Thunderbirds Prepare For 2013 Season 
Left: Senior Delaney FitzPatrick won the D1 Gold Medal in the 1600m run at the 2012 WIAA State Meet.
However this season Lakeland is a D2 school and FitzPatrick will compete against a talented group of runners in that division.
FitzPatrick has won the Great Northern Conference 800m and 3200m races three years in a row. She also won the conference title in the 1600m run in 2010 and 2011.
Right: Abby Scharbarth returns for her senior season having won the Greater Northern Conference Long Jump Title three years in a row. At the 2012 WIAA State Meet Scharbarth finished 7th in the D1 LJ event.
Lakeland is the defending conference champion in the Great Northern Conference. The Thunderbirds also won the 2011 Great Northern title.
Top header photo of Corinne Franz by Lisa Franz.
The boys team made use of the Lakeland HS field House but the girls team had a pool workout scheduled for the Thursday night practice.
Head girls coach Gary Kmiecik is pictured on the right addressing his team prior to the start of their workout.
Division: 2 [D1 school in 2012]
Enrollment: 751
Head Coach: Gary Kmiecik - 27th year as a head coach.
Conference: Great Northern
Conference Schools: Antigo, Lakeland, Medford, Mosinee, Norhtland Pines, Rhinelander, and Tomahawk.
Delaney FitzPatrick at the 2012 W/TFA Meet at UW-Whitewater.
Abby Scharbarth at the 2012 W/TFA Meet at UW-Whitewater.
Lakeland Union HS Women Track Athletes Who've Competed at the Collegiate Level:
1. Maureen Hartzheim-UW-Madison (1985)
2. Mary Hartzheim-UW-Madison (1986)
3. Crystal Bullion-UW-Oshkosh (1996)
4. Emily Metzger-St. Cloud (1995)
5. Sara Holewinski-UW-Stevens Point (1997) & UW-Oshkosh (1998)
6. Jessica Saykally-Beloit College (1998)
7. Stacey Danner-Carroll College (2001)
8. Heidi Johnson-Winona State ()
9. Keidra Anderson-Hamline University (2002)
10. Holly Kromray-UW-River Falls (2004)
11. Jamie Clarkson-UW-Oshkosh (2005)
12. Carrie Schmid-Marquette University (2005)
13. Brooke Robertson-University of Minnesota (2006)
14. Heather Bassett-Northern Michigan (2006) & UW-Oshkosh (2007)
15. Amy Oldenberg-Winona State (2006) & UW-Eau Claire (2007)
16. Joanna Pace-St. Marys (2007)
17. Sarah Glunn-UW-Stevens Point (2007)
18. Marie Peters-Northwestern ? (2009).
During pool warmups the athletes wore life preservers. In addition one of the coaches [HJ coach Aubrey Hoye] who has life guard certification was overseeing the drills in the pool. Drills included timed intervals of walking [in the deep end], sprinting, paddle boards, jumping, and a variety of speed drills.
Far left: PV coach Tim Kennedy who previously coached at Park Falls.
Left: Distance coach Greg Bassett.
Above far left: Greg Eichelkraut will assist with the pole vault athletes.
Above: Coach Kennedy demonstrates a technique to one of the boy vaulters.
The rotation drill done under water made it easier for the vaulter to 'feel' the rotation technique. The bouying effect of the water helped with the learning of the technique of rotating.
Above L-R: Head Lakeland boys coach Kevin FitzPatrick and throws coach John Katz.
FitzPatrick's daughter Delaney returns for her senior year as a defending State Champion in the 1600m run.
Above: One of the athletes had her name on the back of her T-Shirt. Roughly pronounced as "Geesch Go Quay."
"Wisconsin" is an Algonquian Indian word. It comes from the Ojibwe name for the Wisconsin River [Wishkonsing].
The name above is written in Ojibwe and means Blue Sky Woman.
The throw athletes worked separate from those doing the pool workout.
Abby Scharbarth is pictured on the right with her father Don. Don is a volunteer assistant for the Thunderbirds working with the sprinters. Don ran for Spencer High School and was a D3 State Champion in the 100m and 200m dash in 1981. Both Don and his wife were track and field athletes at UW- La Crosse.
Gary Kmiecik directs a pool drill.