WHS boys track runs away with win in opener

 

By ANDREW DREISCHARF
The Independent

 

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The IndependentIn the first track meet of the season for the Woodstock High School boys, their mantra was a simple one, win early and win often. The Blue Streaks took 11 first-place finishes out of 18 events en route to winning the Wednesday, April 2, meet with 140 points.
Other schools competing in the quadrangular were Richmond-Burton Community High School, Harvard High School and Alden-Hebron High School.
With many athletes new to track this season, and the lack of proper outdoor experience coming into the meet, the Streaks didn’t know what to expect. The result was a good one.
Arthur Johnson finished in first place in the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 6 ½ inches, and was on relay teams that won the 4x100 meter with a time of 45.4 seconds and the 4x200 with a time of 1 minute, 35 seconds. The two relay teams also included Roy Mwale, Mike Liedtke and Tyler Voss. Johnson was also on the first-place 4x400 team with Scott Rausch, Voss and Antwane Mace. That team with a time of 3:39.5. This was Johnson’s first-ever track event.
“Coming in first is really nice,” said Johnson. “It’s my first year in track, so it’s good. Coach Fredericks working us hard in practice has paid off.”
Rausch, along with the win in the 4x400 relay, also won the high jump with a height of 6 feet and the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.1 seconds.
With the win in the 100, teammate Voss finished second in 11.2 seconds. Both boys finished ahead of reigning county champion Travis Gunderson from R-B, who had a time of 11.3 seconds.
“I was excited because I got to run against him (Gunderson) this season,” said Rausch. “It feels so good. Everyone likes to win, and to do it against someone you hear about all the time is pretty awesome.”
Marshall Happ also won multiple events for the Streaks. He took first place in the 800 with a time of 2:06.4 and in the 1,600 with a time of 4:13.6.
Other first-place finishers for the Streaks included Phil Meyer, who won the 3,200 with a time of 10:50; Parker Woodall, who had a distance of 43-7 in shot put; and Chip Humbertson, who reached a height of 9 feet in the pole vault.
Together, WHS had 11 first-place finishes, nine second-place finishes and seven third-place finishes. Many of the second- and third-place finishes were close to the winning times or distances.
The team was very happy to get its first meet of the season in after the first scheduled meet had been postponed due to the weather.
“It’s great to be out here,” said Tyler Gillespie, who had a fifth-place finish in the 100 dash with a time of 11.9 seconds and tied for fifth in the 200 with a time of 24.5 seconds. “It’s my first year, and I wasn’t sure how I’d do against competition. I am pleased so far.”
Liedtke (shot put), Mace (400), Voss (100), Jason DeWane (high jump), Derek Busch (800), Matt Marunde (discus), Justin Drawz (long jump), Adam Lagerhausen (3,200) and the team of Busch, Kendall Natrop, Nick Pena and Medina (4x800 relay) all earned second-place finishes for WHS.
“I am very pleased with the outcome of our quadrangular meet,” said WHS head coach John Fredericks. “Our athletes have been ready to go out and perform for a couple of weeks. It was exciting to see the results of their hard work in practice pay off. Not only did our varsity team fare well, but the freshman/sophomore team did as well.”
The next meet for the boys track team is 9 a.m. April 12, at the Bartlett Invite.
Freshmen and sophomores impress
The WHS freshman/sophomore boys track team also had a strong showing. Points are not kept, but the Streaks took first place in 10 of the 15 events.
Alark Patel won both the long and triple jump. Sean Grandarth took first place in discus throw, J.D. Fuller won the 3,200, Drew Walkington won the 100 dash, Dan Howe won the 800, Jake Bourassa won the 1,600 and Grant Schleich won the 200.
The relay team of Patel, Alex Peterson, Schleich and Walkington won the 4x100, and the team of Patel, Walkington, Peterson and Schleich won the 4x400.

This article was published in the April 9, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.