The schedule forced the Poynette track and field teams to juggle their lineups.
Taking part in the Waterloo Invitational on Thursday, May 2, the Pumas saved some of their varsity athletes for Friday’s Edgerton Tideer Invitational.
“We had meets on back-to-back nights this week with modified lineups on both nights,” said Poynette head coach Kevin Frehner. “We made a point to include all of our athletes at Waterloo, including a number of junior varsity runners who would not normally compete in a varsity competition. We did this in order to give select varsity athletes the opportunity to compete in the very high-quality meet at Edgerton on Friday.”
Even so, the Pumas’ results at Waterloo were impressive.
“We had 15 season-best performances from the boys at Waterloo and 12 for the girls,” said Frehner. “We also had a combined five career-best performances from our returning athletes.”
A trio of Puma boys paced Poynette.
“Leading the way for the boys’ team were Brady Cox, Dylan Trudell, and Jack Nehls, who all had season bests in two events,” said Frehner. “Brady Cox had career bests in both the 1600m run and the 800m run in the same meet, which is a difficult accomplishment. Jack Nehls was also very impressive with a shot-put season best by over 3 feet and a discus season best by almost 10 feet. Cox earned the ‘Feet of the Meet’ award on the track and Nehls in the field. Junior Xander Potter also had an impressive showing in the discus, improving his season best by over 11 feet. Alex Graeme was the lone event winner on the evening in the 110m hurdles.”
Poynette’s girls’ team sent a smaller contingent.
“The girls’ team was more pared down on the evening, as they sent a larger contingent of athletes to Edgerton on Friday,” said Frehner. “The three career-best performances were Dakota Coppernoll in the 200m, Mae Larson in the 1600m and Morgan Small in the pole vault. Mae Larson won the ‘Feet of the Meet Award,’ as she ran over 10 seconds faster in the 1600m than she did a week ago to set a lifetime best. In the field, Val Heth threw the shot put over 30 feet for the second time in her career and Olivia Regan broke 20 feet for the first time. Regan was the field event recipient of ‘Feet of the Meet.’ The lone event winner for the girls team was the 4x800m relay team of Madeline Serwe, Harley Seas, Piper Johnson, and Geneva Ritzke.”
Edgerton Invitational
Almost back to full strength, the Pumas competed on Friday at Edgerton, and the quality of the opposition brought out the best in many Poynette athletes.
“The Edgerton Invitational on Friday is a meet with a number of the larger schools in our sectional,” said Frehner. “We have progressively taken more kids to this meet the last few years in order to raise our level of competition for our varsity kids. We did not take our full varsity squad by still earned 15 season-best performances along with six career best marks.”
Frehner said there many highlights.
“Mercedi Lapacek won the high jump with a career best jump of 5-3,” said Frehner. “She is one of only three girls to clear that height in school history. Sophomore Wyatt See was also an event winner in the 1600m run with a career best time of 4:43.04. Emma Yelk and Piper Johnson also had outstanding meets as the only athletes to medal in two events. Yelk placed fourth in triple jump and second in the 400m dash with a season-best time. Johnson placed in the 1600m run and 800m run. Both of her performances were season-best times.”
That wasn’t all, as other individuals shined for Poynette.
“Jack Nehls followed up his impressive night at Waterloo with another season best in the discus,” said Frehner. “In all, he improved his best performance by over 18 feet in two days. Other career-best performances were performed by Alex Graeme (110m hurdles), Emily Walz (100m dash), Evelyn Hafeman (200m dash), and Georgia Cuff (shot put). Madeline Serwe had one of her best days on the track of her career, as well, performing career-best times at the 800m distance in both the 4x800m relay and the open 800m.”
The Pumas will host their annual Pauquette Invitational on Thursday, with events starting at 4:15 p.m.
Most Popular
Comments / 0