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Ethan Struble, right, tries to track down runners during the 200-meter dash at the Wisconsin Dells Invitational. He finished fourth in the finals with a time of 24 seconds.
The Ripon High School Tiger track and field teams experienced mixed results last week Friday in their final tune-up before Tuesday’s East Central Conference (ECC) Championships, which finished after press time.
Ripon had several athletes record personal-record (PR) performances at the Wisconsin Dells Invitational, while many others fell short. The meet took place in overcast conditions, with a sprinkling of rain at times.
The Tiger girls’ team finished sixth out of nine schools, while the boys’ team placed seventh out of the same number.
DeForest, a Division 1 school, swept the boys’ and girls’ titles with 116 and 153 points, respectively. It was followed on the boys’ side by Mauston (113), Sauk Prairie (112), Wisconsin Dells (105), Portage (82.5), Marshall (78.5), Ripon (67), Crandon (14) and Adams-Friendship (5). Finishing behind it for the girls were Sauk Prairie (119.5), Wisconsin Dells (80), Portage (72), Marshall (66), Ripon (60.5), Mauston (54), Adams-Friendship (39) and Crandon (33).
“There were some really good things that occurred; there were some average things that occurred,” Ripon head coach Chris Gatzke said Monday afternoon. “We really like running the Dells meet because conference is [Tuesday]. It gives us a chance to have a bad meet and realize it and bounce back. It also allows us to have a great meet with people and they can continue to build on that momentum. Those results are helpful to have going into the meet.”
One of the Tigers who excelled at the Wisconsin Dells Invitational was Noah Hanson. The senior won Ripon’s only event with a PR distance of 136-01 in the discus, while also placing second in the shot put with a throw of 46-11.5.
He was first in the shot put until the final throw, when Sauk Prairie’s Nolan Vils threw a 47-10.5 to edge him out.
Hanson’s previous-best throw in the discus was 135-7, set during last year’s ECC Conference Championships. His PR in the shot is 47-9.5 and was recorded a few days earlier during the Berlin Quadrangular.
“He is peaking at the right time,” Chris Gatzke said of Hanson. “We threw a little bit of a wrench into Noah on Friday. We purchased a new competition shot put and it’s a little bit smaller than what we’re accustomed to, so we’re learning how to throw that. It’s the same weight, but it’s just different in your hand, so that was different. No different than a couple of weeks ago. We got a brand new discus and we saw the same thing happened with the disc. He started out not as good … and now the discus is taken off, so we’re hoping the same kind of stuff happens with the shot put.”
Ethan Struble also had a strong day despite being ill as he recorded a pair of PR times in the prelims of the 100- and 200-yard dashes. He crossed the finish line in 11.68 and 23.76, respectively, to advance to the finals in both. While Struble scratched in the finals of the 100 dash, the senior placed fourth in the 200 dash finals with a time of 24.0.
“He was close to scratching everything after the trials because he just didn’t feel well,” Chris Gatzke said. “The 100 he scratched and then was able to compete in the later events, ran the relays, ran the 200 finals and did very well, but you could tell that he just wasn’t up to snuff, still not feeling well from being out the day before.”
Joining Struble in recording a fourth-place PR finish on the boys’ side for the Tigers was Jack Schoelzel with a 46.04 in the 300 hurdles. Aidan Ruedinger also placed (top-eight finish) with a PR for the boys with an eighth-place time of 5:21.94 in the 1,600 run, while Austin Brown leaped to his furthest distance at 17-2 in the long jump to place seventh overall and Caden Kraege notched a PR throw in the shot put (38-11) to end the day in eighth place.
On the girls’ side, the Tigers received PR performances from Amelia Long and Leah Page in the 1,600 run as Long placed fourth and Page came across the line seventh with times of 5:58.01 and 6:15.88, respectively. Page added a PR time of 14:05.47 in the 3,200 run to finish sixth, while teammate Libby Gatzke placed fourth with a 13:25.58.
Libby Gatzke, Page and Long also teamed with Madalyn Leinweber to place third in the 4×800 relay (10:43.63) and trim nearly 16 seconds off their previous-best time. It marked the second-best finish for a Ripon relay team.
The girls’ 4×200 relay team of Adalin Nodolf, Victoria Rivera, Emma Resop and Reese Brooks recorded the best finish with a second-place time of 1:55.03.
Ripon’s other two relays on the girls’ side, the 4×100 (Anya Duffy, Ashley Bradley, Resop and Madelyn Marx) and 4×400 (Leinweber, Ashley Bradley, Rivera and Nodolf), each placed fifth with times of 56.01 and 4:32.81, respectively.
Falling short of their PRs, but still recording top-three finishes for the Tiger girls at the Dells Invitational were Duffy in the pole vault (second, 9-0), Resop in the high jump (third, 5-4) and Brooks in the triple jump (third, 30-3.5).
Other Tigers to score on the girls’ side were Libby Gatzke in the 800 run (eighth, 2:41.95), Marx in the pole vault (seventh, 7-0) and Brooks in the long jump (eighth, 13-10.75).
For the boys, Landon Shidell and Brandyn Beahm finished third despite not having their best performances of the season. Shidell jumped 38-3 in the triple jump, while Beahm cleared 11-0 in the pole vault. Joining them in scoring without setting a PR were Tyler Bradley in the 400 run (seventh, 55.55) and Ruedinger in the 3,200 run (fifth, 11:19.0).
The highest-finishing relay on the boys’ side for the Tigers was the 4×800 team of Vicente Beltran, Ruedinger, Cyan Volkmann and Raymond Ellis (fourth, 9:08.91). Ripon’s other three relays — the 4×100 (Struble, Brown, Brodie Greff and Matthew Cramer), the 4×200 (Declan Dudzinski, Greff, Cramer and Brown) and the 4×400 (Beltran, Kyler Rieder, Jayden Hiemstra and Harrison Julian) — finished in fifth place.
Ripon takes part in Berlin Quad
The Tigers also took part in a quadrangular with Berlin, Winneconne and Waupun last week Tuesday in Berlin.
Winning Ripon’s only events at the meet were Beahm (12-0) in the pole vault and Resop in the high jump (4-10).
Hanson also had a strong day as he placed second in both the shot put (PR 47-9.5) and discus (131-07).
Joining Hanson in recording runner-up finishes for the Tigers were Ellis in the 800 run (PR 2:17.73), Nodolf in the 400 run (PR 1:05.95), Long in the 800 run (2:44.88), Libby Gatzke in the 3,200 run (13:14.27), Duffy in the pole vault (9-0) and Brooks in the triple jump (31-3).
Third-place performances were recorded by the boys’ 4×400 relay team of Julian, Rieder, Schoelzel and Beltran (3:53.6); Rivera in the 400 run (PR 1:07.8); Page in the 800 run (PR 2:47.2); girls’ 4×100 relay team of Ralissa Rudolf, Niyah Garcia, Hayden Durovy-Meeker and Thania Munoz-Dominguez (1:04.73); the girls’ 4×800 relay team of Leinweber, Duffy, Page and Long (11:20.77); and Durovy-Meeker in the discus (83-05).
Up next
Following Tuesday’s ECC Championships, Ripon will turn its attention to regionals. The competition, which will see the top-four finishers in each event advance to sectionals, will take place Monday, May 22 in Wautoma.
Among the schools competing at regionals with Ripon include Amherst, Berlin, North Fond du Lac, Omro, Waupaca, Wautoma and Winneconne. Those who advance will compete Thursday, May 25 at the Little Chute Sectional.
“We have a lot of good opportunities to go from regional to sectionals and that’s what we’re hoping for,” Chris Gatzke said. “It’s going to be a tough meet. Winneconne is there; Berlin is there; Omro is there; North Fond du Lac is there. There’s a lot of good quality teams, but we think we have a good chance to take several of the events on to the sectional meet and then we’ll see what happens at sectionals because we probably have the toughest sectional in the state.”
Field events for both meets will start at 4 p.m., while running events will get underway at 4:30.
