MONROE - Todd Bastian didn't put much stock in his Darlington girls track and field team winning the second annual Richard Glendenning Green/Lafayette County Invitational on Thursday.
Darlington swept all four relays and outdistanced Sugar River 154.5-126 to win the title. Bastian said he is still unsure about some events and is using the early meets to find out which relays the Redbirds can load up on when it comes time for the regional and sectional.
"Quite frankly, if Monroe wanted to win this meet, they would win this meet," Bastian said.
Sugar River junior Madeline Brunner finished first in the 1,600 meters (5 minutes, 32.78 seconds) and took the top spot in the 400 (1:01.51) as well as the long jump (16 feet, 6 3/4 inches). Brunner was named the track MVP and Brodhead-Juda senior Heather Clankie was named the field MVP. Brunner finished about two seconds ahead of Albany sophomore Bailey Hlavachek in the 1,600. Monticello senior Becky Nelson finished second in the long jump (15-1 1/2) behind Brunner.
"I focused a lot on the long jump last year," Brunner said. "I wanted to focus on my running this year. I wasn't surprised. I'm excited a lot about what possibly could happen toward the end of the year."
Brunner set a goal of running the 1,600 in 5:20.
"I obviously didn't meet that," she said. "I want to take it one step at a time. I wasn't expecting to be running the time I wanted at the beginning of the season."
Clankie has picked right up where she left off after winning a Division 2 state discus title last year. Clankie won both the discus (131-7) and shot put (36-7). She set a meet record in the discus.
"I definitely knew I could do it," Clankie said of winning the discus and setting a meet record. "I have consistently been throwing 130s and a couple 140s in practice. I'm hoping to get better and get a 140 or 150. I wanted to set a record in the shot put, but I didn't get it."
Monroe had strong 1-2 finish in the high jump and the Monroe White team finished fifth behind third-place Brodhead-Juda (83) and fourth-place Black Hawk (67). Monroe sophomore Taylor Barrett won the high jump (4-10) and Molly Wyss took second (4-10). Barrett was shooting to clear 5-1. Monroe's Tre Voegeli won the pole vault (8-6) and Maria Pecora took second (8-0).
"I didn't do as well as I wanted to obviously," Barrett said. "It's always good to get the 'W.' I didn't make it up to my expectations, but I did what I could do."
Black Hawk sophomore Jen Wellnitz won the 100 (12.74), the 200 (26.61) and the triple jump (31-3). Wellnitz has the top Division 3 time in the 100 this year and just edged Monroe's Maria Eberle, who took second (13.0).
"I looked over to my right and I saw a Monroe girl close to me," Wellnitz said. "I knew I had to kick it into gear."
Sugar River's Emily Diaz took first in the high hurdles (16.47). Hlavachek came back and won the 800 (2:30.97) and Pecatonica-Argyle senior Kendra Sigg was second (2:37.99).
Sugar River's Samantha Stecha took second in the triple jump (29-11) and Black Hawk's Hillary Holland finished second in the 300 hurdles (50.72).
Darlington's Hannah Robiolio won the 3,200 in 12:46.1, which was just ahead of teammate Harley Douglas (12:54.16). The Redbirds' 800 relay team won in 1:54.39, which was less than one second ahead of Sugar River (1:54.82). Darlington's 400 relay team won with a time of 55.03 seconds to edge Monroe Red (55.93) for the top spot.
The Redbirds' 3,200 relay team of Christa Wamsley, Tatum Evenstad, Amy Jorgenson and Cheyenne Wolfe won with a time of 10:22.70, which was about 22 seconds ahead of Brodhead-Juda (10:44.37) and broke the meet record by about 19 seconds. The Redbirds' 1,600 relay team of Hannah Huffman, Claire Scott, Alison Wedig and Evenstad ran a 4:20 and edged Sugar River by about 1.8 seconds.
"We wanted to break our own meet record," Wolfe said. "It's always great to win the meet, especially a meet we have high hopes for."
Darlington swept all four relays and outdistanced Sugar River 154.5-126 to win the title. Bastian said he is still unsure about some events and is using the early meets to find out which relays the Redbirds can load up on when it comes time for the regional and sectional.
"Quite frankly, if Monroe wanted to win this meet, they would win this meet," Bastian said.
Sugar River junior Madeline Brunner finished first in the 1,600 meters (5 minutes, 32.78 seconds) and took the top spot in the 400 (1:01.51) as well as the long jump (16 feet, 6 3/4 inches). Brunner was named the track MVP and Brodhead-Juda senior Heather Clankie was named the field MVP. Brunner finished about two seconds ahead of Albany sophomore Bailey Hlavachek in the 1,600. Monticello senior Becky Nelson finished second in the long jump (15-1 1/2) behind Brunner.
"I focused a lot on the long jump last year," Brunner said. "I wanted to focus on my running this year. I wasn't surprised. I'm excited a lot about what possibly could happen toward the end of the year."
Brunner set a goal of running the 1,600 in 5:20.
"I obviously didn't meet that," she said. "I want to take it one step at a time. I wasn't expecting to be running the time I wanted at the beginning of the season."
Clankie has picked right up where she left off after winning a Division 2 state discus title last year. Clankie won both the discus (131-7) and shot put (36-7). She set a meet record in the discus.
"I definitely knew I could do it," Clankie said of winning the discus and setting a meet record. "I have consistently been throwing 130s and a couple 140s in practice. I'm hoping to get better and get a 140 or 150. I wanted to set a record in the shot put, but I didn't get it."
Monroe had strong 1-2 finish in the high jump and the Monroe White team finished fifth behind third-place Brodhead-Juda (83) and fourth-place Black Hawk (67). Monroe sophomore Taylor Barrett won the high jump (4-10) and Molly Wyss took second (4-10). Barrett was shooting to clear 5-1. Monroe's Tre Voegeli won the pole vault (8-6) and Maria Pecora took second (8-0).
"I didn't do as well as I wanted to obviously," Barrett said. "It's always good to get the 'W.' I didn't make it up to my expectations, but I did what I could do."
Black Hawk sophomore Jen Wellnitz won the 100 (12.74), the 200 (26.61) and the triple jump (31-3). Wellnitz has the top Division 3 time in the 100 this year and just edged Monroe's Maria Eberle, who took second (13.0).
"I looked over to my right and I saw a Monroe girl close to me," Wellnitz said. "I knew I had to kick it into gear."
Sugar River's Emily Diaz took first in the high hurdles (16.47). Hlavachek came back and won the 800 (2:30.97) and Pecatonica-Argyle senior Kendra Sigg was second (2:37.99).
Sugar River's Samantha Stecha took second in the triple jump (29-11) and Black Hawk's Hillary Holland finished second in the 300 hurdles (50.72).
Darlington's Hannah Robiolio won the 3,200 in 12:46.1, which was just ahead of teammate Harley Douglas (12:54.16). The Redbirds' 800 relay team won in 1:54.39, which was less than one second ahead of Sugar River (1:54.82). Darlington's 400 relay team won with a time of 55.03 seconds to edge Monroe Red (55.93) for the top spot.
The Redbirds' 3,200 relay team of Christa Wamsley, Tatum Evenstad, Amy Jorgenson and Cheyenne Wolfe won with a time of 10:22.70, which was about 22 seconds ahead of Brodhead-Juda (10:44.37) and broke the meet record by about 19 seconds. The Redbirds' 1,600 relay team of Hannah Huffman, Claire Scott, Alison Wedig and Evenstad ran a 4:20 and edged Sugar River by about 1.8 seconds.
"We wanted to break our own meet record," Wolfe said. "It's always great to win the meet, especially a meet we have high hopes for."
