Wagner was, not surprisingly, emotional at the end, looking to her parents with tears in her eyes while exchanging hugs with NRHEG coach Duey Ferber. It was the second state high jump title in three years for Wagner, who qualified last year but could not compete because of injury.
“It was kind of bittersweet,” said Wagner. “I’m really happy I won.”
Wagner wasn’t the only one to finish their Panther career on a positive note.
T.J. Schiltz, who placed in two events at state last year but struggled in this year’s section meet, turned in a school-record time of 4:23.34 Saturday to finish sixth in the 1600. It was 14 seconds faster than his previous best time this spring. He had the second slowest qualifying time among 16 runners at 4:37.53.
According to Ferber, Wagner and Schiltz sustained a bad sunburn the week before the section meet, so he ordered rest for both in the week before state and it showed in their performances.
“With Carlie, the focus was rest and fresh legs,” said Ferber. “I was just so proud of her. She handled it really well.”
So did Schiltz.
“He ran his best time of the year at the section meet, so he was a true 15th seed,” said Ferber. “He ran a fantastic race at state. It was absolute storybook. He wanted to finish on the medal stand, and for him to take sixth — 2 seconds better than the school record — was just incredible. His final race as a Panther was his best race ever. We couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Schiltz will continue his running career at St. Cloud State.
Wagner will depart this month for Minneapolis to begin her much anticipated basketball career with the Minnesota Gopher
