The Merrill boys finally got outdoors when they ranked a solid third in last Tuesday’s four-team meet at Wausau West. West (97), Marshfield (85.5) and Merrill (74.5) out-paced East (15).
“With the wind conditions, it helped some events and hurt others,” MHS coach Kurt VandenHeuvel said. “Our sprint relays are strong. Ethan Schneider ran a fantastic 300 hurdle race and looked strong in the 1600 relay. Todd Grund showed some headway in the pole vault clearing 11’6” as a freshman.
“I am happy where our guys are at physically, after continuous lifting and sore legs. With these barriers, the guys are still improving on their times and distances. Jake Anderson earned a personal best in triple jump, with the remainder of the season to get better. He has been working hard at practice and getting faster by the looks of his 200 times.
“We are healthy and I am grateful for that based on our lower numbers this year. We cannot afford to have guys out!”
Merrill placed 1st and 3rd in the triple jump (Anderson, 43’ 5.5”/Brandon Bartz, 40’ 2”) and 300 hurdles (Schneider, :42.83/Bartz :45.42), and also won the 800M relay (Nick Hoffmann, Nick Peterson, Lucas Lee, Kriss Philipp, 1:35.38) and 400M relay (Tyler Butler, Peterson, Lee, Philipp, :45.25).
They pulled a 2-5 in the 100M with Philipp (:11.26), Butler (:11.59), Lee (:11.61) and Peterson (:11.67), and went 2-3 in the 200M with Anderson (:23.64) and Hoffmann (:24.19). The 1600M (Bartz, Thomas Grund, Schneider, Dalton Wilding, 3:43.50) was 2nd.
Thirds came from: Anderson (LJ, 20’ 5.5”); Todd Grund (PV, 11’ 6”); Tom Grund (400, :56.06); Schneider (110 highs, :16.04); Cole Rajek (SP, 41’ 7.75”); Jagger Scholz (800, 2:15.43); and the 3200 (Scholz, Wilding, Carl Noland, Tom Grund, 9:26.21).