Lyons, Smith compete in their first ever track meet

Carson Lyons out for track & field? Braeden Smith too?

Yep. Already three-sport athletes, the juniors added another activity to their resumes when they put on a Crusader uniform and laced up their running shoes for a meet at Janesville on Thursday.

As they both are starters on the varsity baseball team, a priority for them, they won’t make every meet, but they will participate as their schedule allows.

“I’ve always wanted to do track,” said Lyons. “Last year I wanted to do it too, but it didn’t work with baseball. This year it did, and I can make most of the track meets, so I wanted to try it. Some of my friends are in it too.”

The Crusader girls were third of seven teams while the boys took fifth.

On the boys side, Maple River won the event with 159 points. JWP/WEM was second with 125.5 points. LCWM/Nicollet was third with 110.5 points. St. Clair/Immanuel Lutheran was fourth with 78 points, 10 more than the Crusaders’. GHEC/T/ML had 43 points, and Mt. Lake Area/Comfrey had 20 points.

For the girls, JWP/WEM won with 141 points. St. Clair/Immanuel Lutheran scored 133.33 points. Loyola/Cleveland/MCA had 111.5 3 points. LCWM/Nicollet had 88 points, Maple River had 71.7 points, and MLA/Comfrey scored 21.2 points.

Since JWP/WEM and St Clair were the top two teams in the girls section meet last year while Maple River and LCWM/Nicollet were first and third respectively for boys last year. he meet, which ended in about 40 degrees F temperature, fielded some of the better area teams.

“Against some of the top competition in the section, we competed admirably,” said head coach Casey Olson. “We had lots of new PRs and top placings to go along with our strong team finishes. We're still working a lot of the new kids into the fold and figuring out what events they'll be best at, so it's an exciting time of experimenting.”

Olson said that the bevy of new Cleveland kids on the team are starting to develop their track legs.

“They're dropping lots of time, so it'll be fun to see their progress throughout the year. Tanner Simonette has adapted quickly, and Carson Lyons and Braeden Smith both had strong debuts in their first meet after only a couple of practices. Emma Kortuem, Clara Hilfer and Aubrey Blaschko, although not new to the sport, have started strong this year too as has newcomer Jocelyn Kortuem.”

Boys results, JWP meet

Lyons finished the 100-meter dash in 12.38 for a respectable sixth place of 25 runners. The winning time was 11.33. Lyons also ran the second leg of the 4x200 and handed the baton to Smith.

Lyons said his first meet “went ok.” It’s too early for him to set goals, but whatever the season brings, he knows that, like his classmates who also joined the Crusaders for the first time this season, being on the track will help him stay in shape and up his speed in his other three sports.

Smith was eighth of 23 runners in the 200. His 25.72 finish was 2.38 seconds behind the winner. He edged out Simonette by just 0.24 seconds. In the high jump, Smith cleared 5-2.

Just a seventh grader, Griffin Rutz earned bronze in the 1600. His 5:10.56 finish was 14.55 seconds behind the winner of the 18-member field. Reece Nelson was 12th with a 5:55.48 finish.

With a 20.14 finish, Luke Kortuem was sixth of 12 runners in the 110-m hurdles. The winning time was 15.73. In the 300-m hurdles, Kortuem finished in 50.60 for 12th of 17 runners. The winning time was 44.11.

Simonette led off the second-place 4x100 team and handed off to Wyatt Krenik. The quartet finished the race in 49.13, just 2.87 seconds behind the winners. Five teams competed.

Elijah Mons led off the 4x400 and handed off to Rutz. Nelson anchored the quartet, which finished in 4:25.30.

Jack Shouler put the shot a personal best 31.4. Oliver Starke chucked the disc 57-7. Luke Kortuem pole vaulted 7-6.

With a 9:56.19 finish, Soren Kelley was way out in front in the 3200-meter run. There were nine competing in that race. Kelly also anchored the first-place 4x800 team. He crossed the finish line at the 9:37.46 mark.

Girls results, JWP meet

With a 5.23.85 finish in the 1600, Charlotte Meyer took home the only gold for the Crusader girls. There were 18 competing.

A glutton for punishment, Meyer was the only girl to also ran the 3200. With the boys on the course at the same time, the freshman got pinned in heading around a curve, which slowed her time somewhat, and her 10:40.02 finish was 15.49 seconds behind the winner. A dozen girls competed.

Jocelyn Kortuem high jumped 4-10 for second place. Vivian Hilfer high jumped 4-2. The winning jump was 5-0. There were 20 competing.

Kortuem also ran the second leg in the 4x400. The Crusaders’ 4:54.09 put them in fourth place. The winning time was 4:21.68.

With a 14-10.5 personal best leap, Emma Kortuem took second in the long jump. Jocelyn Kortuem leaped 13-75 for ninth place, and Liviana Lee made 13-0 for 11th place. The longest leap was 15-8. There were 24 competing.

Emma Kortuem also set a personal best mark in the triple jump with a fourth-place leap of 30-8.5. Lee jumped a personal best 26-6.5 in the triple for 12th place. The longest jump among the 19 competitors was 33-4.25.

Vivian Hilfer also anchored the fifth-place 4x100 team. She crossed the finish line in 1:00.87.

Blaschko’s 30.50 finish in the 200 was good for ninth place. Miah Bauer finished in 34.92 for 23rd place. The winning time among the 26 runners was 27.81. Blaschko and Bauer teamed up in the third-place 4x200 with Bauer handing off to Blaschko at anchor. Blaschko crossed the finish line in 2:01.07. The winning time was 1:53.48.

Clara Hilfer was leading the 100-m hurdles when her knee caught the third-to-the-last hurdle. Picking herself up, she plowed over the next hurdle before clearing the final hurdle. Her 21.08 put her in ninth place. A dozen competed, and the winning time was 18.19.

Clara Hilfer took sixth in the 300-m hurdles with a personal best 55.17. The winning time among the 14 runners was 49.71. She also pole vaulted 7-6, which put her in a three-way tie for third place. The highest vault among the 16 competitors was 8-0.

Rayna Williams put the shot 25-8.5 for ninth place. Neenah Lassiter’s 20-2.5 put was good for 22nd place. The winning put among the 25-member field was 31-11. Williams flung the discus 56-8 for 16th place. The winning throw in the 25-member field was 86-9.

St James meet

The Crusaders were coming off an April 7 meet in St. James. The boys were second of five teams while the girls were third.

With 155 points, six more than the Crusaders, the Tri-City United boys won the meet. Rounding out the field were St. James/Madelia with 121 points, GHEC/T/ML with 66 points and Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin with 58 points.

With 160 points, St. James/Madelia won the girls meet. TCU was right behind with 157 points, 16 more than the Crusaders totaled. MCW/BO totaled 62 points, and GHEC/T/ML totaled 29 points.

With a 2:95.70 personal best finish, Soren Kelley was first in the 800-m run. The senior also took gold in the 1600 when he crossed the finish line in a blistering 4:36. 50.

The boys 4x400 and 4x800 teams also took gold. Mons ran the second leg of the 4x400 while Rutz ran the second leg of the 4x800.

Charlotte Meyer won both the 800 and the 1600 while Clara Hilfer won the 100-meter hurdles.

Blaschko carried the baton in the second leg of the first-place 4x100 team.

Boys results at St. James:

100: Wyatt Krenik, fifth (three-way tie), PB 12.50
400: Tanner Simonette, third, 59.00
3200: Griffin Rutz, second, 11:19.50; Reece Nelson, fifth, 12:36.10
300 H: Luke Kortuem, PB 50.20
4x200: Tanner Simonette, Wyatt Krenik Jack Shouler, Sam Ternes, second, 1:45.50
4x400: Andrew Tieva, Elijah Mons, Brayden Hecksel, Soren Kelly, first, 3:52.404x800: Jack Green, Griffin Rutz, Francis Bierer, Mitchel Buboltz, first, 9:23.31
SP: Oliver Starke, 14th, 24-1
HJ: Elijah Mons, fourth (tied), PB 5-0
PV: Luke Kortuem, fourth (tied), PB 8-6

Girls results at St. James:
100: Emma Kortuem, eighth (tie), PB 14.60; Aubrey Blaschko, eighth (tie), 14.60; Miah Bauer, 10th, 14.80
200: Jocelyn Kortuem, sixth (tie), PB 29.70
800: Charlotte Meyer, first, 2:31.20
1600: Charlotte Meyer, first, 5.21.90
100 H: Clara Hilfer, first, PB 17.80
4x100: Miah Bower, Kailey Campbell, Aubrey Blaschko, Kenna Forster, first, 55.60
4x200: Maya McMichael, Sierra McCabe, Avaya Schultz, Emma Vanderberg, fourth, 2:14.40
4x400: Lily Phillips, Kenna Forster, Lea Taylor, Charlotte Meyer, second, 4:48.70
SP: Reyna Williams, 11th, 25-9.5; Neenah Lassiter, 16th, 19-5
Discus: Williams, 10th, PB 60-6
HJ: Jocelyn Kortuem, fourth, 4-10; Liviana Lee, ninth, 4-4
PV: Clara Hilfer, second, 7-0
LJ: Emma Kortuem, fourth, 13-10; Lee, ninth, 11-11; McCabe, 18th, PB 8-10
TJ: Emma Kortuem, second, 29-3.5; Lee, sixth, 26-4

The Crusaders will be back in uniform tomorrow (Tuesday) when they travel to Lake Crystal.

Above: Carson Lyons took sixth place in his first ever track & field competition: the JWP 100-m dash

Reece Reece Nelson in the JWP 1600

Griffin Griffin Rutz in the JWP 1600

Vivian Vivian Hilfer ran the last leg of the JWP 4x100.

Wyatt Wyatt Krenik ran the second leg of the JWP 4x100.

Emma Emma Kortuem crosses the finish line in the JWP 400.

Neenah Neenah Lassiter coils for a put at Janesville.

Rayna Rayna Williams winds up for a put at Janesville.

Clara Down the stretch in the JWP 100-m hurdles, Clara Hilfer banged into the next hurdle and biffed onto the track. Without the mishap, she likely would have won the event, but she did manage to recover and finish the race.