Hatchet Invite tests Pines track teams with regionals looming

A trip to Tomahawk for the Hatchet Invite is just one of three meets for the Northland Pines track team this week. The Eagles finished third behind Edgar and Stratford on the boys' side, while the girls’ team took fourth in a competitive 11-team field. This kind of competition is what Northland Pines is looking for with the D2 Track and Field regional competition on the horizon on Tuesday, May 26, in Medford. The team is also scheduled to run in Rhinelander tomorrow, Thursday, May 14, and at Lakeland Union on Saturday at 11 a.m. 

In Tomahawk, the Pines boys’ team brought in 103 points in the meet. While there were no first-place finishes in any event, Pines athletes claimed top-five positions in almost every event. 

Starting in the 400, Pines junior Ryan Rydeski was one of four Eagles set to run the event. He finished second out of 31 with a time of 52.90. The winner from Assumption finished at 52.51. Junior Xavier Gaffny, senior Mylo Albrecht and sophomore Noah Duffek all finished inside the top 12 in ninth, 11th and 12, respectively. Senior sprinter Jacob Beer once again had competitive times in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Beer finished fourth in a speedy field of athletes. He finished at 11.40, with the winner clocking in at 11.02. Beer, Josh Graves and Hunter Tameling finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the 200, posting times of 23.27, 23.72 and 24.20. 

In distance races, freshman Nelson Kirschbaum took 10th in a field of 27 with his mile time of 5:17.84. 

Freshmen duo Jarrett Grassl and Ryan McGrath also competed in the 3200m run, posting times of 12:48.86 and 13:29.65. McGrath’s time was a personal best. Layk Evenson-Mortag battled for the lead in both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, where he finished second in both races for the Eagles. 

The 4x100-meter Northland Pines boys’ relay team finished second behind Stratford with a time of 45.49. The team of Mason Minaudo, Graves, Bodie Bakken and Beer finished second behind the Tigers in the first heat, as the two teams finished with the fastest times overall. 

Northland Pines saw more consistent performances in field events at Tomahawk. Senior Brendan Ceckiewicz had a strong finish in both the shot put and discus. He finished third in both events with throws of 43’5” in the shot and 125’8” in the discus. Fellow senior Ethan Wirth and junior Tucket Brock finished sixth and eighth in the shot put, while Wirth also took sixth in discus. 

Minaudo went toe-to-toe with Rhinelander’s Ayden Myers, who cleared 14’ to win the pole vault. Minaudo cleared 13’6” to take second and clear third place by a foot.

On the girls’ side, juniors Avery Renkes, Ella Hahn, and freshman Adelyn Thompson all finished in the top seven in a 24-athlete field in the 100. Renkes took second at 12.55, Hahn finished with a time of 13.17 for fourth and Thompson posted a 13.78 time to take seventh. 

Renkes finished third in the 200, where the top five finishers came from the Great Northern Conference. Sophomore Tatum Meier and freshman Ayla Shepherdson also finished sixth and seventh in the 400, with times of 1:04.41 and 1:04.41. Northland Pines didn’t have its usual 400-meter relay team out in this one, but it did in the 800m relay. Stratford did win the 800 relay, but Hahn, Thompson, Renkes and Ava Carrillo posted the second-fastest time at 1:50.88. 

In field events, Thompson and senior Bella Nowak were top finishers in their respective events for the Eagles. Thompson competed in the long jump and took fourth place at 14’ 7.” Other results in that event included Maria Krueger in 12th with a jump of 13’ 9.50” and Tatum Meier at 12’ 4.75”. 

Nowak was right in the mix for a top-two position in the shot put, but missed the mark by just over three feet. She placed sixth with a throw of 31’6.5”. Nowak also took fourth in discus at 88’5”. Fellow senior Miana Miller took eighth in the event at 84’ 9”. The Eagles are also scheduled to be in Rhinelander tomorrow, May 14, starting at 4 p.m. Northland Pines will also head to Lakeland Union this weekend on Saturday at 11 a.m.