The Northland Pines boys and girls track teams were back in their home fieldhouse for the second time this indoor season. The boys took first place behind strong performances on the track and in field events. The girls took third place behind familiar faces, Rhinelander and Tomahawk.
The Eagles scored 171 on the boys side, sweeping away the field by nearly 50 points, with second-place finisher Rhinelander scoring 124. The girls were three points shy of second-place finisher Tomahawk with 122 points, while Rhinelander took the team crown with 144.
“The boys team had a great meet and had a ton of personal records set in this one. We have now faced four GNC teams at this point in the season and have been able to win against all four,” said head coach Josh Rhode. “The girls team competed well despite missing two top athletes in Ava Carrillo and Avery Renkes. This was a great meet for the whole team, and I thought they competed with a lot of tenacity and mental toughness.”
Just like the boys, the girls also faced some familiar competition in the GNC and fought hard.
“We were right in the mix with the two top GNC teams, and that is a great place to be,” explained Rhode.
Sprinting has been a strength for Pines early this season, and it showed in the boys 55-meter dash. Eagle runners took four of the five top times, with senior Eli Kerner leading the way with a time of 6.96. Senior Cole Wiedenbeck finished right behind at 6.98, and junior Jacob Beer crossed the line at 7.20 for the top three spots. Sophomore Ryan Rydeski finished in a tie for fifth at 7.32.
“Cole is off to a great start this season and has dramatically improved his speed after working hard in the off-season,” Rhode said about Wiedenbeck’s performance. He finished the meet with a team-high 29 points.
Senior Kaemyn Heritage also grabbed the top spot in the 1600, finishing with a time of 5:07.
Some young runners for Northland Pines also had some strong performances.
Freshman Hunter Tameling ran to a third-place finish in the 200, with a time of 26.35.
Fellow classmate Noah Duffek finished fifth in the 400, with a time of 58.98. He was just over one second from finishing in third.
The boys 4x200 and 4x400 relays dominated their respective fields and won the races by just under eight seconds and 17 seconds, respectively.
Top performances in the field events included Wiedenbeck taking second in the long jump (18-3) and triple jump (37-9.5), Mylo Albrecht taking third in the triple jump (36-5.5), Pines sweeping the top three in the pole vault with two athletes clearing 11-6, and Charlie Rajek taking third of 27 in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet and nine inches.
Rohde also mentioned Owen Hahn as the meet’s most outstanding performance with a four-inch improvement on the high jump.
“He was able to reach that goal, and it was great to see. Owen is one of our top jumpers and will be relied on throughout the season to keep working and improving,” he said.
For the girls, fast times came through across the board in different events. Sophomore Ella Hahn and freshman Tatum Meier saw it firsthand as they each ran sub-8.30 times in the 55-meter dash and finished fourth and sixth. The top two sprinters took home 7.96 times in the event. Hahn backed that up with another top-end finish in the 200.
“Ella has led her team thus far in points and is on pace to have her best season yet. She is one of the fastest girls in the GNC and will look to continue her success,” mentioned Rhode.
Senior Abby Congleton took first in her heat but third overall in the girls 400-meter dash, finishing with a time of 1:12.90. It was two seconds behind the overall winner.
Freshman distance runner Sophie Hoffman grabbed two fourth-place finishes in the 800 and 1600, with times of 2:53.75 and 6:43.88. Jessica Linn, another freshman, finished in a tight grouping at the finish line in the 55-meter hurdles.
She came away with fourth place with a time of 11.25 seconds. Junior Mykala Felesena finished two places behind in sixth.
Junior Maria Krueger and junior Bella Nowak highlighted the field events with their wins in the long jump and shot put. Krueger took top spot with a leap of 13 ft, 6.5 in., while second place finished at 13 ft, 6 in. Krueger was tabbed Rhode’s most outstanding performance on the girls side with a seven-inch improvement.
“In every event, Maria has continually improved, and that can only be done with determination and a strong work ethic,” exclaimed Rhode.
Meier grabbed fifth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, while Kinsey Neff took seventh at 12-7.
Felesena was one of two pole vaulters for Pines and took third place after clearing 7 ft, 6 in.
Three different athletes competed at the Indoor State Track and Field Championships at UW-Whitewater this past weekend.
They run all divisions together, so they needed to compete against the best of the best, and I thought that they all did an awesome job keeping focused and prepared,” said Rhode.
Hahn (Ella) ran a near personal best time in the 60m with a time of 8.41, which was .05 away from her record.
Kerner finished fourth in his heat in the 60m, while also establishing a new indoor PR in the 400 with a time of 52.86.
Wiedenbeck joined Kerner in the 60-meter dash and also competed in the triple jump. Rhode said he couldn’t find his mark in his first two jumps, but Wiedenbeck made a third leap of 37 ft, 8 in.
The team is back in action in the central part of the state later this week as the girls head to Wausau West on Thursday, April 10, and the boys will be there Friday, April 11. Events start at 4 p.m. both days.
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