Colby girls take Auburndale Invite

It’s been over a year since the Colby Hornets track and field team has run, thrown, or leapt through the air, but you wouldn’t know that judging by the performances both teams put in last week.

The Hornets held their home opener on Tuesday April 27, and that allowed Colby to shake off rust as they turned in stellar performances at Auburndale on Thursday, with the girls winning, and the boys team coming in second.

A well-rounded Colby girls team romped to victory over Loyal on Thursday, topping their rivals 143 to 115.

Thursday’s dominance began with the Colby girls taking fourth in the 4x800meter relay in 12:16.32. From there, the Hornets had three athletes score in the 100-meter hurdles. Trinity Severson won the event in 17.87, followed by teammate Hayden Willner second in 18.39, and Courtney Johnson finished sixth in 20.69.

Daisy Feiten won the 1.600-meter run in 6:13.10, and Regan Schraufnagel crossed the line in 6:33.62 for second. Hanna Meier took eighth in 7:42.86.

Lydia Decker was second in the 400-meter dash 1:14.90 and Mercedes Sarkkinen was fourth in 1:16.20. Trinity Severson won her second race of the day, capturing the 300-meter hurdles by nearly four seconds with her time of 49.48 seconds.

Willner added another title for Colby, winning the 200-meter dash in 28.62. Podevels placed sixth in that same race in 30.48. Daisy Feiten was fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:49.73.

The girls captured the 4x400-meter relay in 4:25.80. Decker and Krause were fifth and sixth in the high jump with leaps of 4-2.00 and 4-0.00.

Willner and Severson posted top eight results in the long jump. Willner was third overall in 14-2.00 and Severson was eighth in 12-10.50. Katrina Gosse took second in the shot put with a throw of 28-9.50. Gosse continued to do well in the throwing events, taking fourth in the dicus with a throw of 75-4.00.

Willow Oehmichen and Sarkkinen were fourth and sixth in the high jump in 7-0.00 and 6-6.00.

Boys

The Colby boys nearly won the Auburndale Invite, but were edged by Neillsville, 130 points to 117 points.

The Hornets won the first event of the day, the 4x800-meter relay, in a time of 11:23.61. Colby followed this up with Jay Irzarry and Ivan Haemer taking third and sixth in the 110-meter hurdles in times of 20.61 and 28.75.

Brent Jeske sprinted to third place in the 100-meter dash in 12.07 seconds. Chase Oehmichen nearly had another Colby victory, but could not defeat Neillsvile’s Taytor Lowry in the 1,600-meter run, taking second in 4:55.

Braxton Smith was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles in 58.32 seconds. The Hornets saw Mason Voss and Brent Jeske finish second and fourth in the 200-meter dash in 24.60 and 25.10.

Oehmichen got his revenge against Lowry in the 800-meter dash, winning the event in a time of 2:05.56 - nearly five seconds faster than Lowry.

Max Adams had a tremendous 3,200-meter race, placing sixth in 11:59.39. Josiah Bridger was eighth in 14:11.94. Colby had three boys score in the pole vault. Oehmichen won the event with his height of 10-6.00. Seth Hopperdietzel was fifth in 8-0.00 and Brody Decker was sixth in 7-6.00.

Brent Jeske added a third place in the discus with a heave of 109-11.00. Mason Voss was fifth in discus in 99-6.00.

The Hornets took five of the top eight spots in the shot put. Brent Jeske continued to be a force for Colby, earning second with a throw of 40-5.00. Cory Steen was third in 37-6.50. Derek Jeske was sixth in 35-9.00, Brayden Boyer was seventh in 342.00 and Voss was eight in 34-1.00.

Colby had their season, and home, opener on Tuesday, amidst a backdrop of grey skies, blustery winds and a steady drizzle that carried on into the night.

Colby refused to let that bother them as the girls finished second, falling to Marathon by the slimmest of margins, 121 points to the Red Raiders 123.

The boys were fourth overall with 57 points. Marathon dominated with 171 points to Stanley-Boyd’s 109.5 points.

The Colby girls kicked off 2021 in style, with the 4x800-meter relay of Mercedes Sarkkinen, Daisy Feiten, Regan Schraufnagel and Willow Oehmichen taking second in 11:24.60.

Three Hornets placed inside the top eight in the 100-meter hurdles. Hayden Willner was second in 17.51, Trinity Severson took third in 17.52 and Courtney Johnson was sixth in 21.01.

Jazmyn Heeg was third in the 100-meter dash, picking up six points with her time of 13.99 seconds. Oehmichen was second in the 1,600-meter run in 6:07.89. Lydida Decker turned in a sixth place finish in the 400-meter dash in 1:15.31.

The 4x100-meter relay of Heeg, Emma Kroll, Olivia Krause and Kaylee Podevels was fifth in 58.77. Trinity Severson had the girls first victory of the night, taking the 300-meter hurdles in 51.38 seconds.

Oehmichen and Sarkkinen finished second and fourth in the 800-meter run in times of 2:42.71 and 2:54.78. Willner added another victory, sprinting ahead of the pack in the 200-meter dash to win it in 28.33 seconds. Heeg was right behind, collecting third place in 29.15.

Feiten added another top three performance, finishing second in the 3,200-meter run in 13:49.81. Regan Schraufnagel was fifth in 14:34.80 and senior Hanna Meier was seventh in 16:18.77.

The 4x200-meter relay of Severson, Sarkkinen, Decker and Willner was second in 4:43.39, followed by a fourth place finish by Kaylee Podevels in the high jump in 4-06.00.

Willner then went on to finish fourth place in the long jump with a leap of 1400.00. Katrina Gosse was seventh in the discus throw with a heave of 71-05. She followed this up with sixth place in the shot put in 28-03.00.

Boys

The Colby boys also saw a slew of athletes notch top eight results in multiple events. The Hornets kicked off the year with the 4x800-meter relay of Chase Oehmichen, Max Adams, Talon Severson and Richard Streveler earning third in 9:51.21.

Ivan Haemer then took fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in 21.51 seconds. Brent Jeske added a fifth place result in the 100-meter dash in 11.95 seconds.

The Hornets ran a “big-boy” relay in the 4x100-meter race, with Carter Grewe, Tyler Weis, Brayden Boyer and Corey Steen - all offensive lineman for Colby’s football team - taking fifth in 53.54 seconds.

Braxton Smith was seventh in the 300-meter hurdles in 56.13. Voss and Jeske were fifth and seventh in the 200-meter dash in 25.14 and 25.22. Chase Oehmichen captured the 3,200-meter run in 10:44.50.

Brody Decker tied for seventh in the high jump in 4-10.00. Brent Jeske was sixth in the discus with a throw of 98-09 and second in the shot put in 4103.00. Voss and Steen were fourth and fifth in the shot in 37-04.00 and 36-03.75.

BYE-BYE -Daisy Feiten sprints away from a runner during the 4x800-meter relay at Colby’s home opener.

PULLING AWAY - Talon Severson put ground between himself and Marathon’s Brandon Gitzlaff during the 4x800-meter relay on April 27. The Colby girls won the Auburndale Invite on Thursday, The boys were second.STAFF PHOTOS/ROSS PATTERMANN