EV-W/K track and field girls win Essler Invite, boys finish sixth

The EV-W/K track and field athletes made the trip to the Essler Invitational at New London-Spicer  on May 1 a successful one. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams finished in the top half of their respective 14-team meets. The girls won the meet with 128 points – 23 points clear of second-place New London-Spicer – and  the boys finished sixth with 43 points.

Here are highlights for both the girls and boys.

Girls

Hope Kuechle led the team with a top finish in the 28-competitor 400-meter run, earning a time of 1:01.19 – 3.1 seconds in front of the second-place runner. Teammate Ava Holmgren finished third in this event with a time of 1:04.74.

Two relay teams also led EV-W/K team with top finishes. The 4×200-meter relay team of Jordyn Theis, Cambel Hesse, Ellie Becker, and Hope Kuechle won the event with a time of 1:50.60 – 1.77 seconds in front of the -second-place team. The 4×400-meter relay team of Cambel Hesse, Alayna Haag, Jocelyn Zoller, and Hope Kuechle won this event with a time of 4:17.00 – 5.45 seconds ahead of the second-place team.

Jocelyn Zoller earned a pair of runner-up finishes. She ran her way to a second-place finish in the 21-competitor 100-meter -hurdles, posting a time of 16.38 – .13 seconds behind the first-place runner. In the 24-competitor 300-meter hurdles event, she earned her second-place finish with a time of 48.97 – .39 seconds behind the first-place runner.

Speaking of runner-up, the 4×800-meter relay team of Ava Holmgren, Kynlee Bischof, Holly Truenow, and Alayna Haag earned a runner-up finish, posting a time of 10:45.06 – 15.03 seconds behind the top team.

Alayna Haag earned a third-
place finish in the 30-competitor 800-meter run with a time of 2:34.26.

Jordyn Theis finished fourth in the 30-competitor 200-meter run with a time of 28.77.

Kynlee Bischof secured a sixth-place finish in the 31-competitor 1600-meter run, posting a time of 6:06.63.

In the field events, Ellie Becker led the team with a pair of top finishes, one in the high jump and the other in the pole vault. She won the 22-competitor high jump with a height of 5’ 0”, and the 23-competitor pole vault with a height of 9’ 6”.

Miley Kuechle finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 35’ 3.5”.

In the 37-competitor long jump, Miley Kuechle also finished third with a distance of 15’ 2.25”, and teammate Emma Wirz sixth with a 14’ 11.5”. 

Jordyn Theis finished fourth in the 36-competitor shot put, earning a throw of 30’ 10”.

Boys

Henry Lemke led the boys’ team with a top finish in the 20-competitor 3200-meter run, earning a time of 9:54.91.

William Ballard ran to a third-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles, earning a time of 45.58.

Gavin Arens earned a sixth-place finish in the 37-competitor 1600-meter run, finishing with a time of 5:16.97.

In the field events, notably, three EV-W/K athletes finished in the top nine of the 34-competitor long jump. William Ballard placed fourth with a distance of  19’ 4”, Jed Spaulding fifth with an 18’ 5.5”, and Kole Knaus ninth with a 17’ 7.5”.