Track and field roundup: Giving it a try
Apr. 25—WILLMAR — Lurking in the back of Sam Raitz's mind, there was always an interest in competing within the track and field scene.
But, Raitz, a long-time baseball player, couldn't compete in track and field because both of the sports' seasons took place at the same time.
So, Raitz decided to step away from baseball and make the leap to track and field this year.
"It's something that I really wanted to try for a long time," Raitz said. "But I've always been in baseball and with it being my senior season — my last chance to do it — I thought it would be right to try it and I've liked it so far."
Raitz did not want to leave any room for regrets. Now competing in his first track and field season, he helped Willmar secure 84 points en route to a win over Rocori (56) and Sartell (35) in a Central Lakes Conference triangular at Hodapp Field.
The Cardinals' girls took second with 52 points, finishing behind Rocori's 93 and ahead of Sartell's 41.
Raitz competed in four events and notched personal-bests in all of them. He earned a pair of wins in the 100-meter dash (11.13 seconds) and the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches) and had two second-place finishes in the 200 (22.73) and the long jump (19-5).
"I've been welcomed in really well," Raitz said. "This is a really tight family and I'm just really enjoying that part of it. The transition has been really nice.
"You get to meet a whole lot of new friends and it's fun being able to compete against other people — but mostly against yourselves — and just helping everyone push each other to do their best."
Outside of Raitz, the Willmar boys had wins from its 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams as well as five first-place finishes from four individuals.
Will Sportel secured a pair of wins off of personal bests in the 300 hurdles (41.39) and the triple jump (40-2). Ezra May won the 110 hurdles in a personal best of 15.85. Kadar Muhumed won the 400 in 54.42, also a personal best. Jacob Flanningan won the discus at a distance of 136-8.
"You could pretty much throw a dart at the board and you'll find somebody, who had a PR or near a PR," Willmar head coach Connor Haugen said. "It's the best meet of the year, so far, by far. We're well on our way."
As for the Willmar girls, the 4x800 relay team secured a first-place finish and had four victories from three individuals.
Lauren Eilers ran personal-bests to earn wins in the 800 (2:19.87) and the 1,600 (5:17.54). Her sister, Erin Eilers, ran a personal-best en route to a victory in the 3,200 (12:01.06). Avery Quinn threw the discus for a personal best distance of 102-5 to take first.
"This is one of those marks in the season where it's a huge momentum boost, where your whole team, at the same time, takes this giant leap forward," Haugen said. "You can use this as a marker and springboard to, 'OK. Now, we just need to fill in a couple more pieces and we're good to go.'"
Willmar returns to action at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Alex Relays.
GIRLS TEAM SCORING — (1) Rocori 93 ... (2) Willmar 52 ... (3) Sartell 41
Winner and area top three
100 HURDLES — (1) Cecelia Woods, R, 15.43
300 HURDLES — (1) Woods, R, 46.75
100 DASH — (1) Katelyn Motter, R, 13.34 ... (3) Deshawna Hodges, W, 13.48
200 DASH — (1) Motter, R, 27.73 ... (2) Hodges, W, 27.84 ... (3) Mallory Beier, W, 27.88
400 DASH — (1) Zoe Lain, S, 1:03.45 ... (2) Becca Dawson, W, 1:06.76
800 RUN — (1) Lauren Eilers, W, 2:19.87 ... (2) Hannah Quinn, W, 2:28.69
1,600 RUN — (1) L. Eilers, W, 5:17.54 ... (3) Sophia Negan, W, 5:39.99
3,200 RUN — (1) Erin Eilers, W, 12:01.06
4X100 RELAY — (1) Rocori (Jada Bierschbach, Katelyn Motter, Sophia Hennen, Sydney Kiffmeyer), 52.41
4X200 RELAY — (1) Rocori (Paige Larsen, Jordyn Wild, Jasmine Sieben, Kate Van Erp), 1:52.44
4X400 RELAY — (1) Rocori ( Van Erp, Larsen, Sieben, Woods), 4:12.63 ... (2) Willmar (H. Quinn, L. Eilers, Sophia Quinn, E. Eilers), 4:17.93
4X800 RELAY — (1) Willmar (Alivia Fladeboe, Hannah Quinn, Lyndi Koosman, Erin Eilers), 10:06.02 ... (3) Willmar (Sophia Quinn, Gabby Martinez, Keianna Hillenbrand, Claire Mattson), 11:03.77
HIGH JUMP — (1) Ava Thoennes, R, 5-2
LONG JUMP — (1) Lainey Stavish, S, 16-7.75
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Van Erp, R, 35-4 ... (2) Lyndi Koosman, W, 32-9
POLE VAULT — (1) Hailey Westrup, S, 9-0
DISCUS — (1) Avery Quinn, W, 102-5 ... (3) Makenna Larson, W, 97-8
SHOT PUT — (1) Brianna Schneider, R, 36-10 ... (2) Larson, W, 35-10.5
BOYS TEAM SCORING — (1) Willmar 84 ... (2) Rocori 56 ... (3) Sartell 35
Winner and area top three
110 HURDLES — (1) Erza May, W, 15.85 ... (2) William Sportel, W, 16.11
300 HURDLES — (1) Sportel, W, 41.39 ... (2) May, W, 45.08 ... (3) Matthew Mohr, W, 46.77
100 DASH — (1) Sam Raitz, W, 11.13
200 DASH — (1) Will Steil, R, 22.57 ... (2) Raitz, W, 22.73
400 DASH — (1) Kadar Muhumed, W, 54.42 ... (2) Sully Anez, W, 54.86
800 RUN — (1) Charles Lindell, S, 2:14.20
1,600 RUN — (1) Vincent Kaluza, R, 4:36.42 ... (2) Anez, W, 4:37.38
3,200 RUN — (1) Kaluza, R, n/a ... (3) Fathi Dubet, W, n/a
4X100 RELAY — (1) Rocori (Mason Dahl, Colten Phillipp, Steil, Hunter Nistler), 44.17 ... (3) Willmar (Evan Burgess, Jacob Flannigan, Eric Garcia, Ramero Trevino), 45.89
4X200 RELAY — (1) Rocori (Colton Clark, Phillipp, Steil, Nistler), 1:33.03 ... (2) Willmar (Burgess, Flannigan, Leo Gerrero, Trevino), 1:36.51
4X400 RELAY — (1) Willmar (Sportel, Mohr, Ethan Swierenga, Anez), 3:43.09 ... (3) Willmar (Cavin Carlson, Andrew Garcia, Jaret Brakken, Tate Baumgarn), 4:01.86
4X800 RELAY — (1) Willmar (Dubet, Alex Marcus, Brakken, Brandon Zepeda), 8:59.67
HIGH JUMP — (1) Raitz, W, 5-10
LONG JUMP — (1) Anthony Mahowald, S, 20-0 ... (2) Raitz, W, 19-5
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Sportel, W, 40-2
POLE VAULT — (1) George Larson, S, 11-6 ... (2) Koda Helfinstine, W, 11-6
DISCUS — (1) Jacob Flannigan, W, 136-8 ... (2) Hayden Venenga, W, 125-11 ... (3) Jonathan Ritz, W, 124-3
SHOT PUT — (1) Grady Minnerath, R, 48-10 ... (2) Ritz, W, 47-6.5 ... (3) Tyler Kowalczyk, W, 45-4.5
The Mound-Westonka girls and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted boys finished first in their respective divisions at the four-team HLWW Invitational.
Mound-Westonka's girls had 185 points. New London-Spicer was second with 169.
In the boys' division, HLWW had 204. NLS was fourth with 64.
GIRLS TEAM SCORING — (1) Mound-Westonka 185 ... (2) New London-Spicer 169 ... (3) Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 126 ... (4) Holy Family Catholic 59
Winner and area top three
100 HURDLES — (1) Eleanor Madsen, NLS, 18.98
300 HURDLES — (1) Madsen, NLS, 52.92 ... (3) Claire Rolighed, NLS, 54.32
100 DASH — (1) Samantha Christensen, M-W, 13.40 ... (2) Emma Madison, NLS, 13.46
200 DASH — (1) Micah Boyce, M-W, 27.58 ... (3) Katelyn Delzer, NLS, 27.95
400 DASH — (1) Reese Kasper, M-W, 1:01.05
800 RUN — (1) Audrey Kirscht, M-W, 2:30.90 ... (2) Kayla Reuss, NLS, 2:34.64
1,600 RUN — (1) Ivy Fasching, HLWW, 5:32.88 ... (2) Taylor Munsch, NLS, 5:53.40 ... (3) Peyton Dahl, NLS, 6:00.03
3,200 RUN — (1) Madison LeSage, HLWW, 12:02.85 ... (2) Emersyn Hagen, NLS, 13:25.25 ... (3) Emily Gratton, NLS, 15:20.63.
4X100 RELAY — (1) NLS (Ellary Peterson, Ayla Caskey, Katelyn Delzer, Madison) 52.92
4X200 RELAY — (1) Mound-Westonka 1:50.40
4X400 RELAY — (1) Mound-Westonka 4:20.25 ... (3) NLS (Piper Barney, Kayla Reuss, Danica Pederson, Caskey) 4:36.14
4X800 RELAY — (1) HLWW 10:33.25 ... (2) NLS (Hagen, Dahl,Gratton, Madyson Woelfel) 11:11.07
HIGH JUMP — (1) Lexie Rehman, M-W, 4-8
LONG JUMP — (1) Reese Kasper, M-W, 16-7 ... (2) Peterson, NLS, 16-5
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Woelfel, NLS, 33-3 ... (3) Addison Peltier, NLS, 31-4
POLE VAULT — (1) Avery Dierenfeld, NLS, 7-6
DISCUS — (1) Logan Paulsen, HFC, 107-1
SHOT PUT — (1) Lexi Koch, HLWW, 34-5
BOYS TEAM SCORING — (1) HLWW 204 ... (2) Mound-Westonka 174 ... (3) Holy Family Catholic 103 ... (4) NLS 64
Winner and area top three
110 HURDLES — (1) Payton Kasper, M-W, 15.25
300 HURDLES — (1) Kasper, M-W, 40.02
100 DASH — (1) Bruce Burau, HLWW, 11.83
200 DASH — (1) Cooper Huson, HFC, 23.27
400 DASH — (1) Chase Deiter, HLWW, 53.93
800 RUN — (1) Jack Markstrom, M-W, 2:00.27
1,600 RUN — (1) Deiter, HLWW, 4:52.79
3,200 RUN — (1) Isaac Hays, M-W, 11.22.37
4X100 RELAY — (1) HLWW 45.35 ... (2) NLS (Brycen Christensen, Isaiah Wendlandt, Carter Herman, Brody Duke) 46.31
4X200 RELAY — (1) HLWW 1:35.66
4X400 RELAY — (1) HLWW 3:34.67
4X800 RELAY — (1) HLWW 9:32.28 ... (2) NLS (Taylor Daucsavage, Daniel Vanderwerf, Ben Wookey, Chase Marxhausen) 9:32.98
HIGH JUMP — (1) Leo Nordick, M-W, 5-6
LONG JUMP — (1) Lance Luchsinger, HLWW, 21-0 ... (3) Wendlandt, NLS, 19-6
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Herman, NLS, 39-2.5
POLE VAULT — (1) Kasper, M-W, 14-6
DISCUS — (1) Samuel Diozeghy, M-W, 140-4
SHOT PUT — (1) Dioszeghy,M-W, 46-2.5
The Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball girls and boys swept their respective divisions at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Invitational.
The EVW/K girls scored 231 to beat second-place Paynesville, which had 145. BOLD/Buffalo Lake-Stewart awas third with 76.5, edging Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, which had 76. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City took sixth with 37.5 points and BBE's girls were eighth with 19.
In the boys' division, EVW/K had 153.5 to beat BOLD/BLHS, which had 146. Benson/KMS was third with 124.5. ACGC was sixth with 24.6, BBE was seventh with 22 and Paynesville finished eighth with 10.5.
GIRLS TEAM SCORING — (1) Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 231 ... (2) Paynesville 145 ... (3) BOLD/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 76.5 ... (4) Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 76 ... (5) St. John's Prep 37.5 ... (6) Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 37.5 ... (7) Browerville 36 ... (8) Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 19
Winner and area top three
100 HURDLES — (1) Brielle Kuechle, EVWK, 16.04 ... (3) Finley Anfinson, P, 17.72
300 HURDLES — (1) Allison Milbrandt, BOLD, 50.09 ... (3) Ava Noble, BKMS, 50.71
100 DASH — (1) Ellie Becker, EVWK, 13.30 ... (2) Brooklyn Frank, P, 13.32 ... (3) Cloey Kolb, P, 13.34.
200 DASH — (1) Ellie Kuechle, EVWK, 26.79 ... (2) Kolb, P, 27.18
400 DASH — (1) E. Kuechle, EVWK, 59.61 ... (2) Amber Rosemeier, BKMS, 1:03.92
800 RUN — (1) Brookelyn Kuechle, EVWK, 2:27.49 ... (2) Izzy Worth, BKMS, 2:39.26 ... (3) Avary Bierweth, ACGC, 2:41.16
1,600 RUN — (1) Olivia Pauly, SJP, 5:08.83 ... (3) Kaidia Helgenset, BKMS, 5:49.63
3,200 RUN — (1) Pauly, SJP, 11:50.29 ... (2) Madison Wendlandt, P, 11:59.17
4X100 RELAY — (1) EVW/K 52.92 ... (2) BOLD/BLHS 53.67 ... (3) Paynesville 55.90
4X200 RELAY — (1) EVW/K 1:53.86 ... (2) Paynesville 1:58.86 ... (3) BOLD/BLHS 1:59.34
4X400 RELAY — (1) St. John's Prep 4:16.02 ... (2) BOLD/BLHS 4:31.63 ... (3) Paynesville 4:31.96
4X800 RELAY — (1) EVW/K 10:43.67 ... (2) Paynesville 11:03.40 ... (3) Benson/KMS 11:48.97
HIGH JUMP — (1) Becker, EVWK, 5-6 ... (2) Carly Tolifson, BKMS, 5-2 ... (3) Maddie Luft, BKMS, 4-10
LONG JUMP — (1) Bri. Kuechle, EVWK, 16-5 ... (3) Kolb, P, 14-10
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) McKenna Moehrle, EVWK, 31-10.25 ... (2) Tiyana Schwinghammer, BBE,3 0-11.50
POLE VAULT — (1) Rebekah Walz, P, 9-6 ... (2) Anna Gardeen, BOLD/BLHS, 8-0
DISCUS — (1) Lexi Myers, EVWk, 95-5 ... (2) Katie Uhlenkamp, P, 86-5 ... (3) Catherine Fank, BOLD, 85-3
SHOT PUT — (1) Uhlenkamp, P, 32-2 ... (2) Fank, BOLD 28-9.5
BOYS TEAM SCORING — (1) EVW/K 153.5 ... (2) BOLD/BLHS 146 ... (3) Benson/KMS 124.5 ... (4) Browerville 100 ... (5) St. John's Prep 81 ... (6) ACGC 24.5 ... (7) BBE 22 ... (8) Paynesville 10.5
Winner and area top three
110 HURDLES — (1) Andre Recknor, Brow, 17.26 ... (2) DeAndre Holloway, BKMS, 18.00 ... (3) Zane Boen, BOLD, 19.51
300 HURDLES — (1) Recknor, Brow, 45.73 ... (2) Quin Peterson, BKMS 47.83 ... (3) Caiden Johnson, BOLD, 48.61
100 DASH — (1) Hunter Kallstrom BKMS, 11.66 ... (2) Chase Hubin, BOLD, 11.75
200 DASH — (1) Stevie McMath, BOLD, 23.54 ... (2) Kallstrom, BKMS, 23.89
400 DASH — (1) McMath, BOLD, 53.99 ... (3) Thomas Dineen, BKMS, 54.37
800 RUN — (1) Isaac Wirth, BKMS, 2:18.10 ... (3) Mason Johnson, ACGC, 2:19.91
1,600 RUN — (1) Zach Meyer, SJP, 4:30.26
3,200 RUN — (1) Nick Hansen, SJP, 9:55.78
4X100 RELAY — (1) BOLD/BLHS 45.12 ... (2) Benson/KMS 47.91
4X200 RELAY — (1) Benson/KMS 1:38.11 ... (3) BOLD/BLHS 1:41.80
4X400 RELAY — (1) St. John's Prep 3:59.70 ... (3) Benson/KMS 4:13.44
4X800 RELAY — (1) EVW/K 9:38.31 ... (2) Benson/KMS 10:01.52
HIGH JUMP — (1) Marshall Murch, Brow, 5-8 ... (3) Holloway, BKMS, 5-6
LONG JUMP — (1) Ryan King, BOLD, 19-7.25 ... (3) Chase Hubin, BOLD, 18-4
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Dominic DeCock, Brow, 35-8 ... (3) Juan Espinoza, BKMS, 35-5
POLE VAULT — (1) Zane Boen, ABOLD, 9-6 ... (3) Johnson, BOLD, 9-0
DISCUS — (1) McMath, BOLD, 126-9.5
SHOT PUT — (1) Andy Becker, EVWK 41-6.5 ... (3) Kallstrom, BKMS, 40-10
The Canby/Minneota girls and Redwood Valley boys took home team titles at the Redwood Valley Invitational in Redwood Falls.
Canby/Minneota scored 115 points. MACCRAY/Renville County West's girls took fifth with 53 points and Central Minnesota Christian was seventh with 33.33.
In the boys division, Redwood Valley scored 119 points. MACCRAY/RCW was fifth with 61.5 and CMCS was seventh with 45.
GIRLS TEAM SCORING — (1) Canby/Minneota 115 ... (2) Jackson County Central 109 ... (3) Redwood Valley 83.33 ... (4) Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial-Nicollet 76.83 ... (5) MACCRAY/RCW 53 ... (6) Windom Area 46.5 ... (7) Central Minnesota Christian 33.33 ... (8) Lakeview 27 ... (9) Wabasso 10
Winner and area top three
100 HURDLES — (1) results not available
300 HURDLES — (1) Sophia Vogel, CMCS, 49.28
100 DASH — (1) Daysia Tomlin, JCC, 13.68 ... (3) Adelyn Plagge, MAC/RCW, 13.97
200 DASH — (1) Brook Gunlogson, Lake, 28.35
400 DASH — (1) Braelyn Merritt, C/M, 1:04.04 ... (3) Brielle Janssen, MAC/RCW, 1:04.94
800 RUN — (1) Merritt, C/M, 2:29.38
1,600 RUN — (1) Kaylee Walklin, Win, 5:30.60
3,200 RUN — (1) Addie Thomes, RV, 12:17.83
4X100 RELAY — (1) Redwood Valley 52.53
4X200 RELAY — (1) Canby/Minneota 1:55.73 ... (3) MACCRAY/RCW (Jordan Thein, Mia Post, Rachel Jakel, Cassandra Harms) 2:00.65
4X400 RELAY — (1) LCWM-Nicollet 4:32.21 ... (2) MACCRAY/RCW (Ella Hultgren, Post, Ella Kienitz, Janssen) 4:33.48
4X800 RELAY — (1) Canby/Minneota 10:14.66
HIGH JUMP — (1) Rylie Cother, JCC, 4-10
LONG JUMP — (1) Vogel, CMCS, 15-4
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Vogel, CMCS, 33-2
POLE VAULT — (1) Peyton Hanson, JCC, 9-6
DISCUS — (1) Katelin Flack, LCWM, 93-1
SHOT PUT — (1) Elliot Esperson, Win, 37-4 ... (3) Emerson Tatge, MAC/RCW, 29-9
BOYS TEAM SCORING — (1) Redwood Valley 119 ... (2) Lakeview 112.5 ... (3) LCWM-Nicollet 83 ... (4) JCC 80 ... (5) MACCRAY/RCW 61.5 ... (6) Windom 52 ... (7) CMCS 45 ... (8) Canby/Minneota 40 ... (9) Wabasso 7
Winner and area top three
110 HURDLES — (1) Michael Matteson, LCWM, 17:56 ... (3) Jordan Warne, MAC/RCW, 18.17
300 HURDLES — (1) Matteson, LCWM, 43.57
100 DASH — (1) Greg Schafer, Lake, 11:14 ... (3) Micah Asake, CMCS, 11.91
200 DASH — (1) Schafer, Lake, 22.89 ... (2) Nathan Wieberdink, MAC/RCW, 23.66
400 DASH — (1) Andrew Hernandez, RV, 53.46
800 RUN — (1) Ethan Schwankl, Lake, 1:57.93
1,600 RUN — (1) William Ahrens, RV, 4:31.20
3,200 RUN — (1) Kilen Cilek, RV, 10:06.63
4X100 RELAY — (1) Lakeview 45.14 ... (2) CMCS (Brayden Marcus, Caleb Voogt, Garrett Mulder, Asake) 46.46
4X200 RELAY — (1) JCC 1:38.49
4X400 RELAY — (1) Redwood Valley 3:43.88
4X800 RELAY — (1) Redwood Valley 8:35.06
HIGH JUMP — (1) Trevor Gray, C/M, 6-0
LONG JUMP — (1) Voogt, CMCS, 19-0 ... (2) Isaac Post, MAC/RCW, 18-11
TRIPLE JUMP — (1) Matteson, LCWM, 40-9.25
POLE VAULT — (1) Jake McDougall, LCWM, 10-6 ... (3) Jack Miller, MAC/RCW, 9-6
DISCUS — (1) Caleb Vancura, JCC, 142-11 ... (2) Wieberdink, MAC/RCW, 142-7
SHOT PUT — (1) Vancura, JCC, 50-10
