By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Friday night the Merrill boys and girls track teams hosted the 34th annual Otto Bacher track meet. Both teams competed hard, with the boys placing fourth of 10 teams and the girls taking eighth out of 11 teams.
Merrill head coach Guy Pawlicki had high praise for Merrill senior Dalie Thomas saying, “Dalie Thomas led two freshmen and a sophomore to a third place finish in the 4×800 meter relay, while also winning the 400 meter run.” Other noteable girl finishes include Faith Seliger who placed third in the high jump with a jump of 5-00.00. Elizabeth Schmidt took fourth place in the 1600 meter run, with a time of 5:43.32.
The boys team had a little more success at the meet and totaled 86 team points. “Dominic Leistikow won the pole vault and also helped the 4×200 relay to a second place finish.” adds Pawlicki, “Rob Oestreich took second in the discus. Tyler Wolff tied for second in the pole vault as well as running a leg of the second play 4×400 relay. James Pawlicki took first in the 200 and two second place finishes with the 4×200 and 4×400. Taron Gutowski ran his fastest split-time of the year while anchoring the 4×400 relay.”
Before the meet the athletes and fans honored Ira Rebella who passed away this past November. Former Merrill track head coach Dave Arneson said, “Ira was known for being a great teacher, coach, and official for numerous sports. He was a certified Track and Field Official for a half century! Whether he was in the classroom or on the field, he was relentlessly teaching the right way, Thank you Ira for being a great man of service. You made us better!”