Topper tracksters fare well in final indoor meet
By Cara L. Dempski
EAU CLAIRE — The Hilltopper boys’ and girls’ track and field squads may not have placed in the top half of the team results at the Chippewa Falls McDonell Indoor Invitational, but they still beat their only conference rival at the meet.
The Topper boys finished the March 30 meet at UW-Eau Claire with 37.5 points for seventh, two spots ahead of ninth-place Elk Mound, and the girls placed eighth, squeezing past the Mounders with 39 points.
Junior Ethan Kahler put the Glenwood boys on the board with his second-place finish after running the 55m hurdles in 9.02. He was bested by Cornell/Lake Holcomb’s Colton Hetke. Carson Strong picked up a couple more points with his seventh-place finish after running the 55m dash in 7.34. Cameron’s Josh Koenecke earned first in the race.
The boys’ 800m relay team copped fourth with a 1:43.15, just over 1.5 seconds behind first-place Bloomer. Matt Bauman earned two team points for his 2:27.00, seventh-place effort in the 800m run, and junior Kyle Meyers finished the two-mile race in 15:11.35 for seventh. He was four minutes behind Flambeau’s Anthony Tellier.
The Hilltopper boys’ 3200m relay team was a little over 30 seconds behind first-place finisher McDonell to take third in the race with a time of 9:49.90.
Peter Hill tied with Mondovi’s Owen Schultz at 5-04 in the high jump. The two earned 1.5 points each for seventh place. Owen Wagner took sixth (eight feet), and Jake Nadeau eighth (seven feet) in pole vault, and Quinn Taylor nabbed eighth in triple jump with a distance of 32-09.5.
Senior Austin Wannemacher placed fourth in shot put with his 38-03 throw, while Taylor picked up eighth with his 34-08 effort.
The Bloomer Blackhawks copped top boys’ team honors with 110 points.
The Glenwood City girls got on the board with Elizabeth Wink’s strong fifth-place finish in the 400m race. The junior completed her run in 1:09.86 to cop her team’s first four points. Bloomer’s Kendall Zeman won the race in 1:02.50.
Megan Speiser and Emily Bethell placed fourth and sixth in the 800m run. Speiser finished in 2:47.01, while Bethell completed her race in 2:49.6.
Senior Taylor Drinkman fought for a higher finish in the 3200m run, but was relegated to third place after Elk Mound freshman Kirstin Martinson edged her out for second place. The Hilltopper runner finished the race in 14:15.05. Thorp’s Falon Immormino won the race with a time of 12:54.79.
The girls’ 1600m relay earned third place, and six points, with a time of 4:48.38, thirty seconds behind Bloomer’s first-place team.
In field events, sophomores Delaney Quinn and Hanna Strehlo tied for eighth in high jump after clearing 4-02. Alycia Emmons from Cornell/Lake Holcomb won the event with a 4-10 jump. Makayla O’Brien landed in seventh place with a seven-foot vault. Orianna Lebal of Cornell/Lake Holcomb took top honors with a 7-06 vault.
Quinn also earned seventh place in shot put with her 27-08.5 throw. Mondovi senior Miranda Lund’s 31-11 throw garnered her first place in the event.
Bloomer’s girls’ gave the high school a clean sweep of the team competition, taking first place with 158.5 points.
The Hilltoppers will make their first outdoor meet appearance of the season at St. Croix Central on April 6. The team will then head to Baldwin-Woodville to run in an April 11 invitational.
BOYS’ INDIVIDUAL RESULTS: 55m hurdles: 2. Ethan Kahler 9.02, 10. Peter Hill 9.96; 55m dash: 7. Carson Strong 7.34; 1600m: 9. Jabin Hojem 5:42.31, 16. Corey Klatt 6:11.67; 800m relay: 4. Glenwood City 1:43.15; 400m: 19. Josiah McClelland 1:13.80; 800m: 7. Matt Bauman 2:27.00, 11. Jake Nadeau 2:34.86, 14. Aaron Holmquist 2:46.63; 200m dash: 14. Owen Wagner 28.36, 27. Bryce Nutter 32.98; 3200m: 7. Kyle Meyers 15:11.35; 3200m relay: 3. Glenwood City 9:49.90; High jump: 7. Peter Hill 5-04; Pole vault: 6. Owen Wagner 8-00, 8. Jake Nadeau 7-00; Long jump: 12. Quinn Taylor 16-04; Triple jump: 8. Quinn Taylor 32-09.5; Shot put: 4. Austin Wannemacher 38-03, 8. Quinn Taylor 34-08.
BOYS’ TEAM RESULTS: 1. Bloomer 110, 2. McDonell Central 84, 3. Cornell/Lake Holcomb 78, 4. Cameron 68, 5. Mondovi 53.5, 6. Gilman 47, 7. Glenwood City 37.5, 8. Flambeau 35, 9. Elk Mound 24, 10. Thorp 18, 11. Bruce 15, 12. Greenwood 14.
GIRLS’ INDIVIDUAL RESULTS: 55m dash: 18. Julia Nerby 9.36, 22. Alyssa Multhauf 9.69, 26. Denisa DeSmith 10.28; 400m: 5. Elizabeth Wink 1:09.86, 11. Bethany Ullom 1:17.67; 800m: 4. Megan Speiser 2:47.01, 6. Emily Bethell 2:49.60; 200m dash: 9. Tressa Peskar 32.11, 22. Liere Diaz 37.47; 3200m: 3. Taylor Drinkman 14:15.08; 1600m relay: 3. Glenwood City 4:48.38; 3200m relay: 1. Glenwood City 11:27.92; High jump: 8. Delaney Quinn 4-02, 8. Hanna Strehlo 4-02; Pole vault: 7. Makayla O’Brien 7-00; Long jump: 12. Hanna Strehlo 12-01; Triple jump: 9. Hanna Strehlo 26-05; Shot put: 7. Delaney Quinn 27-08.5, 10. Biridiana Leandro-Mendez 25-03, 16. Hallie Cook 21-09.
GIRLS’ TEAM RESULTS: 1. Bloomer 158.5, 2. Cameron 78, 3. Cornell/Lake Holcomb 62, 4. Thorp 55.5, 5. Flambeau 43.5, 6. Mondovi 42, 7. Greenwood 40, 8. Glenwood City 39, 9. Elk Mound 34, 10. McDonell Central 12.5, 11. Gilman 8, 12. Bruce 1.