Robisch and Lopez lead Rib Lake at Marawood

MARAWOOD CONFERENCE T&F

Scoring wasn’t going to be easy for Rib Lake’s track and field teams against the powers the Marawood Conference features, but getting faster and farther was something the Redmen could control and they did in several cases during Monday’s conference meet in Stratford.

The boys finished in a 10th-place tie with Wisconsin Rapids Assumption by scoring 24 points, led by a third-place finish in the high jump by senior Theo Robisch, who also placed in the long jump.

The girls were 11th with 11 points, beating Prentice (5). Olivia Lopez placed in three individual events to lead the way for Rib Lake.

Robisch set a new personal-best in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5 feet, 10 inches. He and Stratford’s Benjamin Zuelke both finished 2 inches under conference champion Mason White Eagle of Auburndale, with Zuelke winning the tiebreaker for second place. Robisch has been on a steady climb since starting the year at 5-2 in the indoor part of the season and looks to continue that heading into the WIAA post-season. He and Zuelke were an inch higher than Abbotsford’s Chase Boller and 2 inches ahead of fifth-place jumper Xander Curtice of Stratford. Rib Lake’s Jed Henderson tied for 12th by clearing 5-2, tying his top height of the spring.

Robisch got the eighth-place point in the long jump. He went 18-10.25 in the preliminaries for another personal-best. He didn’t surpass that in the finals, but it held on as a scoring jump, beating Marathon’s Matthew Annis by 1.25 inches. Stratford’s Payton Glenn won it at 20-5, just 2.25 inches ahead of teammate Coltan Breit. Rib Lake’s Gus Zuleger was 22nd in the preliminaries at 14-0.75.

Robisch just missed scoring in the triple jump. He went 38-2.25 to get the ninth and last spot in the finals, where he was unable to improve upon that distance. Still, that put him just 2 inches off his personal-best. Zuleger was 20th at 2911.25.

The 400-meter dash was a good one for Rib Lake with Dominick Classen and Kaleb Scott both scoring. Classen, a senior, finished fourth in 52.33 seconds, a decrease of 0.58 seconds since he last ran the 400. Scott, a freshman, took seventh in 55.22 seconds, knocking off 0.7 seconds from his last 400 a week earlier. Ben Petersen added an 18th-place time of 59.09 seconds, which was his personal-best. The top three runners all had sub-52 times, led by winner Nolyn Lindner of Newman Catholic (51.03).

Senior Ryan Buehler also grabbed a point individually, finishing eighth in the 1,600-meter run at 5:01.49, which is another new best time. He was just behind seventh-place James Vollendorf of Phillips (5:01.39) and sixth-place Jaron Gage of Marathon (5:00.61). Connor Sheahan of Athens won as expected in 4:31.21. Rib Lake’s Elijah Scott was 14th in 5:25 and Connor Highfill was 20th in 5:58.42.

Buehler added a 12th-place time of 2:19.13, his best of the year, in the 800-meter run. Elijah Scott was 20th in a lowered time of 2:26.24. Highfill was 14th in the 3,200-meter run at 13:08.78, 1.38 seconds off his best time.

Classen, Jack Regier, Kaleb Scott and Buehler teamed up to place fourth in the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 8:45.1 that is Rib Lake’s fastest of the year. The Redmen easily beat fifth-place Marathon (9:00.89) and were too far behind the top three teams of Stratford (8:36.55), Auburndale (8:37.5) and Phillips (8:38.73).

Kaleb Scott, Robisch, Regier and Classen finished the meet by taking fifth in the 1,600-meter relay at 3:44.89, also the fastest time a Rib Lake crew has had this spring. They edged Auburndale by 0.96 seconds for the fifth spot. Marathon won in 3:36.14, followed by Newman Catholic (3:38.72), Edgar (3:41.18) and Stratford (3:41.25).

Additionally for Rib Lake’s boys, Kaedyn Kopelke was 21st in the shot put at 31-6, while Xavier Johnson and Logan Schmittfranz tied for 26th (28-3). Kopelke was 22nd in the discus at a season-best 95-7, while Henderson (63-7) and Schmittfranz (56-4) were 32nd and 33rd. Petersen was 20th in the 200-meter dash at 26.81 seconds, while Zuleger (27.68) and Henderson (29.35) were 25th and 27th while setting season-bests. Petersen was 22nd in the 100-meter dash at 12.97 seconds and Schmittfranz (13.4) was 28th.

Stratford successfully defended its 2022 team title by scoring 138 points. The Tigers finished well ahead of Marathon (96.5), Edgar (96), Athens (82), Newman Catholic (53), Phillips (51), Auburndale (50), Abbotsford (49) and Chequamegon (37.5). Prentice was 12th with one point.

Lopez fifth in sprints

Lopez, a junior, scored eight of Rib Lake’s points in the girls meet by placing fifth in the 100- and 200-meter dash finals.

In the 100, Lopez had the third-fastest preliminary time at 13.31 seconds, but Newman’s Mel Severson and Marathon’s Grace Kahon slipped past her in the final. Assumption’s Bella Thomas won the final in 12.7 seconds, just ahead of Kahon (12.94) and Edgar’s Morgan Schnelle (12.95). Severson was fourth at 13.38 seconds and Lopez was timed at 13.4 seconds, 0.16 seconds ahead of Assumption’s Autumn Moon.

In the 200, Lopez had the fourth-fastest preliminary time at 28.08 seconds and improved on it in the final, finishing in 27.68 seconds. Thomas won the final again in 26.66 seconds, followed by Schnelle (26.69), Kahon (27.27) and Severson (27.58). Lopez was 0.68 seconds ahead of Edgar’s Malana Koehler.

Camryn Glenzer was 18th for Rib Lake in the 200-meter prelims (32.76) and Coralee Glenzer was 25th in the 100 (16.91).

Lopez got the eighth-place point in the triple jump. After going 30-3 in the preliminaries, she extended to 30-3.75 in the final, grabbing the last scoring spot ahead of Abbotsford’s Chloe Cihlar (29-9.25). Lopez held eighth place in the long jump after the prelims at 14-5. She didn’t beat that in the finals and wound up ninth, coming out on the short end of a tiebreaker with Edgar’s Brooke Imhoff. They were an inch behind seventh-place jumper Chloe LaValley of Marathon.

Schnelle won the long jump at 15-7.25, while Athens’ Katlyn Schreiner won the triple jump at 34-6. Rib Lake’s Isabelle Gumz tied for 13th at 13-10 and Emma Tlusty was 18th at 13-2 in the long jump.

Freshman Hadassah Nelson got a point as part of a three-way tie for seventh place in the high jump. She cleared 4-4 for the first time this spring, equaling Kayla Gillett of Prentice and Sydnie Button of Chequamegon. Madison Grzanna hit 4-2 for the first time and tied for 11th for Rib Lake. Evie Bates of Newman won at 5 feet.

Also in the field, Gumz was 8 inches shy of making the shot put finals, taking 10th at 28-10. Tessa Krause was 21st at 23-6 and Grace Artz was 23rd at 23-2. Ziarra Schrader improved to 70-9 in the discus, good for 18th. Molly Schmittfranz (50-10) and Artz (41-7) were 28th and 32nd.

Rib Lake’s final point came in the 400-meter relay. This was the first time the Redmen had put together a team in the outdoor season and Gumz, Grzanna, Nelson and Tlusty finished in 57.02 seconds, getting the last scoring spot by 0.97 seconds over Abbotsford. Marathon won in 52.61 seconds.

Tlusty was ninth in the 100-meter high hurdles, missing the final by 0.28 seconds with her time of 19.27 seconds. Gumz was 15th at 20.49 seconds. Tlusty was 10th in the 300-meter low hurdles at 57.43 seconds.

Newman Catholic ended Marathon’s two-year reign atop the conference by scoring 103.142 points, while Marathon totaled 95. Edgar was a close third with 93.1428, followed by Assumption (83), Phillips (65.1428), Athens (60), Abbotsford (57.2857), Stratford (57), Chequamegon (51.2857) and Auburndale (21).

Regional next

Rib Lake will return to Stratford Monday for the WIAA Division 3 regional meet. Facing many of the same Marawood teams, it won’t be easy to gain the topfour placements necessary to advance to the May 25 sectional at Marathon.

The teams in Monday’s meet include Rib Lake, Stratford, Abbotsford, Athens, Columbus Catholic, Edgar, Greenwood, Loyal, Marathon, Phillips, Prentice and Spencer.

Rib Lake’s Kaedyn Kopelke got off a throw of 95-7 to take 22nd in Monday’s Marawood Conference boys discus competition.NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD/TRIBUNE PHONOGRAPH