Gilman, Rib Lake girls tie for 3rd; boys find relay success

PHILLIPS TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL

Rib Lake competed for the first time in nearly three weeks, Gilman competed for the second straight day and both experienced some success Friday at the nine-team Phillips Invitational.

While the weather still wasn’t the greatest, with more cool temperatures and stiff winds, it was dry and warmer than it had been in the previous week when both teams lost meets.

The two local teams tied for third place in the girls meet with 81 points apiece, easily outscoring the teams under them, which included Mercer (56), Bruce (48), Prentice (12), Winter (10) and Butternut (3). Phillips outscored Three Lakes 138-106 to win the meet.

Gilman’s Gracie Tallier was the meet’s top individual scorer, collecting 36 points with three sprint victories and a third-place finish in the long jump. The junior first won the 100-meter dash in 12.68 seconds, 0.43 seconds ahead of Kallie Volk of Three Lakes. Then, in the 400-meter dash, Tallier posted a time of 1:03.9 that easily beat runner-up Sarah Knack of Phillips by 3.66 seconds. Tallier finished her day with a winning time of 26.98 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 0.86 seconds better than KD Knipp of Mercer.

Tallier wasn’t alone in scoring in those races. In the 100, Gilman’s Claire Drier took fourth in 13.73 seconds, just ahead of Rib Lake’s Amber Yanko (13.85). Gilman’s Ellie Drier was 10th in 15.05 seconds. In the 200, Rib Lake’s Olivia Lopez took fourth in 27.96 seconds, while Ellie Drier was one spot and 0.18 seconds shy of scoring, taking ninth in 31.4 seconds. Rib Lake’s Nadia Czahor got two points by taking seventh in the 400 at 1:20.86. Teammates Amy Espinoza (1:29.27) and Sofia Fraschi (1:30.23) were ninth and 10th.

Gilman’s Bailey Angell was a double winner, as usual, in the shot put and discus. Her previous personal-best distance in the shot put lasted one day, as she got a throw out to 39 feet, 0.5 inches on Friday. Rib Lake seniors Lauren Pelnis and Hannah Schuh were third and fourth at 30-2.75 and 28-8.25, respectively, not too far behind runner-up Eiley Schoeneman of Mercer (32-8.5). Gilman’s Emma Grunseth got the eighth-place point at 23-8.25, while Rib Lake’s Ziarra Schrader was 12th at 18-9.25.

Angell won the discus with a throw of 110-5, well ahead of Schoeneman’s best throw of 88 feet. Schuh took fourth for Rib Lake at 73-4, while Grunseth was sixth at 60 feet.

Lopez picked up a win for Rib Lake in the triple jump at 31-1, 10 inches ahead of Knipp, and she was sixth in the long jump at 13-10.5. Claire Drier continued to improve for Gilman. The freshman took second at 16-2.25, while Tallier went 15-8. Volk won with a jump of 17-2. Erin Bohmbach had a personal-best jump of 10-8.25 and was 12th for Rib Lake. Her teammate Abigail Hebda was 14th with a first high school jump of 10-1.

Rib Lake’s team of Megan Yanko, Lauren Pelnis, Lopez and Amber Yanko easily won the 400-meter relay in 55.79 seconds. Phillips (1:00.62) and Winter (1:01.15) were second and third. Nadia Czahor, Fraschi, Espinoza and Kylee Goodrich took second in the 3,200-meter relay at 13:26.32, well behind Phillips’ winning time of 11:29.05.

Megan Yanko hit a new height in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-8 to tie Ella Luettgerodt of Bruce for second place. They were 6 inches behind Volk. Goodrich had a solid night on the track, taking third in the 1,600-meter run at 6:39.39 and fourth in the 800-meter run at 2:58.31. Leah Hoffland added a fourthplace time of 7:45.23 in the 1,600.

Claire Drier was second in the 300-meter low hurdles at 53.23 seconds. Volk won in 49.26 seconds.

Relay wins

Rib Lake won two relays and Gilman took one in Friday’s boys meet. The Redmen finished fourth out of eight teams in the final standings with 80 points, while Gilman had 52 to place sixth behind Bruce (69). Three Lakes scored 123 points to just get by Phillips (121) and Prentice (120) to win the meet. Mercer (32) and Butternut (23) rounded out the team scores.

Rib Lake’s team of Theo Robisch, Will Hartke, Elijah Scott and Ryan Buehler opened the meet with a time of 9:48.6 that just got the Redmen past Prentice (9:50.7) and won the 3,200-meter relay. Dominick Classen, Noah Wiitala, Hartke and Ben Petersen then teamed up to win the 800-meter race in 1:41.35 as they squeaked past Phillips by 0.29 seconds. Gilman’s team of Troy Duellman, Branden Ustianowski, Max Ustianowski and Brady McAlpine was fourth in 1:47.43.

Pirates Gabe Brunner, Caleb Marion, Zack Marion and Bryce Chovan finished the 400-meter relay in 54.18 seconds to win it by 0.16 seconds over Bruce and 0.81 seconds over Three Lakes. Rib Lake’s Petersen, Classen, Wiitala and Hartke finished the night by taking second in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:58.35, just behind Phillips (3:55.75).

Classen, Buehler and Robisch all earned seconds for Rib Lake individually. Buehler got his in the 800-meter run at 2:20.7, just 0.09 seconds behind Prentice’s Adam Granberg. Buehler later took third in the 3,200-meter run at 11:52. Butternut’s Mike Brown won in 10:03. Classen ran the 200-meter dash in 24.29 seconds to fall 0.88 seconds behind winner Trevin Walkowski of Three Lakes. He also placed seventh in the high jump by clearing 5 feet, while Robisch tied for eighth at 4-10. Robisch took second in the triple jump with a season-best distance of 35-10, while teammates Damien Peterson (30-6.25) and Xavier Johnson (29-6.25) were 10th and 11th. Robisch (16-11.5) and Hartke (16-10.25) also placed fifth and sixth in the long jump, while Gilman’s Max Ustianowski was 10th at 15-1.75.

Both teams had scorers in the throws. Branden Ustianowski got off a personalbest throw of 97-4 to take fourth for Gilman in the discus, just ahead of teammate Zack Marion (88-3), while Caleb Marion was seventh (83-6) and Rib Lake’s Brandon Heiser got the eighth-place point (83-1). Chovan was ninth at 81-3. Heiser led locals in the shot put with a sixth-place toss of 35-4.5, followed by Zack Marion (34-9.75), Caleb Marion (33-1.75) and Chovan (30-0.5). Brunner was 13th for Gilman at 26-4.5 and Rib Lake’s Peter Walters was 18th at 21-8.5.

Back on the track, Wiitala (12.72) was fourth for Rib Lake and Peterson (13.02) was sixth in the 100-meter dash. McAlpine was eighth for Gilman at 13.24 seconds, Max Ustianowski (13.84) was 13th and Rib Lake’s Jayden Thums was 16th (14.14). Braeden Person was 10th for Gilman with a time of 1:05.94 in the 400-meter dash and Scott was ninth for Rib Lake in the 1,600-meter run at 5:40.79.