The 2023 Flyway track and field conference season provided plenty of star power and much of that talent returns to compete again this spring.
The season culminated with a conference meet hosted at North Fond du Lac that had some tight races to determine team championships.
Laconia won the girls title by just 3.5 points over Springs. Meanwhile, there were just 15 points that separated first and third as Omro outpaced Campbellsport and Winnebago Lutheran to win the boys championship.
GIRLS PREVIEW
The Spartans had conference champions in four track events. Now-junior Molly Duel won three of those: the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter runs. Duel finished third at the state meet in the 1600
Laconia also did well in the field events, winning three times. Payton Morgan and Kinsly Laudolff return as conference champions in the high jump and discus, respectively.
The Ledgers have their fair share of talent returning as well. Springs won each of the relays. They return three runners in the 4x100 and 4x400. They also have two returning runners in the 4x200. Springs finished top-5 in those three events at state.
Grace Coon will have a chance to defend her conference titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She qualified for the state finals in the 200.
Campbellsport finished a distant third on the girl's side. An athlete to watch this year for the Cougars is junior Lydia Toshner, who won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Toshner also qualified for the state tournament.
BOYS PREVIEW
The Foxes will have to replace a lot of production from their conference-championship team. They won five events and two relays last spring, but each individual champion was a senior.
Meanwhile, Campbellsport will have the top-two favorites in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. Both Caleb Smith and Evan Wilcox were just juniors last year and finished second and third in both events. The conference champion, Thomas Koffman of Springs, was a senior.
Smith also finished second in the triple jump, won by WLA junior Austen Grassel. Mason Willacker is back after a second-place finish in the long jump.
WLA is in a similar spot to the Cougars, returning multi-talented sophomore Gannan Schwartz for his sophomore campaign. Schwartz won the long jump and was helped set a school record in the 4x200, which returns three of its four members.
Schwartz also recorded a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash and a fourth place finish in the 100.
WLA also brings back 3200m champion Bennett Midthun, who finished runner up in the 1600; and Kaiden Schmitz, who is one of the favorites to win the discus and shot put. He finished fifth in both events at state last year.
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