The Northland Pines boys track and field team was able to fill up the score sheet enough last Tuesday in Minocqua to net themselves a third place finish at the Great Northern Conference (GNC) Championships hosted by Lakeland Union.

“The guys ran into some tough competition in this one, but had enough in the tank to take third place overall,” said coach Josh Rhode. “This is a very good track and field conference, and we were really happy with the overall standings. Lakeland has a phenomenal, young team and I suspect they will be at or near the top for years to come.”

Lakeland dominated the field with 184 total points, ahead of second place Medford (150) and Pines (134.5). Rhinelander came in fourth with 103 points followed by Tomahawk (52), Mosinee (38.5) and Antigo (32).

A big part of Pines point total came courtesy of senior Ryan Muench who collectively secured three GNC titles; two individually and another with his teammates in the 4x100-meter relay. All together Pines finished the night with 134.5 points, behind only Medford (150) and conference champions Lakeland (184).

And after it was all said and done, the two titles in the long and triple jump for Muench netted the senior Great Northern Conference Field Events Player of the Year.

“Ryan has intense determination to go along with a ton of natural athletic ability,” said Rhode. “He is only in his second year of track and is one of the very best athletes in the GNC. We look forward to seeing what Ryan and his teammates can do in the tournament.”

In the long jump, Pines took three of the top four positions led by Muench with a new personal record of 20-5 1/2. Behind him was Jack Gjovick with a second place effort of 19-10 3/4. Griffin Stiemke was then fourth with a personal record of 19-4 1/2.

It was the same story in the triple jump as Muench won there with a new personal best mark of 41-7. Gjovick was second in 40-11 3/4 followed again by Stiemke in fourth with a new best mark for him at 39-0 1/2.

In the 4x100-meter relay the Pines team of Muench, Stiemke, Eli Kerner and Mason Jahnke were over a full second ahead of second place Medford, finishing in a time of 45.76.

“These guys can really fly, and when we load this relay up we are the top seed in the Sectional with a very legitimate chance to get to the State meet in La Crosse if all goes good,” said Rhode. “The 4x100 relay is a very fast, technical event and the guys will need to be focused and prepared.”

Kerner was third in the 200-meter finals with a time of 23.98. Max Masayesva of Lakeland won that event with a time of 23.45. Gjovick finished in eighth place after qualifying for the finals, scoring a point with a time of 24.67.

The team of Muench, Stiemke, Kerner and Jacob Beer were just over a second off the winning time in the 4x400-meter relay with a pace of 3:37.49. Lakeland won in 3:36.10.

In the 4x800 relay the team of Kaemyn Heritage, Nick Fluegel, Zach Ritter and Mac Williams were sixth with a time of 9:33.06. Medford took the top spot in a time of 8:41.32.

Heritage was seventh best in the boys 3,2000 meters with a time of 11:21.50. Owen Clark from Lakeland won that event in a time of 10:16.27. Nick Fluegel was nearly in the scoring column, finishing ninth in a time of 11:38.88.

Caden Powell was seventh in the boys 110-meter hurdles in a time of 20.18. Paxton Rothmeir of Medford won there with a personal best time of 18.11. Powell also scored a sixth place finish in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.57. Talon Haling of Lakeland won that event in a time of 43.48.

Gjovick was third fastest in the 100-meter finals with a time of 11.69. He was behind just Haling (11.60) and Masayesva (11.46) of Lakeland who each had personal best times.

Zach Ritter was sixth in the boys 800-meter run with a personal best time of 2:13.99. Clark of Lakeland had the winning run with a time of 2:00.24.

Emmett Smith had a great showing in the boys high jump, clearing the bar at 5-10 which was good for second place. Kyan Lins also scored there for Pines with a fifth place tie and personal record over 5-6.

Smith was also third in the pole vault with a personal record of 11 feet. Brett Wielhouwer was right behind him with a height of 10-6, also a new personal record. Luke Wessel added two points for Pines as well with a seventh place height of 9 feet.

In the shot put Sam Braeger was third with a toss of 39-6 3/4. Joseph Reiter of Tomahawk won there with a distance of 41-8 1/2. Miles McCanless also scored for Pines with a fifth place effort of 39-5.

Braeger followed that up by finishing third in the discus finals, throwing a best mark there that reached 117-5, just two inches away from second and behind Maverick Metzger of Lakeland, who easily won with 127-3. McCanless scored a seventh place personal best toss (113-2) followed by Dominic Dahlquist in eighth with a 112-7 effort.

Pines was on the road Monday, competing at the WIAA Division 2 Regional in Colby. Those athletes who move on from there will take part in the Sectional event set for Thursday evening at Acardia. The WIAA Track & Field Championships will then take place June 2-3 at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium on campus at UW-La Crosse.