By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
Bluejay varsity faced the rain and wind this past Tuesday at the WVC relays held at DC Everest, with both boys and girls teams coming in last at 28 and 20 team points, respectively. Unsurprisingly, SPASH dominated the events with both girls and boys teams placing first with 132 and 128 points, respectively.
Merrill rarely cracked a spot higher than tenth place in most single events and placed either fifth or sixth place in the relays. Some bright spots for Merrill include Todd Grund and Mitchell Jaeger who had a three-way tie for first with a Rapids athlete in the pole vault with a height of 12 feet, and Dominic Leistikow had a three-way tie for seventh with a Marshfield and Rapids athlete with nine feet. Jared Ollhoff placed second in the triple jump with 42′ 10.75″ and placed third in the high jump with 5′ 10″. Rylee Folz tied for third with an Everest athlete in the girls high jump with 4′ 8″ and Adam Laehn placed sixth in the long jump with 19′ 7″.
“This was a meet of athlete versus weather,” comments head coach Kurt VandenHeuvel. “It was fun to see the athletes take on each event without any hesitation of the freezing driving rain. I was especially proud of Kaitlyn Arndt for her adversity in running the 1600 meters while the rain was at its hardest and the wind blew its strongest.
“This young team continues to take on challenges and the veteran group is starting to lead. This is an extremely talented conference and the athletes are aware of what they are up against and we as coaches are honored to see this group of athletes compete in each meet. As we continue to evaluate where we match up in the conference it is no surprise we are the underdog, but this group is resilient on continuing to grow and work on the aspects they can control. They are excited to host Otto Bacher and looking forward to competing at their home track.”
Track has a big day on Friday with the 31st annual Otto Bacher at Jay Stadium starting at 5 p.m.
For full relay results, click here: Final Results