The Northland Pines boys’ and girls’ track teams got off to a hot start this season, as the boys won the eight-team indoor invitational in Ashland on March 24 and the girls’ team took third.

The boys accumulated 117 points to win the event, followed by Northwestern with 102 and Lakeland in third with 88. Rhinelander was the other Great Northern Conference team in the field and finished in fourth in the boys’ standings.

For the girls, Pines finished behind Hayward (132) and Rhinelander (118) with 79 points.

Five indoor school records were tied or broken in the season opener, including both the boys’ and girls’ 4x200-meter relays, the girls’ 55-meter dash and the girls’ 200-meter dash. The boys’ pole vault record of 12’6” was matched but not surpassed.

“The boys came charging out of the gates and took control of the meet early and then kept their foot on the gas. As soon as practice started this season, I could tell that with the new athletes we added and the returning guys, that we had a strong team,” said Head Coach Josh Rhode. “This was a fantastic first meet for the girls’ team as they went head to head with some really talented teams and did more than hold their own, finishing in third overall. The girls’ team broke three school records in the meet, which was absolutely incredible.”

Relay dominance

There were no questions about whether the boys’ relay teams were ready to go for the season. The 4x200 relay team of Jacob Beer, Hunter Tameling, Jackson Olejniczak and Josh Graves beat the Pines indoor record with their time of 1:38.66. That put them in first place for the meet by just over a second.

The 4x400 relay also took first place by nearly two seconds, with a time of 3:44.83. That team included junior Xavier Gaffny, sophomore Noah Duffek, junior Jackson Olejniczak and junior Ryan Rydeski.

Another school record on the boys’ side was nearly broken in a field event. Coach Rhode said Mason Minaudo had the goal of beating the school record in the pole vault and nearly did it in the first meet of the season. Minaudo faced 12’6” and did not clear it, and finished third in the final. Two other athletes were able to clear 13’

In other track events, Beer and Minaudo took second and fourth in the 55-meter dash with times of 6.84 and 7.07, respectively.

“The meet MVP award went to Jacob Beer, who scored 19.5 points for the team. Jacob is a senior captain in his fourth season and has put on a lot of muscle and speed over the course of the last year,” stated Rhode.

Bodie Bakken also finished in the top-10 in ninth place. Pines also had three top-seven finishers in the 200-meter dash, as Graves, Beer and Mason Nagy took second, third and seventh in the final. Graves and Beer nearly finished at the same time at 24.21 and 24.24, respectively, while Nagy had a time of 25.25.
Rydeski led the pack for the Eagles with a second-place finish in the 400-meter. Gaffny and Duffek followed in ninth and 10th place.

Northland Pines had some good finishes in the long-distance runs as well. Junior Iland Shepherdson took ninth in the 800-meter and there were some other finishes in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs.

In field events, Tucker Brock led the Eagles in the shot put with a third-place spot with a 41’3” throw.

Ethan Wirth and Brendan Ceckiewicz took eighth and ninth in the event with throws of 39’1.5” and 37’5”. In the high jump, sophomore Mikayon Harris and Nagy cleared 5’6” for third and fourth place.

Olejniczak, Tameling and Beer all finished in the top six of the long jump. Olejniczak took second with a 20’1” jump, while Tameling went 19’5” and Beer went 18’4”.

“Other notable performances were had by Mason (PV), Ryan (sprints), Tucker (SH), Gaffny (Relay, 400), and Iland (hurdles),” explained Rhode.

Girls results

The girls had a nice finish in the season opener, with three school records broken.

The 4x200 relay team of Ella Hahn, Tatum Meier, Adi Thompson and Avery Renkes broke the school record with a time of 1:51.58 on their way to a top finish in the event. That time was also a record for the Ashland facility.

Hahn and Renkes also went on to break school records in their respective 55-meter and 200-meter dashes. Hahn posted a time of 7.48 to finish in first, while Renkes and freshman Adelyn Thompson took second and third in the same event. Renkes finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.96, which is now a Pines indoor record. Thompson took fourth in the 200 with a time of 28.53.

“The girls meet MVP was Avery Renkes, who scored 20.5 points for her team, along with breaking the indoor 200-meter school record,” said Rhode. “Avery missed all of last season with an injury, so it was extremely encouraging to see her bounce back and pick up where she left off.”

Sophomore Sophie Hoffman was the solo Pines runner in the 800, as she finished in sixth out of 14 finishers with a time of 2:49.02. Hoffman also posted a seventh-place finish in the 1600, with a time of 6:17.93. Senior Lily Rushman followed in 10th with a time of 6:49.72.

In field events, senior Ava Carrillo finished seventh in the pole vault by clearing eight feet flat. Thompson and sophomore Tatum Meier finished third and fifth in the long jump with leaps of 16’ and 15’7”, respectively.

In the triple jump, Renkes and Meier led the Eagles in fourth and sixth out of 18 athletes.

Northland Pines also hosted an indoor meet at the Fieldhouse last Thursday. The boys’ team finished in first place for a second straight meet, and the girls finished third as a group.

“The boys once again showcased their depth and talent in this meet as they were able to handle several GNC schools and some other great teams from the northern area,” stated Rhode.

The boys finished with 147.5 points and top finishes in the 200-meter dash, 200-meter hurdles, 4x400 relay, and 4x800 relay. Minaudo also dominated the pole vault and broke the Pines indoor record as he cleared 12’9”. The Eagles also had more than a handful of top-five finishes throughout multiple events.

The girls’ team had 129 points, just three behind second-place Rhinelander.

They took the top two spots in the 55 and 200-meter dashes and also won the 4x200 relay with a team consisting of Hahn, Thompson, Carrillo and Renkes. In field events, Thompson also finished first in the long jump at 14’11”

“The girls’ team had another fantastic meet just two nights after competing really well at Ashland. This was the highest point total we have had in a few years, and we saw a lot of strong performances across the board,” Rhode said about the final meet of the week.

Pines will have the week of this coming week and will return to action on Thursday, April 9, at Medford. Events begin at 4 p.m.