BELLEVILLE - Both Brodhead-Juda's boys and girls track and field teams won the Sugar River Quad, Tuesday. However, the sweet taste of victory was nothing compared to the sweet taste of being outside for the first time.
"It is good to get out and to go against someone else. It gets the adrenaline going," Brodhead boys coach Steve Wallace said. "It's nice that we had some decent weather, and I'm really pleased with our performances today. We're running for a purpose now and not just running for practice."
While the weather was in the 60s with a steady wind, a year ago the conditions were not as favorable. Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler was just glad to get his kids outside to run.
"It's nice. It's the end of March and you get good weather," Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler said. "We've had some indoor meets, but the kids will tell you the indoor meets are not very fun - it's dry, its not very fun to run."
Pecatonica-Argyle and Albany also competed in the meet, and saw big things from the few athletes it took to the event.
"It's a lot warmer than it was last year," Pecatonica-Argyle head coach Cathy Francois said. "Last year it was like 38 degrees and snowing. It's a little windy, but nice out."
If schools didn't have loads of kids on a school trip, they had spring break. However, the coaches were pleased that the kids were happy to come out and run on an outdoor track against other schools.
"We have 18 kids gone today. Pecatonica band is in New York, so I had to share kids in events," Francois said. "I just told the kids we're putting them in places where they usually don't run. It's just great to get them outside. It's nice weather now and we're lucky for that."
Brodhead got some good results from its newcomers. Freshman Mariah Ahrens won the high jump with a leap of 4-feet, 8-inches. J.J. Panoske, a 6-9 junior who is heavily recruited for basketball, had a leap of 5-10 in the high jump to win the boys event.
"Good performances and good surprises. Some of these kids are out for the very first time and it's good to see them do well," Brodhead boys coach Steve Wallace said. "Josh Hicks came out as a senior for the first time and had scored for us in the pole vault and in discus. It's nice to have J.J. come out, too. We're hoping he can get to 6-2, and we haven't had a 6-foot kid for a long time."
Hicks (110 feet, 1 inch) won the boys discus by an inch over teammate Cody Spooner. Albany's Bryce Hulbert won the shot put with a throw of 39-4.
In girls discus, Brodhead's Heather Clankie won by nearly 15 feet over Sugar River's Jessica Putland with a throw of 123-6. Clankie also won the shot put by over two inches (32 feet).
In the pole vault, the Cardinals' Rachel Nolte reached the 8-6 mark for the championship and Sugar River's Dylan Riley won the boys with a 12-foot launch.
Madeline Brunner of Sugar River won the girl's long jump with a mark of 13-8, two inches ahead of Brodhead's Erin Kettle. Sam Stecha won the triple jump (27-3/4) for Sugar River.
Brodhead's Joey Jordan won the boys with a mark of 17-8 and teammate Alex Wallace won the triple jump honors with a leap of 38-3 3/4.
"Bryce Hulbert is doing both baseball and track and he's throwing for us. He ended up winning the shot put," Albany head coach Tony Brewer said.
Victoria Ortgiesen, a sectional qualifier a year ago as a freshman, won the 100-meter hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
"Victoria Ortgiesen had some good races in the hurdles," Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler said.
Brodhead's Levil Frost won the boys 110 hurdles.
Alexis Hanson of Sugar River won the girls 100-meter dash with a time of 13.3 seconds and Devon Seitz and Cody Stuchey, both of Brodhead, won the boys side with a time of 12.1 seconds.
Pecatonica-Argyle's Kendra Sigg sprinted past the field in the girls 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:02.0. Sigg also won the 800 by four seconds over Albany's Jessica Mauerman. Sugar River's Dennis Haak won the boys 1,600 with a time of 4:46.9 and teammates Brian Anderson (300 hurdles, 200 dash) and Beau York (800 run) also grabbed titles.
Brodhead's Shannon Klein won the girls 400 and 200, and Albany's Tyler Conley won the boy's 400.
"Tyler Conley ran real well in the 400," Brewer said.
The Raiders also grabbed individual first-place finishes in both 3,200-meter runs, with Alison Schmitz grabbing the girls title and Travis Beutler winning the boys.
"Dennis Haak ran really well and this was the first time Travis Beutler has run. He's been battling an Achilles heel problem, so it was really nice to see him do well," Schettler said.
Sugar River's girls team took top honors in the 3,200-meter relay and the 800 relay. Pecatonica-Argyle won the girls 400 relay and Brodhead reeled in the 1,600 relay title.
Brodhead's boys team won the 800 relay and the 400 relay while Sugar River grabbed the 3,200 relay and the 1,600 relay.
"For our first outdoor meet we've done well. The wind slowed down for times, but we still had some decent times. Field events we did real well in, though we are a little low with depth," Brodhead girls coach Ken Peterson said.
"It is good to get out and to go against someone else. It gets the adrenaline going," Brodhead boys coach Steve Wallace said. "It's nice that we had some decent weather, and I'm really pleased with our performances today. We're running for a purpose now and not just running for practice."
While the weather was in the 60s with a steady wind, a year ago the conditions were not as favorable. Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler was just glad to get his kids outside to run.
"It's nice. It's the end of March and you get good weather," Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler said. "We've had some indoor meets, but the kids will tell you the indoor meets are not very fun - it's dry, its not very fun to run."
Pecatonica-Argyle and Albany also competed in the meet, and saw big things from the few athletes it took to the event.
"It's a lot warmer than it was last year," Pecatonica-Argyle head coach Cathy Francois said. "Last year it was like 38 degrees and snowing. It's a little windy, but nice out."
If schools didn't have loads of kids on a school trip, they had spring break. However, the coaches were pleased that the kids were happy to come out and run on an outdoor track against other schools.
"We have 18 kids gone today. Pecatonica band is in New York, so I had to share kids in events," Francois said. "I just told the kids we're putting them in places where they usually don't run. It's just great to get them outside. It's nice weather now and we're lucky for that."
Brodhead got some good results from its newcomers. Freshman Mariah Ahrens won the high jump with a leap of 4-feet, 8-inches. J.J. Panoske, a 6-9 junior who is heavily recruited for basketball, had a leap of 5-10 in the high jump to win the boys event.
"Good performances and good surprises. Some of these kids are out for the very first time and it's good to see them do well," Brodhead boys coach Steve Wallace said. "Josh Hicks came out as a senior for the first time and had scored for us in the pole vault and in discus. It's nice to have J.J. come out, too. We're hoping he can get to 6-2, and we haven't had a 6-foot kid for a long time."
Hicks (110 feet, 1 inch) won the boys discus by an inch over teammate Cody Spooner. Albany's Bryce Hulbert won the shot put with a throw of 39-4.
In girls discus, Brodhead's Heather Clankie won by nearly 15 feet over Sugar River's Jessica Putland with a throw of 123-6. Clankie also won the shot put by over two inches (32 feet).
In the pole vault, the Cardinals' Rachel Nolte reached the 8-6 mark for the championship and Sugar River's Dylan Riley won the boys with a 12-foot launch.
Madeline Brunner of Sugar River won the girl's long jump with a mark of 13-8, two inches ahead of Brodhead's Erin Kettle. Sam Stecha won the triple jump (27-3/4) for Sugar River.
Brodhead's Joey Jordan won the boys with a mark of 17-8 and teammate Alex Wallace won the triple jump honors with a leap of 38-3 3/4.
"Bryce Hulbert is doing both baseball and track and he's throwing for us. He ended up winning the shot put," Albany head coach Tony Brewer said.
Victoria Ortgiesen, a sectional qualifier a year ago as a freshman, won the 100-meter hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
"Victoria Ortgiesen had some good races in the hurdles," Sugar River head coach Dan Schettler said.
Brodhead's Levil Frost won the boys 110 hurdles.
Alexis Hanson of Sugar River won the girls 100-meter dash with a time of 13.3 seconds and Devon Seitz and Cody Stuchey, both of Brodhead, won the boys side with a time of 12.1 seconds.
Pecatonica-Argyle's Kendra Sigg sprinted past the field in the girls 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:02.0. Sigg also won the 800 by four seconds over Albany's Jessica Mauerman. Sugar River's Dennis Haak won the boys 1,600 with a time of 4:46.9 and teammates Brian Anderson (300 hurdles, 200 dash) and Beau York (800 run) also grabbed titles.
Brodhead's Shannon Klein won the girls 400 and 200, and Albany's Tyler Conley won the boy's 400.
"Tyler Conley ran real well in the 400," Brewer said.
The Raiders also grabbed individual first-place finishes in both 3,200-meter runs, with Alison Schmitz grabbing the girls title and Travis Beutler winning the boys.
"Dennis Haak ran really well and this was the first time Travis Beutler has run. He's been battling an Achilles heel problem, so it was really nice to see him do well," Schettler said.
Sugar River's girls team took top honors in the 3,200-meter relay and the 800 relay. Pecatonica-Argyle won the girls 400 relay and Brodhead reeled in the 1,600 relay title.
Brodhead's boys team won the 800 relay and the 400 relay while Sugar River grabbed the 3,200 relay and the 1,600 relay.
"For our first outdoor meet we've done well. The wind slowed down for times, but we still had some decent times. Field events we did real well in, though we are a little low with depth," Brodhead girls coach Ken Peterson said.
