Glenwood City girls claim regional track title, boys finish third
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UP INTO THE AIR — Brenna Schwartz of Glenwood City took an attempt in the girls’ pole vault at last Thursday’s sectional track and field meet in Cameron. Schwartz placed 11th. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
COLFAX — After coming up short in its bid for the conference championship, the Glenwood City girls’ track and field team was not going to be denied when it traveled to Colfax last Monday, June 14 for the WIAA Division 3 regional competition.
The Lady Hilltoppers won all four relay races and had a pair of individual champions to go along with a trio of second-place finishes, two thirds, and several fifth through eighth-place showings to claim the regional crown with 129.5 points, finishing well ahead of runner-up Chippewa Falls McDonell Central Catholic who tallied 101 points. Glenwood City’s girls’ squad also won the regional championship in 2019 which was also held in Colfax.
The Glenwood City boys saw three of its team members capture regional championships along with the 4×800 meter relay to help them finish in a tie for third place in the boys’ competition with Durand as both squads collected 88.5 points. Heart O’ North champion Chetek-Weyerhaeuser won the boys regional title with 126 points and Eau Claire Regis came in second with 93.
The top four place winners in each event moved on to the sectional competition that was held in Cameron on Thursday, June 17.
Seniors Marie Garcia and Lexi Wannemacher won individual regional championships for the Toppers. After finishing second in the 100 meter finals at the conference meet a week earlier, Garcia ran a :12.94 to win the event last Monday besting Kendall Hagness of Durand who had beaten her at conference. Later in the meet, Wannemacher came in first place in the 300 meter low hurdles with a time of :48.62, adding a regional crown to her conference title.
The Glenwood City girls also dominated the relays once again, taking victories in all four races.
The 4×200 meter relay team comprised of sophomore Maddie Booth, junior Brenna Schwartz, freshman Hailey Hannah, and senior Marie Garcia struck gold in record-breaking fashion once again. The quartet ran a 1:51.93 to break their own school record which had just been set the previous week in the conference meet.
That same foursome of Booth, Schwartz, Hannah, and Garcia also took home regional gold medals in the 4×100 meter relay after running a :53.41.
SOPHOMORE Elek Anderson runs the second and final lap of his 800 meter race at the sectional meet last Thursday. Anderson placed ninth. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
First-place finishes were also turned in by the 4×400 meter relay squad of seniors Bella Rassbach, Kinzie Strong and Lexi Wannemacher, and junior Bella Simmons who ran the race in 4:25.67, and the 4×800 meter relay team of seniors Gabby Moede, Lexi Wannemacher, Kinzie Strong, and junior Bella Simmons who finished in 11:14.73.
Bella Rassbach also claimed a silver in the long jump with a leap of 16’ 8.75” while classmate Yasmin Mendez tallied a pair of runner-up medals after finishing second in the shot put (33’ 10.5”) and discus (95’ 4”).
Schwartz and Simmons added individual bronze medals to their regional haul. Schwartz placed third in the pole vault after clearing 6’ 6” and Simmons ran a 5:46.39 in the 1,600 meters for third.
Just missing sectional-qualifying berths were fifth-place finishers Gabby Moede in the high jump (4’ 2”), Hailey Hannah in the 100 meter high hurdles (:19.57), Brenna Schwartz in the 100 meter dash (:13.53), and Bella Rassbach in the 400 meter run (1:03.43).
Sixth-place finishes were earned by freshman Rileigh Schwartz in the 100 meter high hurdles, Maddie Booth in the 100 meter dash, and junior Samantha Peterson in the 200 meter dash.
Taking seventh place were Samantha Peterson in the high jump, Aria DeSmith in the shot put, Rileigh Schwartz in the 300 meter low hurdles, and Kinzie Strong in the 800 meter run.
Scoring a team point for eighth place was sophomore Brooklyn Caress in the shot put.
Senior Will Eggert, junior Austin Nelson, and freshman Malachi Keller won gold medals for the boys’ team.
Eggert won the triple jump by nearly four feet as he sailed 42’ 1”. Nelson sprinted to the front of the race and was the first to cross the finish line in the 400 meter dash in a time of :51.34, two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Nathan Hydukovich of Colfax. Keller cleanly cleared 5’ 9” to take first in the high jump.
In the 4×800 meter relay, juniors John Hager and Austin Nelson, and sophomores Elek Anderson and Anthony Nelson captured first place with a run of 9:36.48.
Sophomore Brady Klatt sent the discus 131 feet even to finish third. The 4×200 meter relay of Malachi Keller, Wyatt Thompson, Drew Olson, and Will Eggert ran a 1:37.72 while the 4×100 meter relay consisting of Wyatt Thompson, Brady Klatt, Malachi Keller, and Will Eggert had a time of :47.14 as each team finished in third place. All three qualified for the sectional meet.
Elek Anderson grabbed the final sectional berth for the Glenwood City boys as he placed fourth with a run of 2:16.57 in the 800 meters.
Just missing out on extending the season in their respective events after placing fifth were sophomore Nick Heirlmeier in the pole vault (9’), and junior Drew Olson in the long jump (18’ 4.5”) and the shot put (37’ 10.5”).
Sophomore Owen Bauman took sixth in the 1,600 meter run as did John Hager in the 800 meter run.
Seventh-place finishes were earned by Brady Klatt in the long jump, Nick Heirlmeier in the shot put, and senior Garrett Kohls in the 800 meter run.
Sophomore Blake Wakeling took home a pair of eighth places in the high jump and pole vault, while Owen Baumann also shared eighth with Wakeling in the high jump.
Girls’ Regional Team Scores
Glenwood City 129.5, 2. McDonell Central 101, 3. Chetek/Weyerhaeuser 62.5, 4. Durand 62. 5. Colfax 60, 6. Eau Claire Regis 51.5, 7. Spring Valley 47.5, 8). Elmwood/Plum City 44, 9. Immanuel Lutheran 36, 10. Boyceville 35, 11) New Auburn 21.
Boys’ Regional Team Scores
1. Chetek/Weyerhaeuser 126, 2. Eau Claire Regis 93, 3. Durand 88.5, 3. Glenwood City 88.5, 5. Spring Valley 86, 6. Colfax 70, 7. McDonell Central 54 , 8. Elmwood/Plum City 38, 9. Boyceville 20, 10. New Auburn17, 11. Immanuel Lutheran 2.