The Bluejay boys track ran all over the competition in Thursday’s Merrill Indoor Invite, nearly doubling the score of the next-closest competitors in the five-team meet.
The MHS boys racked up 123 points, leaving Antigo (66), Wittenberg (64), Rhinelander (54) and Waupaca (44) in the dust
“The meet was a great start towards our team goals of defending our home meets and getting as many guys to state,” MHS coach Kurt VandenHeuvel said. “The athletes competed very well setting high marks for themselves.
“I like where the team is at with conference coming up next week. This week is about preparing both mentally and physically along with making sure the athletes are confident on handoffs, steps and technique.”
The Bluejays used multiple place-winners in numerous events to grab their big win.
They went 1-2 in the 200M with Alec Oestreich (:24.48) and Cody Dengel (:25.44). They rated 1-4-6 in the long jump with Lucas Olson (19′ 8″), Kriss Philipp (18′ 4″) and Nick Peterson (18′ 1.75″). Philipp won the 50M in :06.15, while Claudius Goeller was 6th (:06.59). Philipp also led out the winning four-lap relay, joining Olson, Dengel and Oestreich in a 1:13.8 clocking.
Eric Ball pole vaulted 12′ 6″ to win. The Jays took two other event titles in relays, winning the 20-lap in 8:45.92 with Lukas Gessler, Michael Seaman, Andrew Seaman and Bryce Litschauer, and the 10-lap in 3:35.17 with Olson, Litschauer, Gessler and Oestreich. Both cruised to large victory margins.
Merrill earned a 2-3-4 rush in the shot put with Tyler Schmidt (42′ 9.5″), Jared Wardall (42′ 2.5″) and Coty Rajek (41′ 4″). They forged a 2-3 finish in the 800M with Dalton Wilding (2:19.39) and Trevor Myers (2:21.16).
They went 2-4 in the 50M intermediate and high hurdles with Ethan Schneider (:08.07/:08.25) and Ben Riehle (:08.90/:08.81), and also in the high jump with Philipp (5′ 6″) and Dan Blakeslee (5′ 4″).
Peterson jumped 38′ 2.5″ in the triple for a runner-up finish.