2008 D1, D2, and D3 800m Runners

2008 track season 800m midseason previews




Only three of the above D1 800m runners from 2007 have graduated. Erica Claas [L] of the Waukesha West Wolverines is now a track athlete at UW-Stevens Point. Markie Schmidt of Elkhorn plays basketball at Sacred Heart University while 2007 D1 800m Champion Jamie Dittmar of Wausau East is now a member of the University of Minnesota track and field team. Dittmar placed third in the 600m event at this years Big Ten Indoor Championships. The runners that return in the 800m event have already made their names known this season and track fans look forward to a great event at the WIAA 2008 Championships. [L-R] Claas, Jami Hill [Onalaska senior], Alaina Murphy [Seymour sophomore], Gretchen Bachmeier [Eau Claire North junior], Kathryn Ritter [Mukwonago senior], Dittmar, Megan Beers [Oregon senior], and Schmidt. Beers and Ritter finished second and third in last years meet. Jami Hill served notice that she will be a force this season by posting a 2:13.37 [FAT] at the Knights of Columbus Relays held at UW-La Crosse on April 19. Not pictured above are Maggie Bollig a senior from Middleton who finsihed fifth and sophomore Megan Palmer of Whitefish Bay who finished tenth at last years State Meet

Sophomore's Megan Palmer of Whitefish Bay [above right] and Sarah Ball [above left] of Kenosha Tremper along with senior Joanna Zurko of Muskego were State Meet 800m qualifiers in 2007.

Above left:[L-R] Wauwatosa East senior Emily Schudrowitz along with Brookfield Central runners senior Katie McCormack and ninth grader Hannah Trasser have all made their presence known on the Honor Roll lists. At the Lois Wolf meet Schudrowitz, McCormack and Trasser finished 1-2-3 in the 880yd event.


Berlin senior Claire Rindo who finished 2nd in the D2 1600m and 3rd in the D2 3200m in 2007 has posted excellent 800m times this season. Senior Rachel Kaminski of Bay Port finished 8th in the D1 800m event at the 2006 State Meet. Track fans will not know until the Regionals which events the outstanding runners pictured in this feature will run. But until that time it will be fun to specualte about the matchups. Above right: Versatile runners junior Jami Hill [D1] of Onlaska and seniors Katie Cumming [D1] of Hudson and Ashley Beutler [D2] of Sugar River can run a variety of races and post state leading times. At 2:13.37 Hill has the best 800m time as of week 6 while Beutler's 2:19.68 is the best of the D2 800m runners after week 6.


Above [L-R]: In a rare D1, D2, and D3 matchup D3 Haley Moeller [Sevastopol junior], Jami Hill and D2 Deidre Dillman [Prairie du Chien senior] compete in the 800m at the W/TFA 2008 meet.

Above center: Senior Jil Kerkman of Union Grove was runnerup in 2007 to two-time defending D2 800m champion Deidre Dillman of Prairie du Chien. Other outstanding 800m D2 runners are pictured below [L-R]: Senior Heidi Brittnacher from Appleton Xavier, Dodgeville-Mineral Point senior Ann Tank, and Courtney Oldenburg a junior from West Salem.




Back for the 2008 season are D3 800m standouts [above L-R] Haley Moeller [Sevastopol senior], Alexis Mikaelian [The Prairie School (Racine) junior ], and Ali Paul [Cedar Grove-Belgium senior] along with [below L-R] Margaret Hintz [ Rosholt sophomore], Abby Wedig [Darlington senior], and Jamie Vandenberg [Niagara junior]. Mikaelian was the D3 2007 800m Champion while Wedig finished second and Moeller third. Vandenberg who was the D3 400m Champion in 2007 finished 5th in the 2007 800m just ahead of Paul who was sixth. Hintz was a member of the Rosholt D3 Champion 4x8 relay team.

With the improvement in the weather the times have started dropping. The competition in the 800m will be fierce and track fans can now look forward to the month of May as they follow the progress of the runners pictured in this feature.