RIB LAKE TRACK & FIELD - Henderson, distance relay team earn impressive wins at Wausau East

RIB LAKE TRACK & FIELD

Good competition brought out some of the best from the Rib Lake track and field squads, who got season-best times and distances from the majority of their athletes at Tuesday’s Wausau East Sawmill Invitational.

One of the smallest schools in the 14school meet, Rib Lake placed sixth in the boys team standings with 45 points while getting wins from Jed Henderson in the high jump and from the 3,200-meter relay team. Scoring was tough for the girls, but Emma Tlusty and Maddie Rademacher each turned a fourth-place finish into 10 team points, good for 13th place.

Truman Smith, Jack Regier, Connor Highfill and Kaleb Scott were impressive in the 3,200-meter relay, winning it in 8:37.38. They were 8.27 seconds ahead of runner-up Wausau East and 42.07 seconds ahead of third-place Mosinee. It was easily the fastest time a Rib Lake group has posted so far this spring. Jackson Schutt, Seamus Highfill, Dene Zuleger and Isaiah Hubbard added two seventh-place points at 9:40.27.

Henderson equaled his top height of the season in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 2 inches. That gave him the win by 2 inches over Stratford’s Xander Curtice and Mosinee’s Omar Ingram.

The rest of the boys’ scoring was achieved on the track. Regier made a run at the 3,200-meter title, posting a time of 10:11.24 that put him in second place, 4.64 seconds behind Nolan Waltz of Three Lakes-Phelps. He was nearly a minute faster than his only other two-mile entry this spring more than two weeks ago. Scott was in the lead pack as well, taking fourth in 10:26.56, 2.46 seconds behind Rhinelander’s Avrom Barr. Scott also placed third in the 400-meter dash in 52.31 seconds, by far the best time a Rib Lake athlete has had so far. Regier added a 13th-place time of 56.51 seconds. Newman Catholic’s Nolyn Lindner won in 49.99 seconds.

Smith tacked on three points with his sixth-place time of 4:57.79 in the 1,600meter run. He improved by about 11 seconds over his previous season best. Connor Highfill was 16th at 5:15.74 and Schutt was 22nd at 5:30.75. Seamus Highfill got the eighth-place point in the 800-meter run at 2:17.15, while Dene Zuleger was 24th at 2:29.86.

Connor Highfill, Schutt, Smith and Seamus Highfill came up one place shy of scoring in the 1,600-meter relay with their time of 4:02.57. They were 3.49 seconds behind eighth-place Rhinelander. Stratford won in 3:39. Rib Lake’s team of Ian Weber, Kylan Bartelt, Hubbard and David Pichea was 15th in 4:27.15. Pichea, Rylan Schaelzka-Lenz, Riley Johnson and Gus Zuleger were 12th in the 800-meter relay at 1:48.32 and that group was 17th in the 400-meter relay at 52.4 seconds.

Among some of Rib Lake’s higher individual finishes, Gavin Zondlo was 15th in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 52.2 seconds, Gus Zuleger was 24th in the long jump at 16-6.75 and Lawson Carlson was 26th in the shot put (33-10.75) and 29th in the discus (84-10). Chris Krause extended his personal best in the shot put to 30-2, good for 34th.

In the girls meet, Rademacher tied her personal best and hit a season-best of 4-10 to place fourth in the high jump competition. She was one of three jumpers to top out at that height as they trailed Evie Bates of Newman Catholic, who hit 5-3. Marathon’s Izzy Varden was credited with second place and Wausau West’s Emma Downing took third. Rib Lake’s Hadassah Nelson was part of a seven-way tie for ninth at 4-3.

Rademacher added an 11th-place leap of 14-5.5 in the long jump and a 31st-place and season-best time of 14.85 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

Tlusty got her fourth-place finish in the 100-meter high hurdles. She finished in a season-best 18.21 seconds. Wausau West’s Morgan Barth (17.01) and Laiana Oldenburg-Marsh (17.81) were the top two finishers. Lakeland’s Norah Strasburg (18.18) was third.

Tlusty nearly scored in the 300-meter hurdles, taking ninth in 58.0 seconds. She was 0.22 seconds behind eighth-place Breanna Fitzgerald of Marathon. She was 14th in the long jump at 13-11.75.

In relays, Maria Bisco, Avie Schutt, Lucia Nevarez and Tlusty were 16th in the 800-meter race at 2:15.35 while Roxy Goberville-Lopez, Schutt, Nelson and Rademacher were 17th in the 400-meter relay at 1:02.54.

Ella Grzanna had a top-30 finish, taking 28th in the 400-meter dash at 1:18.14.

The boys team scores were: 1. Marathon, 112.5; 2. Stratford, 104; 3. Wausau East, 103.5; 4. Mosinee, 75.5; 5. Northland Pines, 56.5; 6. Rib Lake, 45; 7. Newman Catholic, 44; 8. Rhinelander, 41; 9. Wausau West, 36; 10. Three Lakes-Phelps, 29; 11. Lakeland, 27; 12. Merrill, 13; 13. Spencer, 10; 14. Colby, 5.

Girls team scores were: 1. Wausau West, 145; 2. Lakeland, 70.5; 3. Newman Catholic, 69; 4. Mosinee, 67; 5. Wausau East, 65; 6. Stratford, 61; 7. Marathon, 44.5; 8. Merrill, 39; 9. Northland Pines, 38.5; 10. Rhinelander, 35.5; 11. Colby, 33; 12. Spencer, 16; 13. Rib Lake, 10.

Rib Lake is at Bloomer today, at Pittsville on Monday and at Phillips on May 8.