Tiger boys, girls capture invitational

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford’s varsity boys track and field team won its fourth consecutive Stratford Invite on Thursday while the Stratford girls won their second straight Stratford Invite.

Tigers head coach and alumni Nate Heeg was happy his track and field teams were able to continue their Stratford Invite winning streaks this year.

“It’s great to see the strong competition and efforts that come out during this meet across all teams and athletes,” Heeg said. “I want to also recognize the 17 seniors on this team. They have contributed a lot over the last four years, and they are an amazing group of athletes.”

Stratford’s girls squad amassed a team high 127-1/2 points. The Edgar girls took fourth place among 12 teams competing with 70 points. The Stratford boys won the meet with 211 points followed by Edgar in second place with 142 points.

Barry Brubaker, an official at the meet, was Stratford’s head track and field coach when the Stratford Invite began 53 years ago.

Stratford senior Xander Curtice won the high jump on Thursday at five feet, 11 inches. Tigers senior Kaden Foster took third place in the high jump with at feet, 10 inches. John Buck won the triple jump with 41 feet, eight inches and Connor Kraft took second place with 41 feet, 61/2 inches. Edgar freshman Landon Lukasko placed third in the triple jump at 41 feet, five inches.

Tigers senior Jett Schoenherr won the boys 100-meter dash in 11.06 seconds. Schoenherr also won the 200-meter dash in 22.87 seconds followed by Zander Zawislan in second place in 23.25 and Carter Foster in third in 24.04.

The Edgar and Stratford boys relay squads battled against each other the entire night for first and second place in each event.

Stratford’s boys 4x100-meter relay team took first place in 43.40 seconds with Schoenherr, Zawislan, Carter Foster and Austin O’Neil. Edgar’s 4x100-meter relay took second place in 43.98 seconds with seniors Austin Schreiber and Ty Schnelle, junior Tucker Streit and freshman Landon Lukasko.

Edgar’s 4x200-meter relay won the event in 1:32.21 and included Schreiber, Schnelle, Caius Higgins and Kennen Van Ornum. Stratford’s 4x200-meter relay took second place in 1:33.28 and included Carter Foster, O’Neil, Brandon Knetter and Zawislan.

The Wildcats 4x400-meter relay squad of Schnelle, Higgins, Van Ornum and Tucker Streit took first place in 3:29.73. The Tigers 4x400-meter relay of Austin Niehaus, Kaden Foster, Curtice and Zuelke placed second in 3:33.76.

Stratford’s 4x800-meter relay team won the event in 8:18.64 with Ethan Heeg, Cree DeFoe, Zuelke and Cooper Bosmans. Edgar’s 4x800-meter relay took second place in 8:32.72 with juniors Dillan Sondelski and Cade Koch and sophomores Carson Nowak and Isaiah Kraft.

Tucker Streit of Edgar won the boys 300-meter hurdles in 40.76 seconds. De-Foe of Stratford won the boys 3,200-meter run in 10:01.94 and Sondelski of Edgar placed third in 10:40.40. Streit took second place in the long jump with 19 feet, 3-1/2 inches and Connor Kraft of Stratford was third with 19 feet, 2-1/4 inches. Schreiber of Edgar placed second in the pole vault at 12 feet. Tyler Budtke of Stratford took second place in the shot put with 44 feet, eight inches.

Austin Niehaus of Stratford placed second in the 400-meter dash in 53.27 seconds and Connor Kraft was third in 53.92. Isaiah Kraft of Edgar took second place n the 800-meter run in 2:07.26 and Ethan Heeg of Stratford was third in 2:08.14. Mason Miller of Stratford placed third in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.63 seconds and Derek Wiese of Stratford was third in the 1,600-meter run in 4:50.18.

For the girls, Edgar freshman Shiloh Karlen won the triple jump at 33 feet, three inches and Edgar senior Addisyn Trawicki placed second at 32 feet, 7-1/4 inches. Makita Ellenbecker of Edgar took fourth place in the discus with 108 feet, nine inches.

Stratford sophomore Brianna Sheridan took first place in the long jump at 16 feet, 5-3/4 inches and sophomore Rachel Burke of Edgar was second at 16 feet, 1-1/4 inches. Sheridan placed second in the 400meter dash in 59.40 seconds and she tied for second in the 100-meter dash with Addison Wolf of Loyal in 12.85 seconds.

Tigers senior Kayla Casperson won the 3,200-meter run in 12:07.18 and she took third place in the 1,600-meter run in 5:32.66. Stratford junior Dawnyel Martin placed second in the 300-meter hurdles in 51.05 seconds.

Edgar’s 4x100-meter girls relay team took first place in 52.14 seconds and included senior Mia Stencil, Trawicki, Burke and Karlen. Stratford’s 4x100-meter relay team placed third and included Wynn Schoenherr, Morgan Schmidt, Lillian Kaiser and Martin.

The Wildcats’ 4x200-meter relay squad placed second in 1:50.37 and included Trawicki, Stencil, Burke and Karlen. The Tigers’ 4x200-meter relay took third place in 1:52.44 and consisted of Schoenherr, Schmidt, Martin and Kaiser.

Stratford’s 4x800-meter relay team took third place in 11:04.58 and consisted of Kaylie McHugh, Lily Dabbert, Megan Marten and Samantha Mielke.

TIGERS AND WILDCATS COMPETE FOR TOP SPOT IN THE RELAY- Edgar’s Austin Schreiber hands the baton to Landon Lukasko while Stratford’s Carter Foster hands the baton to Zander Zawislan in the 4x200-meter relay on Thursday at the 53rd Stratford Invitational. The Tigers ended up winning this relay with the Wildcats winning other relays.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

CLEARING ONE HURDLE AT A TIME- Stratford junior Emily Zuelke is shown competing in the 300 hurdles during Thursday’s home meet. She took seventh place in 58.20 seconds.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER