Paige four:

A state title eluded her. Consistent excellence did not.

Ozaukee High School senior Paige Kurlinski won a medal in the shot put every year of high school.

Her latest effort highlights overcoming some nerves to snag a fifth-place medal.

“Shot morning I was ready. I was feeling the adrenaline. I knew I was able to compete with the six other girls who have thrown 40 and above,” she said.

“I got out there and warmed up, was feeling amazing. We got to throwing for prelims and I did not hit a 40 (feet) at all. I was stressing really hard. I was in my head, I was super down on myself. I started crying. I had to walk over to my dad. He gave me a big pep talk.”

Kurlinski came back strong.

“On the first throw of finals I hit my 40 feet. I’m happy, I’m ecstatic. I finally hit 40 at state,” she said. “Then got back in my head again.”

Kurlinski’s throw of 40 feet, 8 inches was enough to land on the podium once more, adding to her legacy. She was fifth as a freshman, second as a sophomore and third as a junior after recovering from an injury.

“My junior year I shouldn’t have been there at all. I’m really proud of myself for my four years,” she said.

Kurlinski nearly medaled in discus in her first time qualifying for state. She didn’t think she would make the finals since she had to throw 120-plus but she advanced and nearly tossed a personal record.

“My last throw was my second-best throw of the whole season,” she said.

Kurlinski threw a 117-9. Sixth place was 125-4.

Kurlinski joined track on a bit of a whim. She quit soccer in seventh grade, and the middle school track coach asked her to try his sport.

“I looked at him. I’m like, ‘Do you see me running? I’m not a runner,’” she said.

It turns out she is a thrower.

“I absolutely loved it,” Kurlinski said. “It was an individual sport. It was all on you and you can’t rely on other people to fix your mistakes.”

She likes it better than her other two sports, volleyball and basketball, and she put the time in to get so good at it that she earned four state medals.

“I would just say hard work and dedication I have for the sport,” Kurlinski said of the key to that success.

She praised her jumps coach Aaron Brown, head coach Andrew Pfeuffer, Brandon Clapper and former throws coach Bill Richards, who remains in contact with her.

“They’ve each pushed me to be the best that I could be and I couldn’t have done all that I have without them,” she said.

Kurlinski will throw at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and study elementary education. She also hopes to stay with the sport beyond competing in it.

“I will definitely want to be coaching at whatever school I end up at,” she said.

“I know Paige wanted more than fifth place as a senior, but it is an outstanding accomplishment for her to qualify and make the podium all four years of her high school career,” Pfeuffer said. “That is the first time I have had an athlete do that in my 11 years coaching at Ozaukee.”

ν Of the other Warrior state qualifiers, four-year letter winner and co-captain Kaylee Steadman was 15th in discus with a throw of 110-1.

“Kaylee was hoping for a little better performance at state but we are still proud of how well she competed over her four-year career at Ozaukee and ending her career at the state meet,” Pfeuffer said.

Steadman will throw at UW-Stevens Point next year.

Peyton Mueller was seventh in the long jump with 21-0.25 — less than three inches from a sixth-place medal — and was 13th in the high jump by clearing 5-10.

“Peyton’s impact on our team this year has been tremendous. He has scored 264 varsity points for our boys team. He has grown and developed as an athlete and person so much in his four years with us,” Pfeuffer said.

Mueller will continue to compete at Lawrence University next year.

Brice Schueller finished 15th in the 800 in 2 minutes, 0.72 seconds.

“Brice was hoping to go under two minutes and narrowly missed his goal,” Pfeuffer said. “Brice has been instrumental to our track and field teams over the past four years and his leadership and performances will be greatly missed next year.”