Bulldog boys win meet at Clayton Ridge, come in third at Sumner-Fred
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
Last week was a busy one for the MFL MarMac boys track and field team, which competed in meets at Sumner-Fredericksburg, Clayton Ridge and Starmont.
At the April 26 Blue and Gold Relays at Sumner-Fred, the Bulldogs finished third of nine teams, accumulating 98 points. Karter Decker earned 28 of those, thanks in large part to placing first in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. He was also third in the 400, tacking on another six points to the team total.
Other MFL MarMac sprinters included Wyatt Powell and Hunter Kugel, who were 10th and 23rd, respectively, in the 100. Callum Johnson crossed the finish line eighth in the 400. Tristen Koehn raced his way to seventh in the 400 hurdles, while Johnson was ninth in the event.
The Bulldogs also performed well in the distance races, as Brandon Christofferson took third in the 800 and Izayah Streicher eighth. Cayden Ball won the 1600 meter run, and Carver Blietz-Bentien wasn’t far behind in fourth. Victor Breuer finished sixth in the 3200.
In the relays, MFL MarMac placed fifth or better in six races. One of the best finishes came in the 4x100, where the group of Powell, Bryce Radloff, Colin Moses and Cullen McShane was second. Radloff, Moses, McShane and Decker teamed up to place second in the 800 sprint medley as well. Radloff, Powell, Caleb Nordheim and Koehn combined for third in the 4x200, while Nordheim, Christofferson, Ball and Blietz-Bentien were fourth in the 4x800 and Radloff, Powell, Moses and Christofferson were fourth in the 1600 distance medley. The 4x400 squad of Cyrus Johnson, Streicher, Breuer and Nordheim came in fifth.
In the field events, Moses had a first place long jump of 18 feet, 2.5 inches, over a foot more than the closest competitor. Callum Johnson also competed in the event, using a jump of 13 feet, 5 inches to finish 14th. McShane was fifth in the high jump, after an effort of 5 feet, 4 inches. Jacob Trudo had a big day in the shot put and discus, placing fourth and fifth with respective throws of 39 feet, 10.5 inches and 96 feet, 3 inches. Josh Reichard turned in a good performance in the discus as well, finishing sixth with a distance of 96 feet, 3 inches.
Things only got better April 29 at Clayton Ridge, as MFL MarMac tallied 150 points and won its first meet of the season.
The team won three relays, the 4x100, 4x200 and 800 sprint medley, and placed second in the 4x800 and third in the 1600 distance medley. The Bulldogs were also fifth in the 4x400.
Decker continued to dominate in the 100 and 200, winning both races. Additionally, he was second in the 400. Radloff also had a strong sprint performance, placing eighth in the 200, while Callum Johnson took sixth in the 400. In the 400 hurdles, Koehn raced to third place, and Johnson was eighth.
Ball secured another win in the 1600, while Blietz-Bentien was third. The distance success carried over into the 800 race, where Christofferson came in fourth and Streicher was ninth.
In the field events, Moses won the long jump for the second meet in a row, thanks to a distance of 19 feet, 3.25 inches. Radloff had a jump of 15 feet, 9.5 inches and placed 10th. McShane turned in another 5 feet, 4 inches effort in the high jump, where he was third. Trudo upped his shot put distance to 41 feet, 7 inches, which was good for second place, and had a throw of 107 feet in the discus, putting him fifth. Reichard was third in the discus, based on a distance of 112 feet, 5 inches.
MFL MarMac wrapped up the week at Starmont on April 30, placing eighth in a 12-team field. Decker tallied 28 of the team’s 53 points, after winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes for the third straight meet. In the 400, he was second.
Other sprint competitors included Moses, who was 13th in the 100, Kugel, who was 23rd in the 200, and Callum Johnson, who was 14th in the 400. Koehn was 10th in the 400 hurdles.
Ball earned the Bulldogs five points in the 1600, thanks to a fourth place effort. Blietz-Bentien was 11th in the event. Christofferson finished ninth in the 3200 meter run and 15th in the 800, while Streicher was 20th in the 800.
The Bulldogs ran in just three relays at Starmont, coming in seventh in the 4x200, eighth in the 800 sprint medley and ninth in the 4x100.
In the field events, Trudo and Reichard continued to perform well. Trudo tossed the shot put 43 feet, 8.5 inches, placing third, and was 15th in the discus with a distance of 88 feet, 5 inches. Reichard had a throw of 102 feet, 3 inches to finish eighth in that event. While Moses had another good long jump, placing third at 18 feet, 9.5 inches, he also tried his luck at the shot put, where a throw of 35 feet, 8 inches landed him 13th. McShane was fifth in the high jump with another height of 5 feet, 4 inches.
This week’s schedule includes a home meet on May 3, followed by the Upper Iowa Conference meet at North Fayette Valley on May 6.
