alumna Isabelle Coon, made it to La Crosse.
"I just gave it everything I had because going to state is something I've always wanted to do," Lexi Coon said. "My sister went to state for long jump.
"I just went up there, jumped and magically jumped a 16-8.5."
Norton ran the 300-hurdles in 47.41 seconds. Gaertig's state event is the pole vault; she vaulted 9-feet, 3-inches.
Lexi Coon said though the team is small, everyone brings their best to each meet.
"I'm super proud of all the girls," Lexi Coon said. "We have a very little number of girls, but we all rise to the occasion when we need to so I'm very excited to see all the girls at state."
The Ledgers boys' team qualified two events for state. The 4x100 relay team finished fourth thanks to a last-second lean across the finish line. Senior pole vaulter Brendan Gaertig vaulted 12-feet, 6-inches to clinch a runner-up finish and lock up a trip to state.
Earlier in the day, the boys' 4x200 team dropped the baton on the first exchange; they were in second place at the time of the mistake and finished outside of qualifying spots.
Horicon Sectional Results - State Qualifiers
BOYS:
4x100 relay: 4. Springs
Pole vault: 2. Brendan Gaertig
GIRLS:
100: 3. Grace Coon
200: 4. Grace Coon
300 hurdles: 3. Sophie Norton
4x200 relay: 1. Springs
Long jump: 3. Lexi Coon
Pole vault: 3. Scarlett Gaertig
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