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From Coach Houwers:
The Whippets tracksters were finally able to get back to running, jumping and throwing last night at the 70th annual Fort Invite. This was their first meet after a string of 5 cancellations due to weather.
There were many highlights on the night. The first on the track was Ignacio Cuevas, running a great anchor leg in the 4×800 relay. It was his first ever 800, and the freshmen responded with a great leg in a pretty tough situation. For the boys, the sprinters had a very good night. Tyler Sheffield and Will Leibbrand finished 1st and 4th in the 100m. The 4×100 relay also took home gold. Sheffield was joined by Jared Clapper, Jack Mayer and Sashi Popke for that relay.
Leibbrand, Clapper, and Mayer are a part of a very solid group of sophomore boys that will play a key role for the team as they approach conference. Juan Cuellar, Tyler Pavlik, Matt Foss, Justin Mitchell, Aiden Coburn, Cody Rupke and Thomas Utynek all contributed last night with great efforts. Many are still learning the nuances of the sport. It’s going to be fun to see that group develop over the rest of the season and for years to come.
On the girls’ side, there were a number of gold medal performances to celebrate. The first came in the girls high jump, with Ali Ketterhagen taking home gold. Her ability and desire to compete has been truly amazing, considering she’s less than a year off knee surgery for a torn ACL.
Hailey Murphy picked up her first ever gold in the 100 hurdles. She had an incredible night, running lifetime bests in all her races. She looks like the real deal, ready to take a big step forward this year. She’s knocking on the door of the top ten lists in both hurdle races.
Sydney Treder isn’t far off the top ten list either. In just her third meet vaulting, she cleared 8’6″ to win the pole vault. The girls 4×100 relay took home the final gold for the ladies. The team of Morgan Wiedenhoeft, Abby Grosinske, Lily Dunklau and Morgan Radaj were able to get the stick around the track the fastest last night. Radaj and Dunklau both claimed silver in their individual sprints as well, competing in the 100m and 200m respectively.
The Whippets have a busy week ahead, with the freshmen meet in Clinton on Tuesday, and JV Invite in Lake Geneva on Thursday. The week is capped off with the Tider Invite next week Friday.
