On Saturday, the Tomahawk varsity track team headed northbound to Eagle River to take part in the 2nd Annual Northern Wisconsin “Elite” meet hosted at Northland Pines High School.
According to head coach John Zuelsdorf, the meet was formed to allow the northern-most schools in the state a chance to compete against the best athletes in their events, at a meet held in the northern part of the state instead of having to travel to Whitewater, site of the Wisconsin Track Coaches Association (WISTCA) State Indoor meet.
The Hatchets qualified nine boys and eight girls to the meet this season.
Sixteen out of eighteen individual Hatchet entrants, and all three relay entries scored points by virtue of their placements. Additionally, nine Hatchet participants brought home hardware due to stellar performances in their respective events.
Emmy Larson was the team’s sole event champ following an outstanding leap of 4’10” in the high jump, and rankedsecond in the triple jump (32’7”), along with Jenna Schade (shot put/31’4 ½”) and the 3200M relay team (Larson, Dani Whiting, Claire Kuehn, Talyn Jones, 11:04).
Other top scorers for the Hatchets on Saturday include: Anna Luz-Fox (3rd/pole vault), Ben Yirsa (3rd/55M high hurdles and 200M IH); Dani Whiting (3rd/1600M), Jacob Zietlow (3rd/high jump), Jacob Borchardt (4th/shot put); Dane Borchardt (5th/shot put), Easton Phalin (4th/long jump, 6th/55M) and the 800M team (4th, Phalin, Yirsa, Han McMahon, Dane Borchardt).
The Hatchet girls placed 4th and the boys finished 5th overall, with Chequamegon running away with the title on both sides.
“Looking back on the week, it was not a week to remember!” Zuelsdorf noted.
“In general, we struggled to finish races. Our times and distances did not make that next jump expected in the fifth or sixth week of the season! Maybe a little too much spring break coupled with a dose of prom and other distractions showed at times. Our focus seemed to be off and it showed in the overall team results.”
“We are looking forward to warmer weather and getting outside to the larger tracks where we can get some standardized times and distances. I think there’s a whole different mindset for the athletes when they are able to compete in decent weather outdoors. It’s also a plus that two of our first three outdoor meets are relay meets, which helps build team morale as the athletes are scored as a group, not individually.”
GNC Indoor
The Hatchets competed in the GNC Indoor in Eagle River on Tuesday. The girls placed a solid third, followed by the boys at sixth.
Larson dominated the triple jump with a championship distance of 32’6” and followed up with a second place finish in the high jump (4’ 10”). Whiting swept the 3200M run with a seasonal best time of 12:37.
Other medalists performances for Tomahawk were the 3200M relay teams of Whiting, Larson, Kuehn and Jones (girls) and Mason Webster, Tyler Wittmann, Lucas Tjugum, and Troy VanStrydonk (boys) placing 2nd. Kate Krueger and Jacob McGuire finished 3rd in the 3200M run along with the 800M relay squad of Delaney Langdon, Tasha Carstensen, Emily Verkilen, and Sierra Schulz.