Wauwatosa East's Blackburn is a natural at the hurdles

The sport of track and field is growing on Brooklyn Blackburn.

The Wauwatosa East sophomore who has built a bigger reputation for her exploits as a basketball player has emerged as one of the top high hurdlers in the state in her first full season competing.

On Monday she won the 100-meter high hurdles at the Division 1 Wisconsin Lutheran Regional in 16.09 seconds after posting a time of 16.19 in the prelims. The time is well off her season best of 14.96 and it puts her as the No. 4 seed in the event at the sectional Thursday at West Allis Hale.

Basketball was her favorite sport. Now? Blackburn isn’t sure.

“At first it was, but now that I’ve gotten this far into the season it’s probably switched over to equal-equal,” she said. “A lot of people ask what is your favorite now and I go, ‘I don’t know.' It’s hard to know which one I like right now.”

A 6-foot guard/forward, Blackburn averaged 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game last season to rank No. 2 in the Greater Metro Conference in scoring and No. 1 in rebounding. An honorable mention all-GMC pick as a freshman, she was a first-team selection this year.

Her track résumé was much more modest, in part, because she missed all of the outdoor season last year due to a knee injury. It was her first time competing in the sport.

RELATED: Monday's prep track scoreboard

RELATED: Monday's prep scoreboard

When she re-emerged this season, she did so running the times that you would expect from a veteran performer.

During the indoor season, she was named athlete of the meet at the Nelson/Daniels Classic at UW-Whitewater after winning the 55 hurdles in 8.88 and clearing 5 feet, 2 inches to finish second in the high jump. She also won the conference indoor in the 55 hurdles in 8.59.

During the outdoor season, she has twice broken the school record in the 100 high hurdles. The first time she ran a 15.18 at the Dan Benson Invite at Wauwatosa West on April 28. She ran her 14.96 at the league meet, a time that entered the day ranked sixth in Division 1 on the wisconsintrackonline.com honor roll.

Blackburn has continued to play basketball this spring, but she hasn’t missed any meets. She is a member of the Development Through Athletics (DTA) club team.

“Normally it’s double practices every day, going to basketball tournaments,” she said. “It’s a lot of stuff.”

Blackburn joined junior Hannah Brooks, senior Toni Bonds and sophomore Abby Wood on the Red Raiders’ 1,600 relay, which won in 4 minutes, 12.68 seconds. Blackburn had a chance to advance in the high jump Monday, but passed on participating in a jump off after tying for the final spot.

The goal is to stay as focused on what could be her first trip to the state meet. Brookfield East’s Eleni Tongas, who won the other regional in 15.45, lost to Blackburn at the conference meet last week.

The top four finishers in each event advanced to the sectional.

The regional provided few surprises.

• West Allis Central’s Kelshawn Johnson, the state’s top-ranked high hurdler, advanced in the 110 highs but stumbled late in the 300 intermediates and didn’t advance.

• Wauwatosa East’s sprint corps had a quality day, posting their fastest times of the season in the 400 and 800 relays (42.47 and 1:30.15).

• Divine Savior Holy Angels freshman Jadin O’Brien, owner of the top Division 1 time in the 300 low hurdles, won in 45.37. Her senior teammate, Katie Wissing won the long jump (17 feet 8½ inches) and the triple jump (37-10¾).

• Wisconsin Lutheran, which competed in Division 2 last year, won boys and girls the team titles.

Lutheran junior Haley Orlowski, who won a state title in the pole vault last year, cleared 11-6 Monday and missed three tries at 12-1. She’ll share the top seed at the sectional with New Berlin West junior Daily Albino, who won the Brookfield Central Regional by also clearing 11-6.

“This year there is a lot more competition that I have to look out for,” Orlowski said. “The sectional I’m going to is one of the harder sectionals, so it’s a lot tougher, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Lutheran’s other returning state champion, senior Audrey Janik, who won the Division 2 1,600 last season, cruised to victory in that event in 5:25.03 and won the 3,200 in 12:16.68. Missing from her plate was the 800, an event she finished second in Division 2 in last season.

“The 1,600 and 3,200, I personally like doing more,” said Janik, who also was a cross-country standout. “I feel more comfortable doing those two.”

BOYS

Team scores — 1, Wisconsin Lutheran 143; 2, Wauwatosa West 138; 3, Wauwatosa East 131; 4, Milw. Marquette 103.5; 5, West Allis Hale 95.5; 6, West Allis Central 62; 7, Milwaukee South/ Carmen 3.

Sectional qualifiers — 100 meter: 1, Armani Buckley, WL, 11.50; 2, Quincy Minor, WL, 11.70; 3, Jacarri Oldham, TE, 11.72; 4, Josh Bobo, WAH, 11.76. 100 wheelchair: Joe Schubert, MARQ, 18.89. 200: 1, Lewis Huenink, TE, 23.03; 2, Jake Schnell, TW, 24.03; 3, Aaron Johnson-Moorer, TW, 24.27; 4, Bryon Weems, WAH, 24.28. 400: 1, Niles Bridges, TE, 50.69; 2, Alex Kramer, MARQ, 50.96; 3, Adam Westendorf, WL, 54.01; 4, Bennett Shiller, TE, 54.44. 400 wheelchair: Joe Schubert, MARQ, 1:10.16. 800: 1, Marshall Rushton, WAH, 2:01.90; 2, Jeremiah Cash, TW, 2:03.92; 3, Max Finco, TE, 2:04.04; 4, Ryan Lueck, WL, 2:04.06. 800 wheelchair: Joe Schubert, MARQ, 2:36.15. 1,600: 1, Pete Collopy, MARQ, 4:36.90; 2, Ian Tyre, TE, 4:37.30; 3, Frank DeGuire, MARQ, 4:40.37; 4, Jacob Collison, TE, 4:40.58. 3,200: 1, James McKenna, MARQ, 10:00.47; 2, Henry Wellenstein, TE, 10:01.11; 3, Nolan Kozinski, MARQ, 10:04.03; 4, Matt Olson, WL, 10:04.30. 110 hurdles: 1, Kelshawn Johnson, WAC, 14.51; 2, Kelvon Johnson, WAC, 14.94; 3, Andrew Lemmenes, WL, 15.82; 4, Kyleon Parker, TW, 15.92. 300 hurdles: 1, Andrew Lemmenes, WL, 40.11; 2, Ean Haller, TW, 40.34; 3, Kelvon Johnson, WAC, 40.69; 4, Jalen Holley, TE, 41.11. 400 relay: 1, TE (Scott Henry, Cyrus Taylor, Avery Luckett, Lewis Huenink), 42.47; 2, WAC, 43.47; 3, MARQ, 43.54; 4, WL, 43.67. 800 relay: 1, TE (Donavan Hunt, Chase Roberts, Avery Luckett, Cyrus Taylor), 1:30.15; 2, WL, 1:30.85; 3, MARQ, 1:32.09; 4, WAH, 1:32.17. 1,600 relay: 1, TW (Joshua Cash, Jeremiah Cash, Paris Howell, Ean Haller), 3:28.14; 2, TE, 3:29.02; 3, WL, 3:39.80; 4, WAC, 4:01.52. 3,200 relay: 1, WAH (Sam Kaster, Jimmy Pomeroy, Brad Glisczinski, Marshall Rushton), 8:17.24; 2, WL, 8:18.48; 3, MARQ, 8:18.84; 4, TE, 8:25.18. High jump: 1, Sammy Miller, WAH, 6-04.00; 2, Armani Buckley, WL, 6-00.00; 3 (tie), Paris Howell, TW, and Ethan Wright, MARQ, 5-10.00. Long jump: 1, Thomas Hines, WAH, 21-07.25; 2, Paris Howell, TW, 20-06.00; 3, Xavier Mullins, WAC, 20-03.50; 4, Justin Johnson, WL, 20-03.00. Triple jump: 1, David Faye, MARQ, 42-01.25; 2, Tarique Rogers, WAH, 40-11.75; 3, Justin Johnson, WL, 40-05.50; 4, Justin Burks, TW, 39-09.75. Shot put: 1, Javaree Jackson, TW, 55-00.00; 2, Adler Peterson, WL, 47-06.75; 3, Austin Ertl, TW, 46-07.75; 4, Cameron Jackson, TW, 44-08.25. Shot put wheelchair: Joe Schubert, MARQ, 16-08.50. Discus: 1, Adler Peterson, WL, 152-11; 2, Jeff Leflore, WAC, 146-08; 3, Javaree Jackson, TW, 145-06; 4, Jon Gaines, MARQ, 134-04. Pole vault: 1, Andrew Lemmenes, WL, 13-00.00; 2, Samuel Luebbe, WL, 12-06.00; 3, Gabe Bohlmann, MARQ, 11-00.00; 4, Bobby Gral, MARQ, 11-00.00.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1, Wisconsin Lutheran 160.5; 2, Wauwatosa West 158; 3, Divine Savior Holy Angels 119.5; 4, Wauwatosa East 111; 5, West Allis Hale 88.5; 6, West Allis Central 20.5; 7, Milwaukee Bradley Tech 1.

Sectional qualifiers — 100 meter: 1, Yaya Stallworth, DSHA, 12.80; 2, Cheri’A Adams, TW, 12.83; 3, Trinity Moore, WL, 13.05; 4, Brishaun Bailey, TW, 13.29. 200: 1, Cheri’A Adams, TW, 26.25; 2, Breanna Weigman, TW, 26.63; 3, Janiya Jones, WL, 26.76; 4, Karon Brown, WL, 27.11. 400: 1, Destiny Tomlin, WAH, 1:00.66; 2, Abby Wood, TE, 1:01.60; 3, Emily Lohr, WL, 1:03.02; 4, Camila Hernandez, DSHA, 1:03.27. 800: 1, Kacy Fisher, TE, 2:24.41; 2, Brigid Hughes, DSHA, 2:29.61; 3, Elsa Klein, TE, 2:32.63; 4, Mikaela Sullivan, WL, 2:34.71. 1,600: 1, Audrey Janik, WL, 5:25.03; 2, Millie Bretl, DSHA, 5:31.10; 3, Bonnie Beres, DSHA, 5:35.76; 4, Lauren Konkol, WL, 5:40.33. 3,200: 1, Audrey Janik, WL, 12:16.68; 2, Chloe Beaudoin, TW, 12:18.39; 3, Libby Whelan, DSHA, 12:31.16; 4, Andrea Mabie, TE, 12:43.10. 100 hurdles: 1, Brooklyn Blackburn, TE, 16.09; 2, Kayla Crump, TW, 16.41; 3, Elle VanGrinsven, WL, 16.47; 4, Charis Riebe, TW, 17.29. 300 hurdles: 1, Jadin O’Brien, DSHA, 45.37; 2, Kayla Crump, WT, 48.11; 3, Elle VanGrinsven, WL, 49.40; 4, Destiny Harris, TW, 51.53. 400 relay: 1, DSHA (Reegan Schmidt, Yaya Stallworth, Kate Schumacher, Jadin O’Brien), 49.85; 2, WAH, 52.63; 3, TW, 53.38; 4, WL, 54.94. 800 relay: 1, WL (Karon Brown, Mikayla Oertel, Carissa Sundholm, Janiya Jones), 1:46.93; 2, TE, 1:48.74; 3, TW, 1:49.11; 4, WAH, 1:54.21. 1,600 relay: 1, TE (Hannah Brooks, Toni Bonds, Brooklyn Blackburn, Abby Wood), 4:12.68; 2, DSHA, 4:13.06; 3, TW, 4:25.63; 4, WL, 4:31.53. 3,200 relay: 1, TW (Chloe Beaudoin, Eliza Soczka, Delaney Reed, Marlo Korman), 10:55.45; 2, TE, 10:55.50; 3, DSHA, 11:20.16; 4, WL, 11:26.21. High jump: 1, Breanna Weigman, TE, 5-05.00; 2, Abi Stevens, WAH, 5-02.00; 3, Lauren Nemitz, TW, 5-00.00; 4, Ashley Carlson, WL, 5-00.00. Long jump: 1, Katie Wissing, DSHA, 17-08.50; 2, Trinity Moore, WL, 16-06.00; 3, Abby Arena, WAH, 16-04.50; 4, Madison Williams, WAC, 16-03.25. Triple jump: 1, Katie Wissing, DSHA, 37-10.75; 2, Cheri’A Adams, TW, 35-03.75; 3, Abi Stevens, WAH, 35-02.75; 4, Mikayla Oertel, WL, 35-01.75. Shot put: 1, HaLena Lassiter, WAH, 33-05.50; 2, Dasia Davis, TW, 32-03.00; 3, Kennedy Carthen, TE, 31-03.50; 4, Faith Goede, WL, 30-02.25. Discus: 1, Abby Kuna, TW, 104-06; 2, HaLena Lassiter, WAH, 101-02; 3, Jade Liddell, WAH, 92-04; 4, Jannie Wilson, WL, 89-08. Pole vault: 1, Hailey Orkowski, WL, 11-06.00; 2, Tera Riley, WL, 9-00.00; 3 (tie), Niyah Williams, WL, and Hailey Gorny, WAC, 8-00.00.