It was a great week to be a JWP track athlete this past week. The boys and girls started the season indoors at Minnesota State University’s indoor track on Saturday, March 23, with a meet against Gopher Conference opponents and were by far the best of five teams competing. Last Thursday was also showcased the teams’ potential. Although they took second place behind talented Mankato East squads with larger rosters, they still did well.
Gopher Conference Indoor Meet
As Head Coach Sam Schruin described, the JWP track teams started the season with a bang. The girls were in first place with 105.5 points, and it wasn’t even close. Second-place Hayfield had 42 points. United South Central/Alden-Conger took third with 35.5 with Blooming Prairie in fourth with 20.
The boys had just as impressive of a day, with the team taking first with 113.5 points, sprinting past Blooming Prairie and leaving them in the dust at 57 points. USC/AC took third with 23.5, and Hayfield had 16 points for fourth. JWP was arguably the team with the largest roster of athletes, as they were everywhere on the stats sheet.
Relays
The boys’ 4×800 relay (Derek Gustafson, Carter Hoehn, Luke Cahill, and Memphis James) only had one other team to race. They took first with 9:48.19, with Blooming Prairie in second with 10:05.40. The 4×200 relay team (featuring Dylan McWaters, Isaac Gahlon, Isaiah Berndt, and Daulton Bauer) with a time of 1:41.71 while the Blossoms clocked in at 1:51.89.
JWP’s boys were the only ones to field a relay team for the 4×400 (featuring Berndt, James, Bauer, and Leighlan Harris). They collected six points and clocked in at 4:16.17.
On the flip side, the girls also swept all the relays run in the meet. The team of Brielle Bure, Katie Olson, Nevaeh Weimert, and MaKaela Westphal took first in the 4×200 out of three teams at 1:58.49. The team also fielded two more relay teams in the 4×400 and 4×800 despite no other teams to face against. The 4×800 team of MaKenzie Westphal, Ava Krause, Kwynn Krause, and Ashlyn Wolff clocked in at 11:29.03, while the 4×400 team of Wolff, K. Krause, Weimert, and MaKenzie Westphal had a time of 4:47.87.
Other track events
Ava Appel and Kaden Baker were the top athletes in the hurdles for JWP. Both took first place in the 55 intermediate and high hurdles. Additionally, Onikia Herme took third in the intermediate hurdles and fourth in the high hurdles.
In the 55-meter dash, MaKaela Westphal placed third for the girls, Isaac Gahlon took the gold for the boys, and Ethan Born also placed third. In the 200, Katie Olson took first place, with teammate Brielle Bure behind her in second. Isaiah Berndt took first for the boys, while Gahlon placed second.
Kwynn Krause took second in the 400, while Ava Krause and Ethan Born took third for their respective teams. In the 800, Lauren White and Alex Kleve both earned first place and in 1600, MaKenzie Westphal earned first place, while White placed second. In the boys’ 1600, Derek Gustafson took second while Luke Cahill placed third.
Field events
It was just as fantastic of a day for all the JWP throwers and jumpers in the field events. Nevaeh Weimert placed first in the triple jump, and Onikia Herme was third in the same event. Katie Olson finished second in the long jump. Ryan Kronbach took first in the triple jump while also taking the gold in the long jump event. In the high jump, Kronbach settled for second while Ashlyn Wolff took third for the girls.
In the pole vault, Paige Walz took first, while Isaac Gahlon took second. The throwers had a great time, with Ethan Born taking first and Aubrey Weedman placing third in the shot put.
Mankato East Indoor Meet
Mankato East hosted JWP’s next indoor meet at MSU. Both their boys and girls took first out of three teams. East’s boys had 142 points, while JWP took second with 50.5. Blue Earth Area took third with 34.5. East’s girls also placed first with 133, while JWP took second with 57 points. BEA had 30.
“This meet had a lot of tough competition, but we still had a lot of success,” said Coach Schruin. “Several athletes had an opportunity to set a benchmark time, distance, or height for a variety of events, so we can strive to see those broken at future meets.”
Although facing a highly talented Cougars team, Kaden Baker still snagged a first for JWP in the 60-meter hurdles. Otherwise, most of the teams still took second.
Track events
The team of MaKaela Westphal, Presley James, Katie Olson and Kayleigh Donner took second in the 4×200 while the team of Donner, Anne Adams, Madeline Hoehn, and Autumn Thissen took second in the 4×400. For the boys, the team of Luke Cahill, Preston Johnson, Memphis James, and Eric Daschner took second in the 4×400.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Ava Apple took second. Katie Olson placed second in the 60-meter dash, and Isaac Gahlon was third for the boys in the same event. Gahlon also snagged a second in the 200, while Katie Olson took second for the girls in the 200, and Presley James placed third in the 400. Alex Kleve and Luke Cahill took second and third, respectively, in the 800 with Cahill taking third in the 1600.
Field events
Memphis James took third in the high and triple jumps, while Alex James took second in the long jump. In the pole vault, Madeline Hoehn and Paige Walz tied in the girls’ event, while Gahlon took second on the boys’ side. Aubrey Weedman placed second in the shot put, while Eric Daschner placed third.
The teams’ first outdoor meet at Tri-City United this Tuesday was postponed to April 11. Instead, they will look forward to another indoor meet at MSU on Thursday.
