FREEPORT — The Freeport Pretzels hosted a two-day track meet on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15, where Monroe’s boys and girls squads finished first and second, respectively.
The Lady Cheese competed on Friday, finishing with 134.5 points for second. Hampshire won the invite with 155.5 points.
“On the way to the meet, we discussed that if everyone plays their part, the only team that can beat us is a Chicago suburb school (Hampshire) with a student population of 1,880,” Monroe girls head coach Eric Jubeck said. “It’s official that the girls believe that something special for the season is not out of the question and now it’s time to hone in on our events.”
Lauren Coppes, Aleigh Zettle and Brenna Aebly had multiple top-two finishes. Coppes took second in the 200-meter dash (27.68 seconds) and the triple jump (9.97 meters/32.7 feet).
Zettle won the pole vault with a height of 2.59 meters (8.4 feet) and took second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:04.31.
Aebly finished second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 52.76 seconds. She and teammate Taylor Jacobson went one and two in the 100-meter hurdles with times of 17.69 and 17.88 seconds, respectively.
On Saturday, the boys meet had a different format. Each team and event were split into three groups: A, B and Freshman/Sophomore. Athletes were ranked according to their group.
Even split up, Monroe won each group. The A squad scored 254 points, B tallied 132 points and the Freshman/Sophomore group recorded 100 points. Combined, the Cheesemakers put up 486 points. The next highest team, Sterling, scored 404 combined team points.
Charlie Wiegel (A) and Jakar Broitzman (B) won the 200-meter dash in their respective groups, with times of 23.87 and 25.97 seconds. Caden Oudinot (A) and Wyatt Stevenson (B) each took second in the 800-meter run with times of 2:05.78 and 2:14.22.
Monroe then swept the 3200-meter run and 110-meter hurdles. Jared Batz (A) ran the 3200-meter in 10:30.47. Padriac Houston, the only runner in the 3200 B group, finished with a time of 11:42.93, which was third overall. Freshman Tre Dammen (F/S) ran it in a time of 11:33.33, which was second overall.
Kaden Kuester (A) ran the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 16.34 seconds. Christian Carpenter, the only hurdler in the B group, finished with a time of 17.12 seconds, which was third overall. Will Keehn (F/S) finished with a time of 19.22 seconds.
The Cheesemakers nearly swept in the 300-meter hurdles and shot, too. Brady Wyss (B) and Keehn (F/S) took first in the 300-meter hurdles with times of 45.66 and 46.54 seconds, respectively. Carpenter (A) finished second with a time of 44.44 seconds.
Isaac Bunker (A) and Peyton Herbst (F/S) finished first in the shot put with distances of 14.22 meters (46.6 feet) and 11.24 meters (36.8 feet), respectively. Sean Rufenacht (B) took second in with a throw of 12.57 meters (41.2 feet), which was third overall.
Bunker (A) and Austin Fuchs (B) went one and two overall in the discus, recording throws of 37.68 meters (123.6 feet) and (115.2 feet), respectively.
James Seagreaves (A) and Wiegel (B) each took second in their respective high jump groups, recording heights of 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) and 1.60 meters (5.2 feet).
Caden Blum (B) and Connor Eckdahl (F/S), filling in for Lane Meier and Tony Wolf at pole vault, finished in the top two of their groups. Eckdahl finished first with a height of 2.13 meters (6.9 feet), and Blum took second with a height of 2.59 meters (8.4 feet).
Blum (B) also took second in the long jump. He leapt 5.63 meters (18.4 feet), which was second overall. Jordan Klocke (A) also took second with a distance of 5.46 meters (17.9 feet). Seth Schmidt participated in the long and triple jumps, finishing first and second, respectively. As the Freshman/Sophomore long jumper, he recorded a leap of 5.45 meters (17.8 feet). As the top triple jumper, he recorded a distance of 11.73 meters (38.4 feet). Wyss (B) also took second in the triple jump with a distance of 10.94 meters (35.8 feet).
