Contributing writer
Thursday was one of the few track meets this year where the weather was advantageous for athletes in the hunt for a gold medal. Goessel girls Tia Goertzen, Ali Buller, and Page Hiebert seized the day and won several Wheat State League events on the Goessel track.
Goertzen improved her personal best in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles to capture first place with a time of 17.1 seconds. In the 300-meter hurdles, she breezed to a comfortable win by more than three seconds with a time of 50.6.
Buller won first place in the 800 meter run, winning the two lap race by .60 seconds and setting a new league record in the event at 2 minutes, 34.6 seconds.
Page Hiebert ran the 400-meter dash for the first time this season and won by more than a second to claim first place. Her time was 1:05.7.
Goertzen, Buller, and Hiebert also participated in two relays, joined by Aleena Cook in the 4x100 where they took second; and joined by Erin Brubaker in the 4x400 relay team to capture first.
The Bluebird girls scored 97 points to finish in third place, behind Wakefield and Little River.
Girls’ points:
High Jump — 5. Brubaker 4’2”; 6. Cook 4’2”
Long Jump — 3. Hiebert 14’6.50”
100m Hurdles — 1. Goertzen 17.10; 4. Brubaker 19.50; 5. Alisha Nolte 21.00
300m Hurdles — 1. Goertzen 50.60; 3. Brubaker 54.20
100m dash — 3. Cook 13.70
200m dash — 3. Cook 29.30
400m dash — 1. Hiebert 1:05.70
800m — 1. Buller 2:34.60:
1600m — 3. Sophie Scheffe 6:29.30
4x100 Relay — 2. (Hiebert, Goertzen, Buller, Cook) 55.20
4x400 Relay — 1. (Buller, Goertzen, Brubaker, Hiebert) 4:30.30
Cook wins close one at home
Senior Davis Cook sprinted to a first-place finish in the 800- meter run. His lean at the finish line was good enough to earn gold by six-hundredths of a second.
Several Bluebirds scored points at the tough Wheat State League meet Thursday in Goessel, and several Bluebirds earned second places.
Heath Goertzen finished the 3,200-meter run comfortably in second place. Ben Wiens and Goertzen finished second and third, respectively, in the 1,600- meter run. The 4x800 relay team of Nathan Czarnowsky, Wiens, Grant Flaming and Cook also earned second place.
The Goessel boys’ team collected 67 points in the contest, finishing fifth.
The Bluebirds will be at Burlington on Friday for the 1A Regional Track Meet. The top four finishers in each event qualify to run at the state track meet the following weekend in Wichita.
Boys’ scores:
Triple Jump — 3. Cook 39’2.25”
Long Jump — 4. Shane Goerzen 18’7.00”; 6. Czarnowsky 18’2.75”
110m Hurdles — 6. Zach Wiens 19.00
100m dash — 5. Goerzen 11.70
800m — 1. Cook 2:09.93 4. Czarnowsky 2:11.40;
1,600m — 2. B. Wiens 5:03.90; 3. Goertzen 5:06.30
3,200m — 2. Goertzen 11:57.10; 5. Bjoern Schumman 12:20.90; 6. David Hesse 13:19.30
4x100 Relay 4. (Goerzen, Chase Flaming, Mark Schmidt, Cook) 47.20
4x400 Relay 5. (Henrik Feltons, Jake Herrel, Aaron Woelk, Z. Wiens) 4:41.00
4x800 Relay 2. (Czarnowsky, Grant Flaming, B. Wiens, Cook) 9:03.70