Falcons start indoor season at Marshfield, Stout

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford track and field team started their season off with a pair of indoor meets over the past week. Both Falcon squads took 10th at their respective Marshfield meets while the girls team took 15th at UW-Stout’s Northern Badger Classic and the boys team placed 26th.

Northern Badger Classic

This past Saturday, both Abbotsford teams traveled to Menomonie to compete against athletes from 31 other schools in UW-Stout’s Northern Badger Classic Invitational. The girls team picked up 15 points while the boys squad finished with five.

Azul Diaz was the Falcons top finisher at the meet, grabbing a third place finish in the 3200-meter run. Diaz was consistently at the front of the pack during the race, briefly grabbing the lead with around 400 meters left in the race. While Jill Chovan of Prairie Farm and Autumn Lawton of Flambeau were able to make their moves over the final stretch, Diaz still put up a time of 13:33.75 in her third place finish.

The junior long-distance runner added another scoring performance for Abbotsford in the 1600-meter run, where she took eighth with a time of 6:06.86.

Sydney Falteisek worked her way into the finals in the 55-meter hurdles after her time of 9.78 seconds in the preliminaries was third best among all athletes. In the finals heat, Falteisek improved on her time, finishing in 9.64 seconds and taking fourth overall in the event. Teammate Oriah Harris took 11th in the event with a time of 10.47 seconds.

The pair were also part of the girls 4x400-meter relay team that took sixth on Saturday. Chloe Cihlar, Celia Schindler, Harris and Falteisek recorded a time of 4:36.03 in the event, finishing just tenths-of-a-second behind Turtle Lake/Clayton.

While the girls team scored in four events, there were many athletes that put together top-15 performances. Margo Pogodzinski was one place short of scoring herself, coming in ninth in the shot put with a throw of 32 feet, 10 inches. Jackie Soto added a 15th place finish in the same event, her furthest throw measuring 28 feet, three-and-a-half inches.

Harris put together two more top-15 performances for the Falcons, earning 10th place in the 200-meter dash by putting up a time of 28.72 seconds and garnering an 11th place finish in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet, four-and-a-quarter inches. Marilyn Hammock was not far behind Harris in the latter event, her jump of 14 feet, three-and-ahalf inches earning her 12th place.

Riley Podevels and Schindler also went back to back in the triple jump, taking 12th and 13th respectively. Podevels’ longest leap of the day measured 28 feet, ten-and-a-half inches while Schindler came in at 28 feet, nine-and-half inches. Schindler also took 13th in the 800-meter run, finishing neckand- neck with Colby’s Pearl Feiten with a time of 2:44.457.

Cihlar added a 17th place finish in a crowded 55-meter dash field with a time of 8.15 seconds.

Carter Cihlar and Jack Sheahan scored for the Falcons in the boys competition.

Cihlar reached a height of 10 feet in the pole vault and earned fifth place for his efforts. He successfully cleared the 10 foot mark in just one attempt, importantly breaking a tie between himself and Justin Bergmann of Alma-Pepin and Paul Wegner of Clear Lake who also cleared the same height.

Sheahan, meanwhile, took eighth place in the 3200-meter run, posting a time of 11:52.94 to grab the last scoring spot for the Falcons.

Jack Schindler and Daniel Davilla also had top-20 performances for the boys team, with Schindler coming in 10th in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:08.23 and Davilla recording a throw of 35 feet, eight inches in the shot put.

Marshfield Tiger Invites

Abbotsford opened its season last Tuesday and Thursday in Marshfield, with the boys team recording 20.50 points and the girls finishing with 22 points two days later.

Jack Schindler had the highest individual result for the boys squad, taking fourth place in the one-mile run. His time of 5:37.73 put him only behind winner Colton Paczkwoski of Owen-Withee in his heat, but Tanner Shortt of Columbus Catholic and Henry Regier of Rib Lake managed to just edge out Schindler’s time in their first heat race. Schindler also earned ninth place in the 880yard run, finishing in 2:33.78.

Jovanny Cruz put together a sixth place performance in the high jump, reaching a height of five feet, six inches before having to bow out. Carter Cihlar also had a scoring performance for the Falcons in the field events, taking eighth place with a height of nine feet in the pole vault.

The 4x440-yard relay team of Emmanuel Manzanarez, Luis Tzintzun, Luis Gonzalez Lujan and Cruz capped off the evening by taking fourth place in the event, putting up a time of 4:22.86 Gonzalez Lujan also had a ninth place finish in the 220-yard dash with a time of 28.91, Daniel Davila grabbed ninth in the shot put with a throw of 34 feet, 11 inches, and Fernando Perez took 11th in the shot put with a throw of 34 feet.

Margo Pogodzinski’s throw of 36 feet, eight inches was the second best throw in the girls’ shot put on Thursday, trailing only Colby’s Daelyn Rieck. Her second place finish was the best of any Falcon across the two competitions. Jackie Soto also had a solid day in the event, coming in seventh place with a throw of 29 feet, nine inches.

Azul Diaz started her season with a fifth place finish in the one-mile run, coming in just behind Stevens Point’s Ashley Miller with a time of 6:26.62.

Oriah Harris finished in 14th place in the long jump with a distance of 13 feet, five inches while teammates Iris Cruz and Faith Sperl tied for 18th place in the same event, both finishing with leaps of 12 feet, 10 inches. Cruz also had an 18th place finish in the 880-yard run with a time of 3:10.36.

RUNNING WITH THE PACK - Iris Cruz keeps pace with the leaders during her 880-yard run at Marshfield last Thursday evening.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

PERFECT HANDOFF - Hazel Flink, right, completes the exchange with teammate Marilyn Hammock, left, during their relay in Marshfield. Their 4x220-yard team took fifth place.

STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY

PREPARING FOR LIFTOFF - Carter Cihlar makes his approach during the pole vault event on Tuesday.

STAFF PHOTO/NEAL HOGDEN

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