Girls start strong by taking second in Stratford; boys get relay win
RIB LAKE TRACK & FIELD
Picking up points in just about every area, Rib Lake’s girls track and field team got the 2021 season off to a solid start Monday with a second-place finish in the six-team Stratford May Opener.
Led by wins from Jolee Gehrke in the 300-meter low hurdles and the 1,600-meter relay team of Megan Yanko, Amber Yanko, Lauren Pelnis and Kylee Goodrich, the Lady Redmen compiled 106 points to edge the host Tigers by one and earn second in the final standings behind Newman Catholic. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption (68), Columbus Catholic (59) and Granton (45) rounded out the team scores.
The boys placed fifth in their side of the meet with 53 points. They trailed Newman (147), Stratford (125), Columbus Catholic (68) and Assumption (56). Rib Lake’s lone win came from the 400-meter relay team of Ashton Keiser, Donovan Sutherland, Ethan Keiser and Dominick Classen.
Gehrke earned her win in the hurdles with a time of 54.77 seconds, 6.32 seconds ahead of Newman’s Natalie Brenner. In the field, Gehrke added a second-place finish in the high jump by clearing 4 feet, 8 inches, 2 inches behind winner Emmalee Jicinsky of Columbus, and a sixth-place leap of 12-8 in the long jump, an inch ahead of teammate Olivia Lopez.
The 1,600-meter relay team won its race in 4:59.69, beating Newman’s team by 6.85 seconds. Gehrke, Haylee Scotty, Pelnis and Amber Yanko were second in the 800-meter relay in 2:07.2, just 0.79 seconds behind Newman. Megan Yanko, Lopez, Ryanna Schrader and Amber Yanko took third in the 400-meter relay at 59.7 seconds, just behind Assumption (58.24) and Stratford (59.28).
Rib Lake got nice production from its throwers. Pelnis (26-11), Emma Winter (26-4) and Hannah Schuh (25-6), were second, third and fourth in the shot put behind Stratford’s Alexis Folz (27-2). Schuh added a second-place throw of 72-2 in the discus, while Winter was fifth at 62-2. Folz won at 84-7.
Goodrich scored well in the distance events, taking second in the 1,600-meter run at 6:32.26 and third in the 800-meter race at 2:52.66. Assumption’s Ainara Sainz de Rozas Martin won the 1,600 in 6:14.42 and Newman’s Sidney Galang won the 800 in 2:45.12. Rib Lake’s Nadia Czahor was seventh in the 800 at 3:03.79.
In sprints, Pelnis was third in the 200-meter dash at 31.88 seconds, 1.58 seconds behind winner Kaycee Schultz of Assumption. Scotty was eighth in 33.94 seconds. Megan Yanko took fourth in the 400-meter dash at 1:13.4. Scotty (16.27) and Schrader (16.31) were ninth and 10th in the 100-meter dash.
The win for the boys 400-meter relay team was earned with a time of 49.52 seconds. They edged Stratford by 0.05 seconds in a tight finish. Assumption was 0.73 seconds behind.
That same foursome took second in the 800-meter relay at 1:42.7, 2.6 seconds behind Stratford. Ryan Buehler, Benjamin Peterson, Sutherland and Classen earned third-place points in the 1,600-meter relay at 4:02.82, trailing Stratford (3:49.12) and Assumption (3:54.64). Buehler added a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter run with his time of 5:48.61, while Peterson took fifth in the 400-meter dash at 1:01.41.
Ashton Keiser tied Stratford’s Peyton Glenn for fourth place in the long jump by going 17-10. Classen got the sixth-place points at 17-9. Theo Robisch posted a distance of 30-11.5 to take third in the triple jump and he was 10th in the long jump at 15-9.
Bud Schreiner placed in both throwing events. He was fourth in the discus with a throw of 89-7 and sixth in the shot put at 29-10. Brandon Heiser was ninth (65-1) and 10th (25-11.5) in those events.
Ashton Keiser also placed fifth in the 100-meter dash at 12.54 seconds, while Ethan Keiser (13.08) was ninth. Buehler was 10th in the 200-meter dash at 27.99 seconds.
Rib Lake is set to compete in a meet today, Thursday, in Phillips that starts at 4:30 p.m. The Redmen will be in Edgar Monday. That meet also starts at 4:30 p.m.
