Lady Bulldogs defend home turf at Peshtigo Invitational

PESHTIGO — The Peshtigo High School track and field team hosted the 44th annual Peshtigo Invitational on Thursday.

Eleven schools gathered for the event and weathered an early rain shower and cold temperatures.

The Bulldog girls outran the competition, scoring 156 points to top Kewaunee’s 118.5 for first place.

Meanwhile, the boys competition came down to the final event of the evening, and Kewaunee took a narrow 1.5-point victory over Peshtigo with a score of 184 points.

The boys competition arrived at the final event, the 4x400m relay, with Peshtigo leading Kewaunee by a half point.

The relay entered the final leg with Kewaunee’s Thomas Stangel leading Peshtigo’s Cody Nesberg and Marinette’s Mason Hofherr with little more than a step separating each athlete.

Hofherr took the lead on the back stretch and held off the competition for the win with a time of 3:39.01. Stangel held onto second at 3:39.54, while Peshtigo crossed the line third at 3:39.75.

That 0.21 second separation between second and third place proved to be a two-point difference in the standings lifting Kewaunee to the overall win.

Hofherr led a strong Marinette contingent in the relays, anchoring victories in the 4x400m, as well as the 4x200m and 4x100m.

The Marinette sophomore, along with Jackson Draheim, Kaiden Brown and Braxton Polzin, covered 800 meters in 1:35.61, while Hofherr, Polzin, Brown and Luke Adams carried the baton 400m in 47.05.

Hofherr, Draheim, Brown and Hunter Schneider combined to win the 4x400m relay at 3:39.01.

Peshtigo won the 4x800m relay with the team of Malakai Yakel, Andrew Halfmann, Liam Smith and Keelan Schmidt posting a time of 9:07.28.

The Bulldogs also got wins from Tristan Krejcarek in the 100m and 200m sprints, Cody Nesberg in the 400m dash, and Ethan Brissette in the 110m and 300m hurdles, as well as the pole vault.

Krejcarek turned in a 100m time of 11.46 seconds and a 200m mark of 23.46 seconds.

Nesberg traveled 400m in 55.71 seconds, and Brissette notched a 110m hurdle time of 15.53 seconds and a 300m hurdle time of 41.46 seconds.

In the mid-distance runs, Draheim finished second for the Marines with a time of 2:12.33, while Crivitz’s Ben Brown was third at 2:18.02.

Gillett’s Bradyn Wendorff led the majority of the 1600m race but Kewaunee’s Crhistopher Cullen used a strong kick to finish 0.66 seconds ahead of the Tiger sophomore with a time of 4:48.03.

Yakel (Peshtigo) was third at 4:57.34.

In the 3200m run, Peshtigo’s Eli Berndt and Liam Smith placed second and fourth, respectively, with times of 11:07.62 and 11:38.26. Crivitz’s James Caine was third at 11:23.35.

In the boys field events, Zander Thomson of Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy matched the winning mark of 6-0.00 in the high jump, but needed one more attempt than Kewaunee’s Maddix Mueller to do so and settled for a runner-up finish.

Brissette won the pole vault at 12-6 ahead of Draheim’s 10-6 and Brayden Sellen’s (Crivitz) 10-0 efforts.

Peshtigo’s Madison Vorpahl was third in the long jump at 18-5.25, while Lena/STAA’s Lucas Heimke was fourth at 18-4.00.

Heimke finished second in the triple jump at 37-6.00, while Nesberg (Peshtigo) was third at 35-4.50.

Marinette’s Caden Genrich was second in the discus with a toss of 133-2, and Lena/STAA’s Anthony Seefeldt was second in the shot put at 35-5.00.

In the girls competition, there was one meet record set after Lena/STAA’s Eva Brooks set a new mark in the high jump with a leap of 5-4.00.

Alexis Zhuckkahosee (Menominee Indian), Anna Marzahl (Marinette) and Leja Ravaite (Laona/Wabeno) placed second, third and fourth at 4-6.00.

Meanwhile, Peshtigo racked up seven event wins on its way to a winning score of 156 points.

The Bulldogs took two of the four relays.

Rachel Nelson, Makai Levknecth, Holly Pesch and Riley Sabel won the 4x800m at 10:55.55. Alaina Archambault, Jaycee Mullins, Levknecht and Serenity Walden won the 4x400m at 4:28.49, just clipping Marinette’s team of Lauren Sadowski, Keirsten Kabacinski, Marzahl and Bailey Krouth that finished at 4:28.67.

The Crivitz team of Grace Doyen, Peyton Rehberg, Madelyn Powels and Kylah Betka won the 4x100m at 54.23 seconds. Kewaunee won the 4x200m at 3:00.00, ahead of Lena/STAA’s Abigail Kostreva, Brooks, Madilyn Thomson and Alabama Lambert, who crossed the line at 3:01.00.

Alaina Archambault and Jaycee Mullins finished one-two for the Bulldogs in the 100m dash at 13.13 seconds and 13.65 seconds.

Crivitz’s Betka took the 200m distance with a time of 28.23 seconds.

In the 400m, Walden (Peshtigo) was second at 1:05.15 and Lena/STAA’s Kostreva was third at 1:06.41.

Nelson (Peshtigo) won the 1600m run with a time of 5:49.47 and placed second in the 800m at 2:34.13, while Gillett’s Sophia Limberg (2:51.29) was third and Marinette’s Lauren Sadowski (2:52.08) was fourth.

Marinette’s Addison Lacy was the runner-up in the 3200m run with a time of 12:57.43.

Brooks added to her high-jump victory with a win in the 100m hurdles. Her time of 17.20 seconds was just ahead of her teammate Kali Fischer who placed second at 18.13 seconds.

Archambault (Peshtigo) took the 300m hurdles with a time of 50.04 seconds, just clipping Gillett’s Hope Soper, who finished at 50.91 seconds, and Fischer who placed third at 53.13 seconds.

Peshtigo’s Christina Powers picked up big points for the Bulldogs by sweeping the throws.

Powers took the shot put with a heave of 36-7.00 and the discus at a distance of 104-3.

Betka (Crivitz) won the pole vault at 9-0.00, ahead of Sabel’s (Peshtigo) 8-0.00 vault.

Carney Nadeau got a win from Samantha Kedsch in the long jump with a leap of 15-7.25, besting Jaycee Mullins’ (Peshtigo) mark of 14-8.50 and Lambert’s (Lena/STAA) 14-6.50.

Brooks completed a solid all-around day with a runner-up finish in the triple jump at 31-2.50 while Kedsch was third at 31-1.50.

44th Peshtigo Invitational Team Scores

Boys — Kewaunee 184, Peshtigo 182.5, Marinette 94; Crivitz 71.5, Lena/STAA 56, Oconto 33, Menominee Indian 26.5, Oconto Falls 16.5, Gillett 13, Laona/Wabeno 7, Carney-Nadeau 0.

Girls — Peshtigo 156, Kewaunee 118.5, Lena/STAA 102, Oconto Falls 60, Crivitz 52.5, Marinette 51, Gillett 40, Carney-Nadeau 40, Menominee Indian 25, Laona/Wabeno 24, Oconto 11.