After he dislodged the bar in his first attempt of the second round, it looked like Thayne Remiger would only achieve a leap of 5-0 during the high jump competition at the Valley Conference indoor meet on Monday.
It would be unfair to expect a ton more from the sophomore. After all, his first ever practice jump was just days before he competed in last week's season-opening indoor meet. There, he didn’t clear the 5-0 entrance height.
But after missing in the MSU,M fieldhouse six days later, Remiger got back in line and ascended over the rail safely in his next attempt. He cleared 5-4 too but in just one try. It took him three shots at 5-6, but he flopped over the bar without incident on his final attempt.
It wasn’t until the 5-8 mark, the winning height, that Remiger found his limit, but he still took a respectable third place. The second-place jumper also topped out at 5-6, but he made fewer attempts.
“Even at practice, Thayne showed great potential,” said Loyola/Cleveland first-year head coach Alex Nuy. “He quickly understood the fundamentals and form of the event. We look forward to seeing him improve even more as the season progresses.”
While Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet ran away with the meet, both the Loyola/Cleveland boys and girls teams took home a decent second place.
Also at the meet, the boys 4x200 relay team of Josh Kann, Henry Strobel, Nick Huisken and Simon Morgan took first place.
Strobel said their 1:43.37 finish was just a half second longer than the Crusaders’ indoor record.
“The first person who normally runs was on vacation, so Josh had to run it. But he put me in a good spot, and I did the best I could for the team. I am very happy with the outcome.”
Other gold-medal performances at the meet included the boys 4x800 relay team of Corbin Deichman, Chase Kijenski, Kyle Zimmerman and Carter Zimmerman (9:29.66).
The girls 4x400 relay team of Maddie Huiras, Audrey Westman, Enara Aguiriano and Lauren Yensih took first place with a time of 4:51.22.
Morgan won the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.26 seconds and also came in first in the intermediate hurdles with a time of 8.14 seconds.
Kylie Kolars took first place in the both the high jump (4 feet 10 inches) and the long jump (15 feet).
Nathan Strobel was seventh in the 1500-meter run (4:55.67) and fifth in the 800-meter run (2:28.49). Elijah Mons finished ninth in the 400-meter dash (55.11). Henry Strobel was fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.09). TJ Waldron was seventh in the 3000-meter run (11:35.30).
With a leap of 35-7, Henry Strobel was third in the triple jump while Remiger was seventh in the long jump (13-09).
On the girls side, sophomore Mylie Krenik came in eighth in the 200 (34.38). With a 4-2 leap, sophomore Kamryn Lindsay tied for seventh in the high jump.
With their April 10 meet in Sleepy Eye postponed, the Crusaders are planning to get back on the track on April 13 when they take a road trip to Janesville.
Team scores:
Girls
1st - Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 149
2nd - Loyola/Cleveland 59
3rd - Saint Clair/Immanuel Lutheran 50
4th - Martin County West/Butterfield-Oden 45
5th - Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther 13
Boys
1st - Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 154
2nd - Loyola/Cleveland 78
3rd - Saint Clair/Immanuel Lutheran 41
4th - Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther 32
5th - Martin County West/Butterfield-Oden 27
Henry Strobel hands off to Nick Huisken in the 4x200. The Crusaders took first place.
Nathan Strobel in the 800.
Elijah Mons runs down the stretch in the 400.
Henry Strobel in the triple jump.
Nathan Strobel in the 1500.
Mylie Krenik in the 200.
Henry Strobel sprints the 200.
TJ Waldron in the 3000-meter run.