Glitter at state: Buechler shines, Beining amazes

June 8, 2017

By Ed Byrne The Brillion News

LA CROSSE – They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But that’s not true at the WIAA State Track & Field Championships, where most of the girls have their sights set on gold.

For the second time in three years, Wrightstown senior Brielle Buechler came home with a gold medal, winning the WIAA Division 2 state pole vault championship.

She won the gold in the pole vault in 2015, clearing 11-feet and three inches. This year, she cleared 11-09.

“It feels great,” Buechler said. “My goal was to go out, have fun, and clear a personal best height,” she said. “It was awesome to both reach the personal best and win the championship today.”

Buechler also ran the third leg of the 4×100 meter relay, where Wrightstown took ninth place.

The squad was comprised of senior Alisha Murphy, senior Amber Lamers, Buechler, and sophomore Morgan Collins.

When Buechler won her first state title, it was a year after Wrightstown’s Bonnie Draxler – who is competing in the NCAA Division I nationals this week – won her fourth WIAA Division 2 state pole vault championship. The two vaulters have a lot in common, including years of gymnastics.

“I have a gymnastics background, and watching Bonnie vault when I was going to be a freshman, my parents actually encouraged me to try it,” Buechler said. “I thought it looked fun and that’s how it started.”

Buechler said she tells younger girls to give the pole vault a try.

“You won’t be disappointed,” she said.

The Tigers also took second place in the high jump, where sophomore Brianna Beining cleared 5-foot-5. That was also the gold medal height that Altoona junior Mariah Hoepner also cleared; but Beining had one miss at 5-04, and Hoepner didn’t.

Wrightstown sophomore Morgan Collins, who ran the final leg of the relay, also took eighth place in the 200 meter dash, with a time of 22.45 seconds.

This marks the first season after Wrightstown constructed a new track facility at Tiger Stadium.

Laurie Mathes and Pat Rigoni were instrumental in producing our coverage of the WIAA State Track & Field Championships. This story was featured in the June 8, 2017 edition of The Brillion News.