Track Triplets from Tiny Shiocton Make Large Statement
When we follow sports, it seems like we spend a lot of time criticizing, lamenting and ruminating. I know I do, anyway.
As we prepare for a most welcome Fourth of July celebration, I would like to declare my independence. And share with you a story that is none of the above.
Instead, it’s a story that reminds us what sports ought to be all about: Athletes competing for the sheer joy of it.
Shiocton, Wisconsin, population 913, is a small town about 30 miles west of Green Bay. It’s best known for fishing in the Wolf River, where anglers try to catch walleye and sturgeon.
From now on, it also will be known for the Stingle triplets: Ari, Kendal and Cade. These three athletic sophomores just kicked some serious butt at the Wisconsin High School Division 3 Track and Field Championships.
Kendal won the state title in the 300-meter hurdles. She and her sister, Ari, despite nursing an injury that forced her out of the hurdles, helped Shiocton win the 400 relay.
Their brother, Cade, finished second in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Kendal also placed fourth in the 100 hurdles, while Ari set a personal record in the pole vault at nine feet, tying for eighth. Foot injury or not.
Now, I’m not a huge fan of track and field. And I never seem to find time to carry out that New Year’s resolution to watch more high-school sports.
But watching the way the Stingle triplets compete—and hearing the way they describe the pure joy of their sport—makes me smile. It’s such a great reminder of why we like sports in the first place.
These young people could teach Aaron Rodgers, whose discontent is causing anguish throughout the intensely loyal Packer Nation, a thing or two. Actually, they could give all of us a reminder of the best part about sports.
``It's unbreakable,’’ Ari told WLUK TV reporter Doug Ritchay. ``Us three, we've been through rough patches, but overall we're just brother and sister and we can't give that up. It's really amazing. I think experience is really cool, it's really run running against my family members and pushing you.’’
``It's awesome,’’ Cade added, ``running with your sisters from a young age. It’s great. I love watching them and they definitely support me.’’
Kendal won the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.53 seconds, 0.16 seconds ahead of Ladysmith's Kylee Becker (45.69), whose dive at the finish line fell short.
``In the 300, I was kind of expecting a first," Kendal said. "I just had to crank her through and pull hard. I was right next to her and on the last hurdle I kind of stumbled, too. She went down, and I was like, 'Oh, no!' I tried to finish her off, and she kind of crossed her hand and I turned around to she if she was OK. I felt so bad. She tried really hard.’’
It was only about the fifth time she ran the 300 hurdles this year, said Kendal, drafted because of Ari's foot injury: ``That was Ari's event. When my coach forced me into it and Ari saw me beat her for the first time she was like, `This is my event, you can't do this to me.’ I finally tried [the 300] out, and, `Oh, I'm actually pretty good.’ Kind of went with that.’’
Their parents were initially surprised at the triplets’ enthusiasm for competition. But that disappeared quickly.
“I realized when they were toddlers,’’ their mother, Rose, told WBAY reporter Jeff Alexander. ``I used to set up obstacle courses in the yard just to burn some energy off of them, and I’m like, `Holy man, they’re riding their bike by 2-1/2.’ Who’s the first the get their teeth brushed? Who’s the first to get their pajamas on? [That] has been their motto their whole life.”
“I’m a proud dad,’’ their father, Brian, said, ``and I’ve got a few more years to enjoy it and then we’ll have the empty nest.”
Thank you, Stingle triplets, for the wonderful reminder of what sports ought to be all about. That's especially appreciated as we prepare to celebrate America's birthday.