Colby runners break records at home meet
Colby runners Daisy Feiten, Trinity Severson, Hayden Willner and Willow Oehmichen put their names in the school record books on Tuesday night at Colby’s home invitational. Their 4x400-meter relay team posted a blazing time of 4:09.88, taking roughly 13 seconds off their previous personal best en route to their record-breaking victory. Before she had even run in the relay, Feiten had already broken one record that evening, setting a new standard for the 800-meter run with a time of 2:23.72.
“Coach [Bryon] Graun and I knew there was a chance but we really didn’t even think about it when they went to run it,” head coach Chrisie Wright stated of the relay. “After the first girls went out and he was reading me splits, I thought oh my, they have got to be close.”
The prior 4x400-meter record was almost ten years old, as the team of Jenny Meacham, Casey Sprotte, Sarah Gamillo and Amanda Kaiser had taken the mantle for the event in 2013 with a time of 4:11.84. The previous record for the 800-meter run had held strong for even longer. Sarah Flink had been in possession of the record since 1998, with her posting of 2:24.40 being the time-to-beat for Colby’s long distance runners over the last two decades. Feiten had been eyeing the record all season and finally broke through at her final regular season home meet of her career.
Individual success begot team success as the Colby Hornet track and field team had a pair of meets over the last week, starting off with a trip to Stratford on May 5. They then hosted seven schools on Tuesday evening in Colby. The girls’ team took first and the boys’ team placed fourth in Stratford while the girls’ team finished second and the boys’ fourth at their home meet.
The team traveled to Stratford on May 5 to take on ten other schools at the Stratford Invitational. The girls’ team took first in their fourth straight meet with a final score of 134.5 points. The boys’ team also had a solid finish, taking fourth overall with 59 points.
The Hornets won several events in Stratford. Seniors Trinity Severson and Daisy Feiten each won an event, with Severon taking first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.08 and Feiten winning the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:15.28. The 4x800 relay team of Severson, Feiton, senior Mercedes Sarkkinen and junior Willow Oehmichen also placed first, finishing in 10:15.82. Finally, senior Malayna Rieck claimed the top spot in discus, her throw of 117 feet, eight inches beating out the rest of the field.
The girls’ team took second in two field events, with senior Kaylee Podevels recording a height of four feet, six inches in high jump and junior Willow Oehmichen reaching a height of nine feet, six inches in the pole vault.
Junior Hayden Willner took third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.52 seconds. Also finishing third for the lady Hornets was Severson in the 400-meter run, which she completed in 1:05.08 and freshman MaKenna Herrmann in the 3200-meter run with a time of 13:17.60. Two relays placed third as well. The 4x100 relay of Podevels, Willner, sophomore Jazymn Heeg and freshman Tori Underwood finished in 54.16 seconds and the 4x400 relay of Mercedes Sarkkinen, Pearl Feiten, Payton Roth and Regean Schraufnagel finished in 4:57.52.
On the boys’ side of things, junior Caden Healy had three second place finishes. He ran the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in 11.74 and 23.80 seconds respectively. He also participated in the long jump, where his leap of 20 feet, ten inches was good for second best.
Also recording a top three finish for the Hornets was Derek Jeske, who took third in the shot put with his throw of 43 feet, ten inches.
Colby Invite
The Hornets hosted six schools Tuesday evening at their second invitational of the season. The girls’ team finished second overall, trailing only a Fall Creek team that ended up scoring 214 points. The Hornets’ 189 points far outpaced third place Stanley-Boyd’s 100.50 and it was fairly obvious early on that this was going to be a two horse race.
The same could not be said on the boys’ side, as the Fall Creek team won in dominating fashion. Their 273.50 points were over double that of second place Stanley-Boyd’s, which finished with 122. Owen-Withee took the third spot with a final score of 100 points. The Colby boys finished in a close fourth, scoring 91.50 points and sitting just outside the top three.
The record setting performances in the 800-meter run of Daisy Feiten in 2:23.72 and 4x400-meter relay of D. Feiten, Willner, Oehmichen and Severson in 4:09.88 highlighted an evening full of excellent finishes for the Hornets.
There were several members of the girls’ team that placed first in their events on Tuesday evening. Severson took first in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, with times of 16.67 seconds and 48.08 seconds respectively. In the field events, Oehmichen took first in the pole vault with a height of nine feet and Rieck won the shot put with a toss of 35 feet, eight inches.
TakingsecondwereHeeginthe100-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 13.77 seconds and 28.51 seconds, Oehmichen in the 1600-meter run in 5:54.92, Reagan Schraufnagel in the 3200-meter run in 14:29.88, the 4x200-meter relay of Willner, Podevels, Heeg and Dakota Hoeper in 1:54.33, the 4x800-meter relay of P. Feiten, Sarkkinen, Herrmann and Schraufnagel in 11:04.19 and Rieck in the discus with a distance of 113 feet, four inches.
Finishing third were Podevels in the 200-meter dash in 28.51 seconds, P. Feiten in the 400-meter dash in 1:06.42, Payton Roth in the 3200-meter run in 14:59.79, the 4x100-meter relay of Underwood, Olivia Krause, Elizabeth Winters and Lydia Decker with a time of 59.56 seconds, and Podevels in the high jump with a height of four feet, ten inches.
Healy had a trio of first place finishes for the boys’ team, taking first in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 11.60 and 23.59 seconds, as well as in the long jump, where he recorded a distance of 20 feet, four inches.
Placing second for the boys’ team was the 4x800-meter relay team of Richard Streveler, Carter Roth, Max Adams and Braylon Schoelzel, posting a time of 10:09.55.
Two relay teams finished in third on Tuesday, with the 4x200 relay of Seth Hopperdietzel, Caden Kleparski, Tyler Timmers and Joseph Streveler finishing in 1:43.80 and the 4x400-meter relay of R. Streveler, Kleparski, Hopperdietzel and Roth finishing in 3:54.99. In the field events, Hopperdietzel took third in the pole vault with a height of ten feet, six inches and Jeske took third in the shot put with a distance of 43 feet, nine-anda- half inches. As the Hornets edge closer to their conference meet, they continue to build momentum. The girls’ team had won five straight meets going into Tuesday and the boys’ team has consistently placed fourth or above. All of this is despite less than ideal conditions that have plagued much of their outdoor season. Cold weather and snow forced cancellations of early meets and made competing and practicing difficult. “To be honest,” Wright said, “we were all so frustrated with the weather and were pretty bummed each day it would be snowing and windy.”
The team has managed to not only persevere through the weather, but thrive in spite of it. When asked about how the team had fought through the rough conditions, Wright stated that a lot of it had to do with how key returning members of the team handled the situation. “So many have stepped up and taken on key roles to lead the team, physically and mentally,” Wright said, “The team is a big family and have helped keep each other motivated and focused, which is really key to their success. They have had to compete in all kinds of conditions and through some failures they have learned to come back stronger.”
With temperatures starting to rise, so do new challenges to keep healthy and focused, but if their early season success is anything to go by, the Hornets seem primed to take them on.
