Three Lakes uses Dale Peterson Invite as regional prep

The Three Lakes-Phelps track and field teams traveled to Antigo for the Dale Peterson Invitational last Thursday, which served as the prelude to the regional competition in Stratford this past Tuesday.

Although it was a light meet for some other schools, the Bluejays put out their athletes, and they performed.

“As we head into regionals, I feel like we’re in a good place. We seem to be peaking at a good time, and we’re seeing that play out with our fast times, our throws, and our jumps,” stated Head Coach Nate Koch. “We’re hoping to get as many onto our sectional meet as possible, but we’re in a tough regional, so our athletes are going to really have to fight for it.”

Junior Nolan Waltz ran in two of his usual three events, winning both the 800 and 3200-meter runs. He posted times of 2:04.09 and 10:20.21. Senior Ethan Potrykus was one of two athletes to run the 1600, where he won the event with a season-best time of 4:53.32.
Freshman Cameron LaGree is peaking at the right time in his 100-meter dash. He took third behind two Northland Pines athletes in this meet with a time of 12.05.

“It’s his first year out on the track, and we’ve been impressed with his performances this season. We had a strong headwind, so times were a bit slow across the board,” stated Koch.

Despite the windy conditions, three other Bluejay athletes PR’d in the 100. Freshmen Peter Cruckson, Matthew Potrykus and Blake Joslin all had personal best times of 13.40, 14.29 and 14.50.

Dane Felesena took first place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.88.

Lincoln Boetcher ran in the final meet of his high school career and ended it with a bang.

“Lincoln had a phenomenal final meet. He unfortunately can’t race at regionals because of a family trip, but he had set a new PR in the 200m and took second place,” Koch mentioned. “He also jumped an outdoor season best in long jump with 19’2” and anchored our boys’ 4x200m team to a win. It’s definitely a good way to end his high school track career.”

In field events, junior Zach Weavers took first in the discus and second in the shot put throws.

Sophomore Masen Schoeneck took fourth in the high jump at 5’6”.
On the girls’ side, freshman Grace Mandli grabbed first place in the 100-meter hurdles, and Vivianna and Isabella Cruckson both grabbed PR’s in the 300-meter hurdles. Vivianna posted a time of 57.15, and Isabella finished at 58.81.

In field events, junior Brooke Neumann took third in the shot put with a throw of 26’9”. She also threw 71’5” in discus to finish seventh. Mandli was close to the top competitor in the triple jump, as she finished second with a jump of 30’5.25”. The winner finished at 31’0.25”

The Bluejays looked ahead to the D3 regional competition this past Tuesday in Stratford. Sectional competition will be in Marathon this Friday, May 29, for anyone who advances through from regionals. Events would start at 3:30 p.m.