Abby, Colby track kicks off in Marshfield

The 2023 season opened Tuesday night for both the Abbotsford and Colby boys track and field teams with their first indoor meet of the season. Held in Marshfield’s fieldhouse, the boys were able to test their mettle for the first time against opposing athletes from several other local schools, though in an abbreviated indoor format. The results seemed promising, with both teams having individuals put forward top performances and seeing team success as well.

Abbotsford’s increased numbers and influx of new talent proved to be up to the challenge in their first competition of the season, taking second overall as a team with a total of 70 points. Colby was in close competition with the top spots all evening, but dropped down to sixth by the end of the night. Their 56 points were narrowly beat out by Medford’s 59 and Rib Lake’s 57. The hosting Marshfield Tigers took first place overall with a dominant 126 points.

While perhaps lacking in numbers in varsity events, the Hornets were buoyed by a number of first place finishes.

Caden Healy finished first in all three of the events he participated in Tuesday evening. The Colby senior notched his first victory in the shot put, notching a final throw distance of 44 feet, two inches, which was nearly a foot further than second place Noah Peterson of Marshfield, who recorded a best throw of 43 feet, three inches.

Abbotsford’s state-level thrower Marcus Bohl took third in the competition, recording a throw of 41 feet, one inch. Teammate Fernando Perez took seventh with a throw of 35 feet, nine inches.

Colby’s Healy also took first in the 60-yard dash with a time of 6.52 seconds. Abbotsford’s dual spring sport athlete JV Castillo took third and his teammate Christian Fuentes took fifth, putting up times of 6.94 and 7.00 seconds respectively. Ivan Haemer for Colby narrowly missed out on the top five with a sixth place finish in the event, finishing in 7.06 seconds.

The high jump also saw Healy standing at the top at the end of the night. After a playoff between himself and Mason Gay of Owen-Withee and Xander Curtice of Stratford, Healy took first with a final height of five feet, eight inches. Abbotsford’s Evan Reis, also out for two sports this spring, came up just short of the top three playoff but finished fourth in the event with a height of five feet, six inches.

Seth Hopperdietzel also took home a first place finish for the Hornets. He came out on top in the pole vault with a winning height of 11 feet, six inches.

Colby’s Max Adams put forth a topfive performance with his fifth place finish in the mile run, coming in with a final time of 5:21.12 The Falcons had a pair of first place finishes of their own.

Fuentes placed first in the long jump for Abbotsford. His longest leap of 19 feet, two inches far outpaced the rest of the competition. Medford’s Evan Paul’s second place jump was over a foot shorter, at 18 feet, one inch.

Reis claimed first place in the 220yard dash, defeating Owen-Withee’s Dominic Sherwood by three-tenths of a second with a time of 25.37. His teammate AJ Brodhagen placed fifth in the event, finishing in 26.46.

Brodhagen also took second in the 440-yard dash. His time of 1:01.80 was only half a step slower than Kaleb Scott of Rib Lake’s final time of 1:01.36.

The Falcons notched another second place finish in the 4x160-yard relay, where a team consisting of Castillo, Fuentes, Reis and Emmanuel Manzanarez finished just behind Marshfield’s top relay with a time of 1:16.18.

Both the Abbotsford and Colby girls’ teams will be back in Marshfield on Thursday for a similar event. The start time for the meet is 4:30 p.m.