Janto solidifies legacy

Published: June 4, 2013

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

LA CROSSE — Four years ago, it seemed this day would never come for West Bend West's Kayla Janto.
On Saturday evening, a day four years in the making has come and gone with a state medal hanging from her neck.
Janto capped one of the most decorated careers in West Bend West history at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state track and field championship at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
She, along with Ife Ekunsanmi, Erica Wanie and Amanda Wanie, finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run at Saturday's state meet.
With tears running down her cheeks, a realization hit her: This was it.
"It's been an incredible ride and an incredible four years with the best teammates I could've asked for with the most amazing coaches," she said. "They really pushed me to my full potential. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
For four years, Janto assembled what will surely be a future Wall of Fame induction.
Since the fall sports season of her sophomore year, Janto has qualified for state in cross-country, gymnastics and track and field — nine consecutive seasons of reaching the state tournament. Most student-athletes dream of getting to once and many never get a chance at state-tournament competition.
Here are some of the highlights of her career:
n In cross-country, she was All-Wisconsin Little Ten three times, owns the sixth-fastest 4k time in school history and won a conference championship her senior year.
n In gymnastics, she was first- or second-team All-Conference in multiple events, was WLT champion on the balance beam and in the all-around her junior year and was on team that set a WLT team score record at conference championship meet.
n In track and field, she is has four conference records and led West to back-to-back WLT titles her junior and senior seasons, with the first ending a 25-year drought. She was on the state runner-up team in the 1,600 last season.
She is one of a few West Bend student-athletes to captain three conference championship teams in three sports, and is one of only two girls in West history to qualify for state in four events in one season.
Her accolades earned so much respect from her teammates, but with each accolade she was humble.
"Kayla's the best teammate I've ever had," Erica Wanie said. "She's my biggest supporter."
Wanie said she learned from Janto that it was about the team, never yourself.
"I loved Kayla right away," said Ekunsanmi, a freshman. "She made me feel right at home."
Janto hated to talk about her accomplishments without making sure her teammates got equal credit.
"I looked up to a lot of girls on my team when I was a freshman," Janto said. "I tried to emulate how they came off and, as a freshman, I always felt welcome and I wanted to give off that same vibe to my other teammates. I want girls to look up to me. It means the world to me that they do."
Before the WLT championship meet, Janto got to meet one of her idols, a girl she looked up to: Megan Duwell Herrick.
At West, the time period between 2002-05 is known as the "Duwell Era."
Duwell was a state champion at West and went on to be an All-American at the University of Minnesota.
"It was pretty inspiring for me," said Janto about meeting Herrick. "She's been an idol for me. My dad has talked about her."
"She's just so humble, so I think that really touched me," Janto added. "It was just so awesome to hear from an athlete from our school that made it so far and she's so down-to-earth and humble. It was really inspiring."
Janto will move on to St. Thomas University, which is just outside of Minneapolis, and compete on the school's cross-country and track and field teams.
"I'm so excited," she said. "Although it's sad to finish my high school career, it makes me really excited to know that I'm not done and there's still more to come."