SOUTH WAYNE — With two new school records and the Male Jumper and Thrower of the meet, Albany boys won the Black Hawk Warrior Invite on Thursday, May 2. The Comets amassed 113.50 points, beating second-place Cassville-Potosi by 7 points.
Zach Hughes and Caleb Smith were large components in the win, earning the titles of Male Jumper and Male Thrower, respectively. Hughes won the long jump and high jump, while Smith won the shot put and discus. In fact, Albany boys won all field events.
The Comets also found success on the track, where the 4x100 and 4x200 relays broke school records. The 4x200 relay team also broke the meet record.
MEET PERFORMERS
Male Thrower: Caleb Smith, Albany
Male Sprinter: Mason Oellerich, Belmont
Male Hurdler: Oliver Post, Cassville-Potosi
Male Distance: Kylan Ditsworth, Monroe
Male Jumper: Zach Hughes, Albany
Female Thrower: Natalie Wahl, Monticello
Female Sprinter: Hannah Infield, Cassville-Potosi
Female Hurdler: Anna Tisch, Argyle-Pecatonica
Female Distance: Ruah Ranzmann Simmert, Tri State Home School
Female Jumper: Braylee Frederich, Monroe
“It was a matter of seeing where we were,” Albany head coach Tony Brewer said of the events. “We had only run the 4x100 once before and never ran the 4x200.”
The team performance — especially with other teams like Argyle-Pecatonica, Black Hawk, Cassville-Potosi, Monticello and Belmont — gave Brewer confidence that his team could claim the Six Rivers title at the league meet on May 16. The Comets finished second last year and haven’t won a track and field conference title since 2008.
“Our conference has gotten much better. River Ridge has won two straight times and Benton-Scales Mound-Shullsburg is always good,” Brewer said of the Six Rivers opponents. “We feel we have a good shot. Our sprinters and field events have gotten more depth.”
Another athlete looking to make a statement at the Six Rivers meet and beyond is Argyle-Pecatonica senior Anna Tisch. The hurdler broke two records in the Warrior Invite Thursday, including her own that she set last year.
But the feat is just a stepping stone to her larger goals. Last season, Tisch ran the 300-meter hurdles at the WIAA Division 3 state meet in 46.82 seconds. The mark was just fractions of a second off the school record.
“Last year at state, my last race left me 0.05 seconds away from the school record, which also had cost me a spot on the podium,” Tisch said. “So I’m chasing for the school record and to get a spot at the podium at state. It’s my senior year, and I have one more shot at this level, so I am determined to just leave it all out there.”
Additionally, Tisch was one of 48 participating seniors to be recognized as part of Senior Night. With many Division 3 track and field teams in attendance, Black Hawk athletic director and track and field coach Eric Erickson wanted to recognize those that don’t have a home track and, therefore, don’t have a Senior Night.
“Last year at the Monroe Glendenning, during the recognition of the Monroe seniors, one of my seniors commented, ‘Why don’t we do this at Black Hawk?’ I told them that we could,” Erickson said. “We were also standing with a couple of kids from Argyle-Pecatonica who said, ‘Yeah, that would be cool if we had a track.’ So, I decided we’d do a senior recognition but include any of the schools who do not have home tracks to host meets on.”
For many participating schools, the Six Rivers Conference meet will be Monday, May 13 at UW-Platteville.
FIRST-PLACE FINISHES
*new meet record
● Kylan Ditsworth, Monroe, 1,600-meter run
● Kylan Ditsworth, Monroe, 3,200-meter run
● Beckett Wachholz, Caleb Smith, Jayden O’Bel, Bryce Hughes; Albany, 4x100 relay, 45.66
● Beckett Wachholz, Jayden O’Bel, Zach Hughes, Bryce Hughes; Albany, 4x200 relay, 1:35.28*
● Zach Hughes, Albany, high jump, 5-06
● Zach Hughes, Albany, long jump, 18-02
● Bryce Hughes, Albany, triple jump, 40-05.50
● Caleb Smith, Albany, shot put, 46-05.50
● Caleb Smith, Albany, discus, 129-04
● Olivia Fox, Sugar River, 1,600-meter run, 6:31.84
● Anna Tisch, Argyle-Pecatonica, 100-meter hurdles, 17.39*
● Anna Tisch, Argyle-Pecatonica, 300-meter hurdles, 47.50*
● Jaci Kammes, Mya Milz, Molly Edler, Payton Stietz; Monroe, 4x800 relay, 11:43.24
● Lyla Doyle, Monroe, high jump, 4-04
● Brianna Gaertig, Argyle-Pecatonica, long jump, 13-04
● Braylee Frederick, Monroe, triple jump, 30-05
● Natalie Wahl, Monticello, discus, 96-00
SECOND-PLACE FINISHES
● Dylan Gardner, Sugar River, 3,200-meter run, 11:36.71
● Lane Marty, Black Hawk, 110-meter hurdles, 17.01
● Nathan Burkeland, Daniel Peterson, Abraham White, Drake Puckett; Argyle-Pecatonica, 4x100 relay, 50.27
● Bradley Holst, Josh Pink, Preston Boeck, Alex Rowe; Monroe, 4x200 relay, 1:42.92
● Kylan Ditsworth, Austin Fuller, Brady Keehn, Eli Cook; Monroe, 4x800 relay, 9:35.10
● Brent Weeden, Sugar River, shot put, 43-04.25
● Nick Stokstad, Albany, discus, 129-00
● Jaci Kammes, Black Hawk, 800-meter run, 2:44.48
● Ellie Modaff, Albany, 1,600-meter run, 6:44.14
● Brooke Wellnitz, Argyle-Pecatonica, 100-meter hurdles, 18.48
● Loretta Tisch, Argyle-Pecatonica, 300-meter hurdles, 49.89
● Kendra Haldiman, Keira Haldiman, Savannah Freitag, Veronica Cheatham; Black Hawk, 4x100 relay, 56.53
● Samantha Wolf, Braylee Frederich, Xiaolin Liu, Sophia Wu; Monroe, 4x200 relay, 2:07.07
● Lyla Ritschard, Lyla Doyle, Isabelle Homb, Gianna Green; Monroe, 4x800 relay, 12:13.78
● Samantha Wolf, Monroe, high jump, 4-02
● Brooke Wellnitz, Argyle-Pecatonica, shot put, 31-00
● Lillyana Morales, Albany, discus, 92-07
THIRD-PLACE FINISHES
● Bradley Holst, Monroe, 100-meter dash, 12.16
● Drake Puckett, Argyle-Pecatonica, 200-meter dash, 24.44
● Drew Sertle, Albany, 400-meter dash, 57.73
● Brady Keehn, Monroe, 800-meter run, 2:18.06
● Carson Biermeier, Sugar River, 1,600-meter run, 5:32.84
● Nathan Burkeland, Argyle-Pecatonica, 110-meter hurdles, 19.70
● Gage Jelle, Christian Salyer, Caleb Mazahreh, Evan VanDellen; Monroe, 4x100 relay, 50.41
● Shane Wand, Eli Schliem, Ty Kobbervig, Beau Bredeson; Black Hawk, 4x200 relay, 1:44.31
● Eli Harris, Grant Kuberski, Garrett Phillipson, Emerson Koch; Argyle-Pecatonica, 4x800 relay, 9:40.30
● Tucker Sysko, Sugar River, high jump, 5-04
● Kamron Parker, Albany, long jump, 17-04
● Kamron Parker, Albany, triple jump, 34-10
● Nick Stokstad, Albany, shot put, 40-11.75
● Emily Curran, Black Hawk, 100-meter dash, 14.07
● Mya Milz, Black Hawk, 400-meter dash, 1:10.05
● Lydia Ahnen, Albany, 800-meter run, 2:50.91
● Skye Dickson, Monroe, 1,600-meter run, 6:49.71
● Isabelle Brewer, Albany, 100-meter hurdles, 18.75
● Brooke Wellnitz, Argyle-Pecatonica, 300-meter hurdles, 52.71
● Isabelle Brewer, Lydia Ahnen, Emma Grosz, Ava Ahnen; Albany, 4x200 relay, 2:07.74
● Veronica Cheatham, Black Hawk, high jump, 4-00
● Braylee Frederich, Monroe, long jump, 12-11
● Natalie Wahl, Monticello, shot put, 28-11.50
