On Saturday the Hatchets made the short trek to Wausau and the Tribute Golf Course for the annual Smiley Invite. Sixty teams and nearly 2,000 runners from across the state gathered to compete for divisional bragging rights.
Tomahawk competed in D2/D3 races for all but the Girls JV race where they competed against all divisions in a race which saw nearly 500 girls finish. Tomahawk placed third in all races (Varsity-Boys, JV-Boys & Girls) and sixth in the Varsity D2 Girls event. The Hatchets showed improvement in all team finishes compared to last year.
In the first varsity race of the day, the Hatchet boys placed third behind state-ranked squads from Shorewood and Madison Edgewood. The boys were led by medalists Mason Webster (17th -18:13), Alex Johnson (19th -18:22), and Evan Ploeckelman (20th -18:23). Cayton Scholz (22nd -18:24) just missed the podium, but combined with Justin Jarvensivu (46th -19:06) to close out the Hatchet Varsity Division 2 scoring effort. Luke Olson (51st) and Matt Johnson (56th) were the final two Hatchets to cross the line, both finishing in career best times in their first varsity races of the season.
The Hatchet ladies were led once again by freshman Haley Voermans-Dean with her fourth place medalist effort in Division 2. She competed in the lead pack throughout the race eventually pulling her through to a personal best time of 20:44, the second fastest 5K time in school history. Other Hatchets contributing to the sixth place divisional finish were: Meagan Berg (33rd), Olivia Weber (34th), Rylie Swan (38th), Gillian Buckwalter (41st), and Maggee Renn (59th). Kiel and West Salem led the way in Girls team standings for Division 2.
Both JV squads placed third overall in the D2/D3 combined race. Making the podium in their respective races for Tomahawk were: Lauren Bauman (6th), Parker Johnson (10th), Erik Zedler (12th), Brett Gerber (14th), Keegan Karlen (15th), Morgan Waye (16th), Josh Wick (18th), and Keaton Jed (19th). Other placers for the JV boys were: Orion Spaulding (24th), Anthony Ierulli (27th), Jacob Miller (40th), Shawn Dirkx (43rd), Sam VonSchrader (51st), Grant Alvey (57th), Jared Leverance (60th), Reed Zedler (63rd), and Jarett Flynn (93rd) in the 179 runner field.
Other finishers for the JV girls were: Natalia Robinson (23rd), Kate Krueger (24th), Brittany Jashinsky (41st), Tehya Street (48th), Jackie Wick (53rd), Arianna Schreiner (55th), Corinn Genelin (79th), Jenny Zheng (94th), and Taylor VanStrydonk (95th) in the 112 runner field.
Next race for Tomahawk is Saturday as the Co-ed Varsity squads travel to Oshkosh for the 50-team Lourdes Invite held at Lake Breeze Golf Course near Winneconnie. The meet gets underway at 9 a.m.
Quotes/AOW
“The week leading up to the Smiley we had talked about improving over last year’s finishes and racing competitively in each event. For the most part, we showed up and ran with our ‘A game’. 21 Hatchets either ran personal best 5K’s or seasonal best efforts. As we continue to improve individually, so will our team results. It was nice to see the athletes excited about their overall placements for the second straight week.”
“Although we were down a scoring athlete in the boys varsity event our three guys working to shore up that #5 spot (Justin Jarvensivu, Luke Olson, and Matt Johnson) all ran awesome races with two PR’s and a seasonal best effort. Not only proud of how our top four boys hung together at the front, but of the efforts of our other #5-#6-#7 runners.”
“Haley was top freshman finisher in the Division 2 varsity girl’s race and ran her best 5K to date. She is pushing herself to new heights each race and is racing with more confidence each time out.”
“It’s races like these that expose a team’s weakness and give coaches things to work on leading up to the conference and tournament meets at the end. We really learned a lot in what we need to do to help our athletes continue to improve and a few racing tactics that we need to work on. It’s always enjoyable competing at such a quality event in literally our own back yard.”
AOW
Luke Olson… “…he made a push for a varsity spot last week at Fall Creek and followed it up today at Smiley with a career best 5K effort. He is a real competitor and is able to rise to the level of his competition. I was especially impressed with how he finished down the stretch at Smiley, he was one of only two of our varsity boys that improved his position in the last 1600 meters.”
Olivia Weber… “…in her first season out for Cross-Country she has been a contributing varsity scorer on a consistent basis for us. She gained a lot of confidence this past Track season on the varsity relays and is bringing that attitude to the Cross-Country venue. She had a solid race today for us in the #3 position, working her way to a career best 5K effort as well.”
For full results, click here.