Records shattered, but THS charmed by Chequamie

The Hatchet track teams may have been edged out by Chequamegon in both boys and girls meets in Thursday's four-team home event, but that didn't stop Tomahawk from cranking out top performances.

The boys, in particular, busted out, setting three different team records by a sizeable margin.

Eddie Yirsa chopped 1-1/2 seconds off his 2-lap record with a :45.10, and joined Jacob Dichsen, Neko McMahon and Austin Bellile in severing 6-1/2 seconds off the 8-lap relay with a 3:07.74. Junior Bryan Tomek slashed more than 8 seconds from Matt Tormohlen's 2002 mark in the 1600M with a 4:51.00.

First-year performer Anna Nyberg, a sophomore, won the high jump at 5' 2", putting her in the D2 top five for the season.

"With winter lingering on, it is nice to have the option of not having to travel and being able to compete indoors," THS coach John Zuelsdorf said. "Chequamegon has one of their largest squads ever and their depth is incredible. Our co-eds were able to hang with them for the majority of the meet. The outcome wasn't decided until the last event for the girls and the Screamin' Eagles wrapped it up on the second to last event for the boys."

"Once again there were school indoor records established by several Hatchets. Eddie Yirsa, Bryan Tomek, and our boys 8-lap relay were outstanding with their respective performances."

"We had used the early portion of the week for conditioning and most of our athletes competed tired and sore in the quadrangular.

"We expect some solid performances when the athletes compete this coming week at the (April 9) indoor conference meet. As much as we were concerned about the recent break, as a staff we feel much more confident about our team's chances going into the GNC Indoor at Pines this week.

"As a first year athlete in track and field, Anna is already beginning to leave her mark on our program. Her 5'2" high jump effort was an incredible P.R. She is a real competitor and very athletic. In the two-lap run, Anna raced a senior from Chequamegon to the tape, giving the more experienced athlete everything she could handle in her runner-up finish. She also had a nice start in the dash giving us another place-winner in that event.

"Neko has really worked on his strength in the off-season and he has gotten faster in the process. He is knocking on the 20 foot barrier in the long jump and he ran a solid leg in the record-setting eight-lap relay. He has worked so hard these last four years, it's great to see it all coming together for him."

Chequamegon took a 88-81.5 meet from the girls, trailed by Stratford (39.5) and Spencer (23). The Eagles topped the boys 103.5-89 meet, followed by Stratford (30.5) and Spencer (9).

The boys racked up eight wins in 16 events, including their records and a sweep of the pole vault with Peter Pintens (12' 0"), Austin Ehn (11' 6") and Vic Ierulli (10' 6").

The other four came from Yirsa (40M, :05.42); Ben Yirsa (45HH, :07.75); Tomek (TJ, 38' 7"); and McMahon (LJ, 19' 3.5").

The girls went 1-2 in the triple jump (Emmy Larson 33' 3"/Hanna Meyer 32' 10.5") and the 40M dash (Breanna Renn :06.11/Meyer :06.20). The 8-lap team of Katie Koth, Larson, Renn and Meyer was clocked in a winning 3:42.13.

Other runner-up finishes came from: Nyberg (2-lap, :56.54); Grace Mickelson (PV, 9' 0"); Sam Schade (SP, 32' 9.75"); Dani Whiting (20-lap, 13:27.8); Kate Gaedtke (3-lap, 1:37.75); and the 12-lap team (Renn, Larson, Talyn Jones, Aubrey Dichsen, 6:19.41).

Placing 3rd were: Koth (LJ, 14' 11.75"); Alex Zedler (20-lap, 14:10.40); Jones (10-lap, 6:40.98); and Sara Kouba (2-lap, :58.94).

Extra runner-up placings for the boys were turned in by:Jake Dichsen (HJ, 5' 4"); Mitch Schauer (SP, 40' 8.75"); and Wyatt Schumitsch (45 IH, :08.17).

Thirds came from: Ierulli (TJ, 37' 4.5"); Schumitsch (45 HH, :08.34); and the 12-lap team (Austin Kaiser, Tyler Wittman, Ryan Kuehn, Ierulli, 5:40.68).

Fourths were recorded by: Jacob McGuire (20-lap, 12:02.88); Ierulli (45 HH, :08.42); Kaiser (10-lap, 5:38.66); Han McMahon (3-lap, 1:21.400; Dylan Schiltz (45 IH, :08.62); Renn (LJ, 14' 10.5"); Michaela Galganski (PV, 7' 0"); Annaluz Fox (:09.11); Nyberg (40, :06.41); and A. Dichsen (10-lap, 6:52.59).