The Bluejay boys track team ran away with last Thursday’s dual meet with Mosinee.
A combination of an upswing year for Merrill along with lower numbers for their traditionally strong visitors led to a lop-sided outcome.
“I was impressed on the way the men competed,” MHS coach Kurt VandenHeuvel said. “I challenged those who wanted to be long and triple jumpers to step up and I must say Lucas Olson, Kriss Philipp, and Nick Peterson did just that! Credit is due to our new assistant coach Paula Soderberg as her new expertise has helped our team become stronger in those events.
“I am also proud of the consistency our sprinters displayed in the relays and open events. I am excited to see how the team will respond to the first big varsity meet (Bluejay Invite) held on Thursday.”
The Jays swept the 50M with Philipp (:06.15), Olson (:06.17) and Alec Oestreich (:06.18), the 800M with Lucas Gessler (2:19.84), Jacob Jensen (2:22.46) and Michael Seaman (2:23.37), and the 1600M with Andrew Seaman (5:27.70), Andrew Koch (5:34.40) and Matt Dewar (5:37.14).
They went 1-2 in the pole vault with Eric Ball (11′ 0″) and Scott Arneson (8′ 0″), the 400M with Bryce Litschauer (:58.64) and Tyler Schmidt (59.68), the long jump with Philipp (19′ 6.5″) and Peterson (18′ 11.25″), and in three of four relays.
The winning relays included: the 4-lap group of Oestreich, Claudius Goeller, Cody Dengel and Philipp (1:15.42); the 6-lap team of Lucas Lee, Adam Gigl, Andrew Czech and Dengel (2:07.96); the 10-lap team of Olson, Brandon Bartz, Ball and Dan Blakeslee (3:45.73); and the 20-lap team of the Seaman brothers, Trevor Myers and Litschauer (8:53.59).
The Bluejays ranked first and third in the long jump with Philipp (5′ 8″) and Blakeslee (5′ 6″), and the triple jump with Peterson (39′ 5″) and Blakeslee 36′ 10.75″).
Jake Jensen grabbed the final win in the 3200M in 12:03.37.
Merrill placed second and third in the shot put with Jared Wardall (40′ 10″) and Tyler Schmidt (39′ 5″)
Jake Anderson rated second in the 200M in :25.67. Ethan Schneider finished third in the 50M high hurdles in :08.07.