Falcons track wraps regular season in Marathon

The Abbotsford track and field team traveled to Marathon last Tuesday for their final warm-up ahead of the Marawood conference meet.

The boys grabbed third place overall, trailing just Marathon and Loyal with 92 team points, while the girls took fifth with 75 team points.

The Falcons picked up four total first place finishes in Marathon. Margo Pogodzinski had two of those, taking the top spot in both the discus and shot put competitions. The Abbotsford senior record holder in both events broke her own record in the discus, setting a new mark to beat after launching a throw of 120 feet, five inches. This pushed her to the top of the standings on Tuesday, but also beat out her own personal best of 118 feet in the event last year. In the shot put, her throw of 37 feet, 5.75 inches also earned her the top spot in the event. Teammates Kate Sheahan and Kinsley Kalepp also scored in the events for the Falcons, with Sheahan taking seventh in the discus with a throw of 78 feet, 11 inches and Kalepp finishing with a throw of 24 feet, 10 inches to take eighth in the shot put.

Azul Diaz also won an event for the Falcons girls team. The senior distance runner put up the top time in the 1600-meter run, posting a time of 6:01.66 to clear the rest of the field. Monse Ochoa added a second scoring performance for the team in the event, grabbing seventh with a time of 6:43.97.

The final victory for the Falcons came from the boys 4x100-meter relay team. The squad breezed past the rest of the competition, their time of 46.11 seconds giving them a three second cushion between themselves and the second place Medford relay.

A trio of Falcon relays grabbed runner-up spots on Tuesday. The boys 4x200-meter relay finished with a time of 1:36.72 to earn their second place finish and the two girls 4x100 and 4x200-meter sprint relays also picked up second place finishes, coming in with times of 54.46 seconds and 1:53.47 respectively.

Celia Schindler and Lauryn Harris added a pair of individual second place finishes for the girls. Schindler did so in the 400-meter dash, where she posted a time of 1:07.47 while Harris grabbed her runner-up spot in the long jump, her longest attempt measuring 14 feet, 10.25 inches. The pair also notched scoring performances in the triple jump, where Harris nabbed third place with an attempt of 32 feet, half an inch and Schindler placed fifth with a leap of 30 feet, 3.25 inches.

Chloe Cihlar had the girls team’s other third place finish, posting a time of 56.48 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles to earn her top-three spot.

The boys team, meanwhile, had five different third place finishes in Marathon. Marcus VanLuven had two of those thirds, leading the Falcons in both throwing competitions. He posted a throw of 117 feet, seven inches in the discus and a distance of 41 feet, four inches in the shot put.

Chase Boller and Jack Sheahan also grabbed thirds for Abbotsford in the field events. Boller cleared a height of five feet, 10 inches to earn his spot in the high jump while Sheahan posted an attempt of 34 feet, eight inches in the triple jump to pick up his third place.

Irvin Davila had the Falcon boys’ top individual finish on the track. He grabbed third place in the 100-meter dash, where he posted a time of 12.19 seconds. He also notched a fourth place finish in discus competition, finishing with a throw of 116 feet, three inches.

Jovanny Cruz and Carter Cihlar continued to pile on the points for the boys in the field events, both earning fourths in their respective events. Cruz picked up his in the long jump, where his longest leap measured 17 feet, 9.25 inches. Cihlar, meanwhile, reached a height of 12 feet in the pole vault to grab his fourth place spot.

Diaz had the Falcon girls’ sole fourth place finish after posting a time of 2:45.13 in the 800-meter run.

Reyna Romo had the final scoring performance for the girls in Marathon, notching a fifth place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.32 seconds.

Also scoring for the boys were Caleb Kulesa, who took sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 51.12 seconds and Miguel Bautista-Carreon, who added seventh place finishes in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run with times of 57.01 seconds and 2:16.68 respectively.

CLEARING THE BAR - Chase Boller sneaks over the bar during the high jump competition in Marathon. The junior eventually cleared a height of five feet, 10 inches to take third overall.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER