Last Tuesday’s GNC meet proved a roaring success for the Hatchets as the girls collected the outdoor title and Bryan Tomek was the only triple individual winner of the meet.
“It was an exciting week for our co-ed program,” THS coach John Zuelsdorf said. “When potential is reached and opportunities are made the most of, it’s a fun time to be an athlete! The girls really responded to the challenges and rose above the distractions.
“The amazing thing is that we did it across the board and scored in every event and multiple times in nine (of 18) events. It was hard for other teams to offset that kind of depth. All in all, it was a great feeling for our athletes to be part of a conference title.
“In my three decades plus of working with Tomahawk track athletes we are not a program that likes to triple our distance runners. What Bryan did was truly an amazing feat, winning all three individual distance races in seasonal-best times. The turn-around from the 800 to the 3200 meter run is extremely fast and hard to mentally and physically prepare for.”
Tomek earned ‘Runner of the Year’ honors in the GNC for taking the 800 (2:03), 1600 (4:36) and 3200 (10:36).
Hanna Meyer won both the long (15’1”) and triple jump (33’6”) to pick up Field Event Athlete of the Year. She also was 2nd in the 100 (13.20) and a member of the 2nd place 400 meter relay (:52.9, Emmy Larson, Emily Verkilen, Lauren Hilt).
“Hanna had a super meet, winning the triple jump over a Lakeland athlete on her last jump,” Zuelsdorf said. “Both girls were state-qualifiers last year.”
Kate Gaedtke took the 300 low hurdles (:52.0), and joined Verkilen, Michaela Galganski and Lila Werner on the runner-up 800 relay (1:56.44) and Hilt, Audrey Dichsen and Sara Kouba 2nd-place 1600 relay (4:28.39).
Other top performances included: 2nds – Peter Pintens (PV, 12’ 6”), Dani Whiting (1600, 5:37), 3200 rel. (Larson, Kuehn, Alex Zedler, Talyn Jones, 10:55); 3rds–Michaela Galganski (PV, 8’ 0”), Larson (TJ, 32’ 8.75”), Claire Kuehn (3200, 13:08).
Standings–Girls–Tomahawk 147, Medford 130.5, Lakeland 128, Mosinee 119.5, N. Pines 85, Rhinelander 46, Antigo 38…….Boys– Lakeland 168.7, Mosinee 108.3, N. Pines 100.3, Medford 100, Antigo 97.5, Tomahawk 73, Rhinelander 50.