Track season starts with a bang

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

Just as all the races begin, the runners have got set and the season has started with a BANG as the Hurons had two track meets on the week to begin their season. The Hurons were in Posen Friday for the annual Knights of Columbus co-ed relays. Rogers City finished the meet with 44 points and in seventh place but were just 14 points from first place AuGres and Posen who tied. Mio was third with 57, followed by Fairview with 52, Oscoda with 52, Hale with 46 and the Hurons. Hillman and Atlanta also participated.

?We have a few injuries we are nursing along to start the season. As long as we stay healthy, this is going to be a successful season for us. We have a busy schedule coming up with the rainout Monday rescheduled for Thursday (today). We will run Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday. For a variety of reasons, we have some athletes that haven?t been able to participate yet,? said coach Amanda Munger. Freshman Joey Sobeck, sophomore Leilani Kortman and seniors Justin LaLonde and Kaylee Kreft combined for the 2400-meter (800-400-400-800) relay and took second place behind Fairview with a time of 7:42.97.

The Hurons would take first place in the 6400-meter relay with a time of 24:34.99 run by Jami Horn, Zak McLennan, Kreft and Sobeck. Kreft, Chris Vogelheim, Kortman and McLennan combined in the 3200-meter relay to finish second with a time of 10:54.45 behind Fairview. Evan Wagner, Anna Wickersham, Brandon Haneckow and Heather Luetzow took a second in the high jump with a combined height of 20?3? while the Hurons took fourth in the shuttle hurdles with a time of 1:20.57 run by Amanda Krajniak, Kortman, Wagner and LaLonde.

Haneckow, Reese Schmucker, Tiffany Schaedig and Rayna Greenway took fourth place in the shot put with a distance of 113?7 ??. In the 1600-meter race the team of Sierra Centala, Vinny Szczerowski, Luetzow and LaLonde placed sixth with a time of 4:36.89. Rogers City was sixth in the 1200-meter relay with a time of 3:18.25 run by Centala, Adam Matthews, Luetzow and Szczerowski. ?We have some young kids doing well in their events; that coupled with great leadership from our upperclassmen should make this season a success,? said coach Munger.

THE HURONS HOSTED their season opener last Thursday with the Rudyard Bulldogs and St. Ignace Saints in town. The Hurons would place third on the day but not without some bright spots.

A beautiful day fell on the Rogers City High School grounds as the Hurons were anxious to start their season. The first running event for the men was the 3200-meter relay, an event the Hurons shined in last season as they qualified for the state finals, and they showed they have rebuilt the team as they finished in 9:35.54, a full five seconds ahead of second place Rudyard. The team started with Vogelheim who then handed off to Sobeck, followed by LaLonde and McLennan.

McLennan would also shine in the mile run where he took first, with a time of 5:17.35. Sobeck was fo

urth in the mile at 5:43.85 and fourth in the 800-meter run at 2:35.08. LaLonde was second in the 300-meter hurdles at 49.65. Wagner was first in the high jump at 5?10? followed closely by teammate Haneckow. Wagner was also third in the 110-meter hurdles at 22.44.

For the girls? team, Kreft won the mile at 6:17.9 while Horn finished fourth at 7:16.38. Kreft was also first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:44. Luetzow was first in the 400-meter dash at 1:06.18. Centala was third in the long jump at 12? 5? and Wickersham was third in the high jump at 4? 8?. Greenway was third in the discus at 47? 7?.

Coach Munger is pleased with the effort of her athletes, ?Evan Wagner is doing really well in the high jump, he cleared 6?2? in practice and with experience will be a contender at regionals. Our boys? two-mile relay team is looking strong as well as Sierra Centala in her events, Anna Wickersham in the high jump, Zak McLenan is running really well as is Joey Sobeck. It is early in the season but we are showing we have some athletes that will continue to improve and have success,? she said. The team traveled to Posen Wednesday for the county championship meet, are in Inland Lakes today (Thursday), in Mio Friday and at Cheboygan Monday.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.