There are some people who specialize in one thing, and others who do a little bit of everything. Cade Hansen, a Cotter senior, certainly falls into the latter category.

Hansen has participated in every track event for Cotter’s track team throughout his track career.

“I do not know of another athlete who has completed in all 18 high school track and field events,” said Cotter’s track coach, David Jewison.

With his participation in all the different events and having the chance to try all the different events the sport has to offer, Cade lists the pole vault as his favorite event.

He also enjoys the different running events, but can’t name a particular one that he enjoys most of all. However, there are a few events he hasn’t enjoyed as much.

“I don’t enjoy the long and triple jump, because you get sand in your shoes. That’s the only reason I don’t like it.” 

Nonetheless, this participation in the various events reflects a larger aspect of Cade’s personality: he’s not afraid to branch off and try different things. He has various interests, but he is sure to pursue them and make the most of the happiness they give him. Cade’s different interests include video-making and parkour, and his future plans hope to incorporate both of these interests into his life.

“I make kind of random stuff right now,” he said about his current videos, which is a good representation of his personality, a little bit of everything.

However, over the summer, he is hoping to compile a list of all the different video-making techniques that he wants to learn and incorporate these different techniques into his videos. The first video he made was when he was 12 years old, and it was about an optical illusion. Since then, his videos have expanded to include piano covers and tutorial videos.

Casey Neistat, a famous YouTuber who makes vlogs and some motivational videos, is who Cade lists as his biggest influencer in terms of the videos he makes and how he makes them. However, he does employ some help from time to time from his girlfriend, Cotter junior Abi Trocinski.

She occasionally helps by “being in [the videos] or helping film sometimes when he needs it.” Although, she says that Cade does the majority of the videos by himself, but she does occasionally give him some creative advice.

“My main role is moral support and just watching the videos like everyone else!”  Trocinski said.

Cade’s YouTube channel can be found here.

Cade is not only interested in video making, but also in parkour, a method of getting from point A to point B in a creative and exciting way. He first became interested in parkour by watching a show called American Ninja Warrior, a show that has several athletes compete in extreme obstacle courses. He began doing parkour in “eighth or seventh grade” and has not looked back since.

“It doesn’t need to be anything besides just jumping around and stuff. That’s all it is. It’s fun,” says Cade.

One of Cade’s first YouTube videos, and one that incorporates parkour, can be found here.

As for Cade’s future, he hopes to incorporate these different interests into a lifestyle that will keep him on his toes and keeps give him the satisfaction and happiness he finds through these interests. Idealistically, he would love to become a travel vlogger and record all the different experiences he has traveling the world, but realistically, he sees a future in starting a graphics design company:

“I found this program at Western Technical in La Crosse, which is digital media production. Because I wasn’t planning on going to college at all, because I didn’t want to just pick a specific area if I didn’t like it, but this one encompasses all the things I want to do.”

As Hansen graduates this Friday, he will be leaving a big hole at Cotter and on the track team.

“Cade is positive, flexible, helpful to the younger athletes and responsible. He communicates well and I never worry about him making a good choice in different situations,”  Coach Jewison said.

Not only will he be missed on the track team, but he has also learned many things on the track team that he hopes to take with him into his future, wherever that leads him.

“It’s a team sport, but it’s also individual, so you’re held accountable for yourself but also for other people. Doing all of the events makes me more confident in what I can do, physically and mentally,”  Hansen said.