Three Lakes track teams take fourth and sixth in nine-team field

The Three Lakes-Phelps boys’ and girls’ track teams opened the season with fourth and sixth-place finishes in a competitive nine-team field at the Northland Pines Indoor Invitational in Eagle River on March 26. The Bluejays had strong performances in both track and field events as the team opened the season in the first of two meets last week.

The Jays also traveled to Ashland on March 27 for the Hope Bretting Memorial Invitational, which had a dozen teams competing.

“The highlight was probably Nolan Waltz winning his three races. We had some other standout events as well,” said Three Lakes-Phelps Coach Nate Koch about the Pines meet. “Freshman Grace Mandli earned points in all four of her events. She earned the team a grand total of 17 points for the team. Freshman Bekah Koch also put up some points. I would expect both of them to be earning quite a few points this season. All in all, a good night, especially considering that we were going up against some much larger schools.”

In Eagle River, the boys battled to finish in the top half of the field in fourth and finished three points shy of passing Tomahawk for a third-place finish.
Waltz led the pack on the track as he swept his three races in the 800, 1600 and 3200. Waltz first ran the 1600-meter, where he crossed the finish line about 20 seconds ahead of second with a time of 4:42.74.

He then went on to compete in the 800, where he won a tighter battle with a time of 2:10.42. Rhinelander’s Avrom Barr took second with a time of 2:12.90. Freshman Charlie Welsh finished 10th out of 19 runners in the 800 for the Jays, with a time of 2:32.79. Waltz finished his night in the 3200, winning the event by nearly 30 seconds and a time of 11:05.91.

Three Lakes-Phelps had two top-five finishers on the boys’ side in the 400-meter dash. Charlie Welsh and Cohen Welsh clocked times of 1:02.80 and 1:03.63 to take third and fifth, respectively. Sophomore Dane Felesena had two sixth-place finishes in the 55 and 200-meter hurdles, as he posted times of 9.97 and 31.44. He was one of six athletes with a sub-10-second time in the 55-meter.

In field events, sophomore Masen Schoeneck had a good night for Three Lakes-Phelps in the high jump and triple jump. Schoeneck tied for first in the high jump after clearing 5’8”. That qualified him for the Indoor State Track meet this weekend at UW-Whitewater. He also finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 35’5”, along with teammate Garrett Mandli, who finished sixth with a jump of 33’7”.

Senior Lincoln Boetcher also took first place in the long jump, posting a distance of 19’4” in the team’s first meet of the year. That also qualified him for the state meet.

For the girls’ team, senior Melanie Stauffer took 12th and 13th in competitive fields in the 55-meter and 200-meter dashes. She posted times of 8.68 and 33.12.

Freshman Grace Mandli had top-five finishes in both the 55-meter hurdles and 200-meter hurdles, taking fourth in both races.

Koch and sophomore Erica Stauffer had top-10 times in both the 800 and 1600-meter runs. Koch took sixth in the 800 and Stauffer finished right behind her in seventh.

Koch won the first of two heats in the 1600, but finished fourth overall with a time of 6:11.84. Stauffer took fifth with her run of 6:38.70.

The Jays also had a handful of top-10 finishes in field events. Starting in the shot put, junior Brooke Neumann grabbed eighth with a throw of 25’9.5”. Junior teammate Anjelica Zirbes finished 10th in the event with her throw of 24’2”.

In the long jump, Grace Mandli leaped 13’5.5” for sixth place and also took fifth in the triple jump at 29’.

Three Lakes-Phelps competed a day later in Ashland, where the Koch said there were good performances even with two meets in a row.

“I’ve never run back-to-back meets before and certainly don’t recommend it, but Ashland added another indoor meet, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to run at their facilities,” stated Koch.

Coach Koch said Waltz won the 1600 but did not run in the 800 and 3200 due to the back-to-back. Charlie Welsh finished eighth in the 800-meter, while Felesena took seventh in the 200-meter hurdles. Schoeneck followed up his first-place finish with third in the high jump and took second in the triple jump.

For the girls, Mandli was second in the triple jump, fifth in the long jump and in the 55-meter hurdles. Neuman earned her first varsity points of the year with a seventh-place finish in the shot put finals.

After the state meet in Whitewater and a distance meet in Stevens Point this coming weekend, the Bluejays won’t return to competition until a meet at Rhinelander on Tuesday, April 14, at 4:15 p.m. That will open their outdoor meet season.