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The Cotter High School junior has the state’s best times in the 3,200- and 1,600-meter races and by wide margins.
Wasinger won’t take it for granted, however, as he prepares for his second trip to the Class A state track and field championships, which begins at 3 p.m. today at Hamline University.
“Donny is the favorite coming in,” Cotter coach Dave Forney said. “He handles it pretty well. He’s pretty focused and it doesn’t seem to faze him. He seems to handle pressure pretty well.”
Wasinger’s 9:25.87 is nearly four seconds ahead of La Crescent’s Dustin Franta, who has the second-best time (9:29.29).
In the 1,600, it’s nearly the same. Wasinger is on top of the honor roll with a 4:20.84, while Blooming Prairie’s Ian Campbell is second (4:23.76).
Wasinger, who took second at state in the 3,200 last year, has gotten to this point with grueling practices and then some.
“When you give a workout,” Forney explained, “he goes above and beyond anything a guy can give.”
Forney has a formula to make sure Wasinger isn’t overextending himself.
“If I didn’t see him joking around, then I would worry,” Forney said. “At practice he’s pretty serious, but outside of it, he can cut it up. He has a great sense of humor.”
Along with Wasinger, the Ramblers will be sending a 1,600 relay quintet, instead of the traditional quad.
Sarah Wasinger, Chelsi Larson, Anna Ferris, Stephanie Smith and Kelly Brandon are the five runners on that team. Forney wasn’t exactly sure which four were going to run.
“I like to look at it as a relay of five,” Forney said. “Now comes the hard part; making the decision on how we’re going to do everything.”
In qualifying for state, the Ramblers threw Larson on the squad early in the week after seeing how well she ran the 800. That means one of the other four will have to bow out.
“It’s bittersweet,” Forney said. “Finding Chelsi was huge for us. That was able to bring us to the possibility of advancing to state, but now someone has to give up a spot.”
Forney worries about hurt feelings, but the girls understand it’s a team sport and they are all probably willing to make the sacrifice for the best time.
“They’re a great group and have a lot of respect for each other,” Forney said.
