Abby track hosts home meet, girls take third

With their last two meets being canceled due to weather or cold, the Abbotsford track and field team had gone ten days between events. With conditions finally improving, both the girls’ and boys’ teams were back in action last Friday as they headed to Auburndale for their second outdoor meet of the 2022 season. Abbotsford then hosted ten schools on Monday for the Abbotsford Open meet.

Auburndale Invite

There was a packed field at Auburndale, with fourteen schools reporting to the invitational Friday evening. Of those fourteen teams, the Abbotsford girls’ team placed fourth, with a score of 77.40. They finished behind first place Loyal with 124 points, second place Stratford with 100.70 points and third place Medford with 99 points.

Two members of the girls’ team captured first place in their events. Freshman Chloe Cihlar took the 100-meter dash, winning by .08 seconds and finishing with a time of 13.72 seconds. Sophomore Sydney Falteisek also

STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

won the 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 17.86.

Two relay teams took second place for Abbotsford, with the 4x100-meter and 4x200-meter relay teams of Falteisek, Cihlar, sophomore Sommer Brodhagen, and sophomore Briseida Escalara finishing with times of 53.78 and 1:56.16 respectively. Brodhagen also took second in the discus, with her top throw measuring a distance of 97 feet, nine inches.

Other top finishers included Falteisek in the high jump, where she claimed third place with a height of four feet, eight inches, junior Isabella Aguilera in discus, where she finished third with a distance of 96 feet, eight inches, senior Bridgett Pogodzinski in the 100-meter hurdles where she placed fourth with a time of 18.47 and freshman Margo Pogodzinkski in the shot put, where a distance of 30-9.5 was good for fourth place.

The boys’ team tied for eighth place out of fourteen teams with a final score of 35 points. Auburndale narrowly won their home meet, with their 106 points just edging out second place Neillsville’s 104.50 points and third place Stratford’s 103.

Short distance runner Ty Falteisek took second in three events on Friday night for the Falcons, finishing the 100-meter dash in 11.97 seconds, the 200-meter dash in 23.90 seconds, and the 400-meter dash in 53.17 seconds. In the field events, taking second for the Abbotsford boys’ team was Marcus Bohl in the discus, with a distance of 135 feet, ten inches.

Abbotsford Open

The Falcons played host to ten schools on Tuesday night and had several athletes who had top finishes at their home meet. The girls’ team would finish third overall and the boys’ team would finish eighth.

Bringing home second place finishes for the Abbotsford girls’ team were Chihlar in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.45 seconds, Sydney Falteisek in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.10 seconds, and Brodhagen in the discus, finishing with a final distance of 97 feet, one inch.

Brodhagen also finished in third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.75 seconds. Also taking third for the Falcons were Tamika Heck in the pole vault with a height of six feet, six inches, and the 4x400 meter relay team of Brodhagen, Cihlar, Falteisek and Escalara with a time of 4:44.75.

Other top finishes just outside of the top three for the girls team included Brodhagen finishing fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:07.48, Bridgett Pogodzinski recording a fourth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.13 seconds, and Kelsey Rueden recorded a four foot, six inch height in high jump which was good for fourth. Margo Pogodzinski also found success in the shot put, recording a distance of 31 feet, half an inch to finish fourth in the event.

On the boys’ side of things, two athletes won their events at home. Ty Falteisek took the 200-meter dash, winning the event with a time of 23.20 seconds. Bohl improved on his Auburndale results in the discus, recording a distance of 141 feet and taking first place honors.

Falteisek also took second in a tight 100-meter dash, recording a 11.58 second finish and the boys 4x100-meter relay of Falteisek, Bohl, Jake Hirsch and Antuan Ramirez took third with a time of 49.49 seconds.

As the Falcons track and field team moves into the beginning of May, they will be traveling to Amherst High School on Thursday, May 5, and Edgar on May 9.