Injuries End Season For Standouts

Week 11: May 25 -May 30

Photographs by Dave Figi



Three standout athletes will not compete at the 2009 State Meet because of stress fractures or sports related injuries. Brookfield Central's Katie Peterson's injury was diagnosed before the 2009 season began while Onalaska runner Jami Hill was diagnosed with a stress fracture one day before the Madison Memorial Sectional competition. In addition Maggie Bollig a senior from the Cardinals of Middleton competed during the season but had her conference and WIAA Tournament competition ended by injuries. These athletes performed well in the 2008 season and State Meet while Hill had season leading marks on the 2009 HR Top 20 Lists for the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m events. Tony Mooren of the Waukesha Freeman and Todd Sommerfeldt of the La Crosse Tribune wrote stories detailing the background behind the injuries.
  • Waukesha Freeman story on Katie Peterson - article
  • La Crosse Tribune story on Jami Hill - article

The Honor Roll is a volunteer effort that is motivated by the outstanding contributions that athletes make to the positive climates of their schools and communities. Below are some pictures of three of Wisconsin's best:


Jami Hill is a senior who is a University of Michigan recruit. On the Week 11 HR Top 20 lists she is the leader in the 800m [2:12.72], 1600m [4:56.79], and 3200m [10:45.24]. At the 2008 WIAA State Meet she was 2nd in the D1 1600m, ran a blazing anchor leg that helped give the Onalaska 4x8 a Silver Medal, and placed 2nd in the 800m, Hill is pictured below with her sister Katie [below left] who is seeded 3rd in the D1 800m [2:17.29] and will run on the Onalaska 4x4 and 4x8 relay teams. Although Jami Hill did not run in the individual events at the Madison Memorial Sectional she is listed as an alternate on the Onalaska 4x8.





Katie Peterson is a senior from Brookfield Central who played a big part in the 2008 WIAA D1 Team Championsip that the Lancers won. Peterson was a member of the Brookfield Central 4x8 which placed 5th and placed second in the 3200m run behind graduated champion Katie Cumming from Hudson. Peterson also was a qualifier in the 1600m run at the 2008 State Meet.

Article below used with permission by the Freeman - Waukesha County's Daily Newspaper

High School Track And Field

Tough ending for Peterson, Butterfield

Injuries ruin final chances

By Tony Mooren
Freeman Staff

WAUKESHA – No way Katie Peterson was going to take her doctor’s advice.
She said she would, but ...
Peterson, who was runnerup in the 3,200 at the 2008 WIAA state track and field meet to help Brookfield Central win the state team championship, had missed the entire 2009 season with a stress fracture.
But the senior was at Waukesha North for a WIAA regional Tuesday competing in her first race of the season – the 3,200.
“She’s in there just to be running one more time,” Central coach Lorie Lewis said. “She’s worked as hard as she possibly could just to get one race in. She’s come every day to our meetings – and then left, on her own, to go to the Y to ride a bike. She’s come to every one of our meets, everything for just this one race. I’m so proud of her.”
Peterson had no illusions about getting back to the state meet.
“My main goal was just to finish,” she said. “It’s been really hard. I just wanted to get one last race in. All I wanted to do all season was get in there. I love this team. There’s no way I couldn’t be there every single day but it was hard not being able to train with them and help them.”
Her doctor finally cleared her to run, but Peterson said, “He told me if anything hurts I’d have to drop. I said ‘OK’ but I knew there was no way I was going to finish my career dropping out unless I broke my back or something like that.”
In a stirring effort, Peterson narrowly missed advancing to Friday’s sectional competition. She finished fifth in 11:45.14. The top four competitors advanced to the sectional.
“I was surprised I was able to stay up with them (the leaders) a little bit,” she admitted. “Toward the end I was thinking it was so close that I was hoping maybe I could pull it out – but I didn’t have the legs for it.”
Still, it was a run worth watching.
Waukesha West long-time coach Chris Ramsey said she “ran a great race.”
Peterson will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall.
“I’ll continue to run but not at Wisconsin – I’m not that good,” she said.


Brookfield Central Lancer Katie Peterson at the 2008 State Meet: 3200m [Above] and 1600m [Below]



Maggie Bollig a Middleton senior and University of Minnesota recruit had her season ended by injuries. She is pictured above [2nd from left] in the 800m run at the 2008 State Meet.



She finished 3rd behind Megan Palmer and Jami Hill with a time of 2:15.46. Bollig also was 6th in the D1 1600m race at the 2008 State Meet.



Bollig is pictured on the left at the 2008 Big '8' Conference Meet in which she placed first in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m events.