Annie Moore - Area "Athlete of the Year" - Cardinal Athletic Alumni Association, Inc.

Annie Moore named All-Area Girls Track Athlete of Year

FOND DU LAC – Annie Moore simply wasn’t feeling herself.

At the start of her senior season for the Fond du Lac girls track and field team in early spring, the standout distance runner didn’t have the energy she normally did.

Her times were slower than normal and she wasn’t able to recover between races nearly as quickly.

After a visit to the doctor’s office, it was soon clear what was ailing Moore — she was Vitamin D deficient. While treatable, it wasn’t going to be a quick fix. She’d need to take medication and it would be months before she’d be back to full strength.

Yet there Moore was in La Crosse in early June, back for her third WIAA Division 1 state track and field meet and competing in three events. That in itself says pretty much everything you need to know about Annie Moore.

Moore is the 2016 Action Reporter Media All-Area Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, a fitting cherry to top of a career that featured six combined appearances at the state cross country and track and field meets.

Moore edged Mayville’s Amy Chen, who finished seventh in the D2 100-meter dash and was part of the Cardinals’ state-qualifying 4X200-meter relay, as this year’s selection.

This season was a tough one for Moore. While the end result — another trip to state — might not indicate it, she struggled for much of the year because of her Vitamin D deficiency.

“She struggled a lot (with it) this year,” Fond du Lac coach Jena Weigel said. “But she’s one of those girls that has grit. She works super hard. She wanted it more than anybody else wanted it. She made her dreams come true. I don’t think she performed as well as she would have liked, but it took a lot of willpower and a lot of hard work to get where she did.”

Moore qualified for state in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs as well as the 4X800-meter relay. Although she didn’t run as well as she’d have liked in the 800 (24th) and 1,600 (20th) at state, partly because she was still battling her health, Moore helped lead the 4X800 to a 12th-place finish with a team record time of 9 minutes, 38.13 seconds.

“The 4X800 was really exciting, especially because we improved there, too,” Moore said. “That was a personal best for our team, which was really cool. The other two were kind of disappointing, but I was just happy to be there. I didn’t expect to make it in three events, so the fact that I did was really cool.”

Another highlight during the season for Moore and the Cardinals was the Division 1 sectional meet at West Bend, as Fond du Lac won the sectional championship by 3.5 points over Hartford Union. Moore scored second-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs that warm Thursday and anchored the 4X800 that cruised to a two-second victory.

“That was really cool, just because we didn’t really think that we could (win sectionals),” Moore said. “We’ve just improved so much since I’ve been at this school. To win that was a sign of how much we’d actually achieved and worked on. For that group of girls, we’d all been working together for a while.”

In the fall, Moore is heading to NCAA Division I Illinois State University to run both track and cross country for the Redbirds. She knows she hasn’t hit her full potential as a runner yet and is excited to see what she can do at the next level.

“I’m really excited,” Moore said. “I got to talk with some of the girls this past year and they were all really nice and just really positive about everything. I’m just excited to see what I can do because everyone improves in college if you work hard enough. That’s what I’m really excited to see because I don’t know what I can do yet. I think this will help me figure it out.”

Moore’s hard work was evident in high school and that won’t change in college. En route to qualifying for eight events at state track and field and three state cross country meets, she showed the kind of effort it requires to be an elite distance runner.

“Annie is just one of those girls who works really hard,” Weigel said. “It’s awesome to see that her hard work paid off with going to state (track) in three events (this year). She is just one of those kids who is an epitome of a great teammate. She’s always pushing the younger kids along and it’s awesome that she was there to be a good leader for our freshmen, who are going to carry her legacy on for many years.”

Maybe just as important as the work ethic Moore instilled in herself and her teammates was the fact that she wanted running to be an enjoyable sport. In her time as a Cardinal, both the cross country and track and field programs improved. Part of that is because of Moore individually, but part of it is because she made her teammates want to be there. She left programs better off than where she found them and wants to see continued improvement after she’s left.

“I’ve just tried to work to make track and cross country not super serious, more of like a fun and enjoyable activity,” Moore said. “Running’s hard and it’s a hard sport because you’re not around people all the time. So you kind of have to push yourself. If that’s all you’re doing, then no one’s going to want to do it. I’ve worked to make it more of a positive and enjoyable environment for people so we build the program and get people to keep coming back.”

2016 Action Reporter Media All-Area Girls Track and Field Team

Mackenzie Boehlke, Junior, Winnebago Lutheran

Amy Chen, Junior, Mayville

Sydney Flier, Soph., Waupun

Ally Gietzel, Soph., Fond du Lac

Aby Lau, Junior, St. Mary’s Springs

Taylor Mangan, Senior, Mayville

Brooke McDowell, Fresh., Fond du Lac

Annie Moore, Senior, Fond du Lac

Sarah Niehueser, Soph., Winnebago Lutheran

Katie Retzlaff, Junior, Fond du Lac

Tristan Scholler, Soph., St. Mary’s Springs

Jada Steffes, Soph., St. Mary’s Springs

Liz Ziegler, Fresh., Fond du Lac

Honorable mention

Fond du Lac: Nicole Lord, Kiya Petik, Amber Wells, Madison Hughes. Mayville: Caitlin Falk, Brianna Huizenga, Cecily Hurtienne. North Fond du Lac: Frannie Sokolik. St. Mary’s Springs: Emily Mueller, Makita Riehl, Emily McGovern. Waupun: Liz Schatz, McKenna Yedinak.

Annie Moore – Area “Athlete of the Year”