Relay teams find success in Rosholt meet

Outside of individual results, the Northland Pines boys and girls track teams found success with their relay teams last week at a meet at Rosholt High School, all posting top finishes in their respective races.

One of the boys 4x100-meter relay quartets took second place, while a 4x200 team took first. The 4x400 team took third and the 4x800 team took second place.

On the girls side, the 4x100 and 800 grabbed the top spot, with the 4x200 and 400 teams each taking fifth.

The boys took second overall with a team score of 130, while Weyauwega-Fremont took first with 159.5.

The Lady Eagles took third behind Lakeland and Weyauwega-Fremont with 98.5 points.

“I thought that the girls had a ton of improvements in this meet, and it was good for them to finally get on an outdoor track and see what they can do,” said head coach Josh Rhode. “The boys team continued their highly successful season with a hard-fought second place overall. We definitely have some work to do in a few areas, but I thought the boys did a superb job at this meet.” It was a tight boys field in the 4x100, with Pines finishing two seconds behind the winner, Weyauwega-Fremont. With a time of 46.79, Shiocton finished two seconds behind the Eagles to round out the top three. Pines runners included Josh Graves, Tanner Maines, Mason Minaudo, and anchor Ryan Rydeski.

It was similar in the 200 relay, but the Warhawks and Eagles were tight at the finish, with Pines taking the gold with a time of 1:35.92 to Weyauwega-Fremont’s 1:36.35.

Pines secured third in the 400-meter relay, finishing roughly four seconds behind second and ahead of fourth with a 3:56.58 time.

The 800-meter relay was dominated by North Fond du Lac, but the Eagles team crossed the finish line in second with a time of 9:38.38. North Fond du Lac won the event with a time of 9:10.60.

Other individual results for the boys included senior Eli Kerner taking second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.35. Iola-Scandinavia’s and fellow 2024 100-meter dash state participant (and champion) Jensen Rice took first in the event with a time of 10.98.

Kerner grabbed first in a tight 200-meter dash, where three other athletes also finished in 23 seconds. The Pines senior had a time of 23.21, with fourth place at 23.83. He also ran in the 200-meter relay. Kerner scored 20.5 team points for the boys.

“Eli has the ability to score big points in big meets, and once again accomplished that difficult task. Eli is our team captain this year and takes this role seriously, as evidenced by his electric performances,” stated Rhode.

Fellow senior Kaemyn Heritage also had a notable finish in the 3200-meter run, taking fourth with a time of 11:08.10.

Senior Owen Hahn took third for Pines in the high jump by clearing 5-feet-4-inches.

Junior Mylo Albrecht, freshman Noah Duffek, and senior Tanner Maines finished all in a row in fifth, and a tie for sixth, after jumping roughly 35 and 36 feet in the triple jump.

Pines also swept the top three positions for the pole vault. All three athletes cleared north of 10 feet.

For the girls, the 4x100-meter and 4x800 teams took first place. The four runners in the 100 took first place of five with a time of 54.16. The 800 relay saw all athletes take two laps around the track. Pines and Iola-Scandinavia were the only two schools competing and the Eagles prevailed with an 11:48.87 time.

The girls team also had some notable finishes on the track and in field events. Pines dominated the top six of the 100-meter dash, with sophomore Ella Hahn, freshman Tatum Meier, and junior Ava Carrillo taking fourth through sixth out of 22 sprinters.

“Tatum is also a really talented sprinter who is just getting started in that area. We look forward to watching her continuing improvement this season,” explained Rhode.

Carrillo took a top-10 spot in the 200 as well. Senior Abby Congleton finished in the middle of the pack of 400 with a time of 1:12.07.

Freshman Sophie Hoffman ran the 800 and 1600 and grabbed top-10 finishes in both. Meier competed in the triple jump for the Eagles and scored third place with a leap of 31-feet-3.5-inches, and junior Mykala Felesena took first in the girls pole vault.

“Tatum had a huge jump in the triple jump and is now among the top triple jumpers in the GNC as just a freshman,” said Rhode.

Junior Bella Nowak also took fourth and sixth in the discus and shot put events.

The track teams competed in Medford this past Tuesday and will host an outdoor meet this Thursday, April 24, with the first events starting at 4 p.m.