Senior shines in specialty at Div. 2 state competition; Ozaukee jumper gets medal

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Zacke Lyons came home with a bronze medal.

The senior placed third in the Division 2 triple-jump competition with a 44-foot effort in last weekend’s WIAA State Track and Field Meet
at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Lyons finished just two inches out of second place. Greendale Martin Luther’s Ben Schreib won the event at 46-1, a Division 3 state
record.

“Making the podium in the triple for Zacke was something he and I talked about at the end of last season and literally the first day of this
season,” Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Les Paul said.

Lyons targeted 44 feet as the distance needed to earn a podium finish, Paul added, noting that “he and all of the coaches were pumped
up to see him have a great effort.”

Lyons overcame a shaky performance in the preliminaries and finished strong, according to Paul.

“Zacke is a showtime kind of guy and made his second jump really count in the finals,” he said.

The third-place finish gave the Rockets six points, good for a share of 39th in the Division 2 team standings. La Crosse Aquinas won the
title with 45 points.

In the long jump, Lyons’ other state-qualifying event, he placed 14th at 19-9-3/4.

“It would have taken something very special and the good juice just wasn’t flowing for that to happen,” Paul said of Lyons’ long-jump
performance.

“But we are very proud of his awesome efforts to represent himself and his team at state. He will be missed.”

Warriors’ Stahl places in high jump

In the Division 3 boys’ meet, Ozaukee’s Noah Stahl placed sixth in the high jump by clearing 6-2.

The junior was one of four jumpers who reached that height, with ties broken by how many misses each jumper had.

Warriors coach Chris Weavers said Stahl overcame a shoe problem to earn a medal.

“Noah indicated that he had a small tear on the inside edge of his jump foot the night prior,” he said.

“During the competition, particularly on his last jump, this tear went from an inch or two to extending from his toe to his heel.

“Noah’s last attempt at 6-4 clearly seemed affected by this, but that’s not to say he would have cleared. He quite literally jumped out of
his shoe.”

Stahl’s finish gave Ozaukee two points, good for 52nd in the team standings. Rosholt won the title with 35 points.

River Ridge’s Derek Sprague won the high jump on a tiebreaker with two other finishers. All cleared 6-4.

Stahl will return next year with the goal of reaching the state level again, Weavers said.

“Noah seems very confident and excited about next season. The spectacle that is the state track meet is certainly a motivator in itself to
get back,” he said.

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