Sports News - April 23-28
Boy’s Track Team Wins Mid-State by Alisha White
The Pierce High boy’s track team placed first at the Mid-State Conference meet at Norfolk Catholic on Saturday, April 28. Pierce’s boys won with a total of 101 points, and the girl’s track team placed seventh with 34.5 points.
For girls, in the 100 meter hurdles, Katie Atkins placed first with a time of :15.60 and Maddie Jenkins placed eighth. In the 100 meter dash, Jacy Bretschneider placed seventh. In the 400 meter dash, Alisha White placed eighth. In the 3200 meter run, Shannah Unseld placed fifth with a time of 12:55.40. In the 200 meter dash, Allison Koehlmoos placed seventh and Jacy Bretschneider placed sixth with a time of 28.20. In the 800 meter run, Rachelle Tucker placed eighth. In the 300 meter hurdles, Katie Atkins placed fourth with a time of :48.50. In the 4x100 meter relay, the girls placed fourth with a time of :52.10. In the 4x400 meter relay, the girls placed fifth with a time of 4:33.70. In high jump, Krystina Koepke placed sixth at 4’10”. In pole vault, Sydney Silhacek placed sixth with a height of 8’. In long jump, Allison Koehlmoos placed third with a jump of 15’02”. In triple jump, Rachelle Tucker placed fourth with a jump of 32’04” and Krystina Koepke placed seventh. In discus, Ashton Johnson placed seventh.
For boys, in the 4x800 relay, the boys placed third with a time of 8:55.20. In the 110 meter hurdles, Tyler Lindsay placed first with a time of :15.50 and Myles Sudbeck placed sixth with a time of :17.70. In the 100 meter dash, Chance Larsen placed third with a time of :11.42 and Austin Koehlmoos placed sixth with a time of :11.69.
In the 400 meter dash, Connor Reed placed first with a time of :51.60 and Aydan Ronspies placed third with a time of :52.70. In the 3200 meter run, Caleb Lohrberg placed fourth with a time of 11:02.90. In the 200 meter dash, Austin Koehlmoos placed eighth and Connor Reed placed seventh. In the 300 meter hurdles, Tyler Lindsay placed second with a time of :41.70 and Trent Spieker placed sixth with a time of :44.5. In the 4x100 meter relay, the boys placed first with a time of :44.37. In the 4x400 meter relay, the boys placed second with a time of 3:32.80. In high jump, Lane Rohrich placed fourth at 5’10” and Christian Beery placed sixth at 5’06”. In pole vault, Matt Penne placed fourth with a height of 10’06”. In long jump, Zach Mayfield placed fourth with a jump of 19’07”. In triple jump, Connor Reed placed second with 42’01”, Tyler Pettitt placed fourth with 40’08”, and Thomas Tucker placed sixth with a jump of 39’06”. In discus, Eddie Francois placed fourth with a throw of 135’09”. In shot put, Eric Hoffmann placed eighth.
The Pierce High track team will compete next at Norfolk Catholic on Thursday, May 3 beginning at 3 p.m.
Heat Doesn’t Stop Track Meet by Laurie Venteicher
Pierce High’s freshman/sophomore boys’ and girls’ track teams battled both the 90 degree heat and other teams at the Pierce Freshman-Sophomore Invitational on Tuesday, April 24, at the high school track.
Overall, Pierce’s girls finished second, and the boys finished fourth. Seven other area schools attended the meet: Norfolk Public, Wayne, Boone Central, Norfolk Catholic, Battle Creek, O’Neill, and Madison.
The girls’ team saw many students placing in the top six. In high jump, Rachel Tweedy finished second. Sydney Silhacek finished sixth in pole vault. Allison Koehlmoos earned second place in long jump, third place in the 100m dash, and first in the 200m dash. Hannah Higgins finished fifth in triple jump. Rachel McGill came in second in shot put. Maddie Jenkins earned third in the 100m hurdles. Alisha White finished fourth in the 400m dash. Briana Polt finished third in the 300m hurdles, and Shannah Unseld earned first place in the 3200m run. Rachelle Tucker finished second in the 800m run and fifth in the 100m dash.
In girls’ group events the team of White, Jenkins, Silhacek, and Caitlyn Skuodas finished second in the 4x100m relay. The team of Skuodas, Polt, White, and Carly McElhose finished second in the 4x400m relay.
The boys also had many competitors place in the top six. The team of Noah Fisher, Johnnie Huff, Aydan Ronspies, and Myles Sudbeck finished first in the 4x400m relay. In individual events, Lane Rohrich finished first in the high jump; Matt Penne, first in the pole vault; Michael Fleer, sixth in triple jump; Braden Taylor, third in the 100m dash; Sudbeck, first in the 300m hurdles and second in the 110m hurdles; Ronspies, first, 800m run; Huff, fourth, 200m dash; and Caleb Lohrberg, first, 3200m run.
Freshman/sophomore track coach Tim Waldner said, “For this meet, I moved some students to new events. It was nice to see them try something new and be successful at it.” Alisha White also thought the day went well. “Considering how hot it was, I thought everyone did pretty well,” she said.
Finding the Fare Way by Molly Harris
The Pierce boys’ golf team had a slow day of golf on Thursday, April 26 at Hartington Cedar Catholic. The team placed fourth with a 340. Coach Hoefener was impressed with O’Neill’s team score of 307, and the Eagles placed first.
The weather was warm with a light breeze for a good day of golf and Devin West took advantage of it and was Pierce’s top golfer in eleventh place with 81 strokes. Zach Fehringer was in fifteenth place and had 83 strokes. Aaron Hanlin golfed an 86, keeping close to his teammates, but his placement is unknown.
The team seems to be in the rough lately, placing sixth at the Mid-State Conference meet held at Norfolk Catholic on Saturday, April 21. Hartington Cedar Catholic picked up this game with a winning score of 316. Pierce had 368 strokes. Zach Fehringer placed tenth with an 87. Devin West kept close with an 88. The junior varsity team had no placers but an honorable mention from Coach Hoefener. Hoefener was very proud of the efforts of the new team member, Collin Falter, who golfed a 110. Falter golfed a 53 the first nine holes and 57 the second nine.
Junior High Invite at Pierce by Morgan Hoferer
Pierce’s junior high boys and girls competed in a track meet on Monday, April 23 in Pierce. In division two Pierce JV placed sixth with 23 points. Wausa led division one with 113 points followed by Osmond, 101; Elkhorn Valley, 95; Battle Creek St. John’s B, 77; O Neill B, 42; and Pierce Zion, 11. In division one the Pierce boys placed first with 119 points followed by O’Neill with 95.25, Laurel-Concord with 87.75; Battle Creek St. John’s, 82.50; Plainview, 69.50; and Wakefield, 6.
In division one the Pierce girls placed second with 112 points. Battle Creek St. John’s with 115 points led division one girls. O’Neill came in third with 111 points, followed by Plainview with 100 and Wakefield with 21. In girls’ division two Battle Creek St John’s B led with 99.50 points. Teams that followed were Wausa with 93.50, Elkhorn Valley with 73.50, Pierce Zion with 55, Laurel-Concord with 53, Osmond with 44.50, O’Neill B with 30, Pierce JV with 8, and Wakefield B with 7.
In boys’ division one, Levi Sudbeck placed first in pole vault with a height of 7’2”. Mason Buckendahl placed second in triple jump with a jump of 35’8” followed by Brady Starkel for second with a jump of 33’5” and Seth Ruppert for fourth with a jump of 32’3.75”. Buckendahl placed third in long jump with a jump of 16’7.5” followed by Seth Ruppert for fourth with a jump of 15’3.5”. Bradon Dickey placed third in high jump with a height of 4’10”. Sudbeck placed fifth in high jump at 4’6”. In discus Buckendahl placed first with a throw of 30’5” followed by Kolin Ruppert for fourth place with a distance of 92’8”. In the 110 m hurdles Sudbeck placed first in :17.70. Starkel placed fourth in :18.20. In the 195 hurdles Starkel placed third in :30.00, followed by Sudbeck for fifth in :32.90. Austin Freeman placed sixth in the 100 m dash in 12.90. In the 200 m dash Walker Raabe took fourth in a time of :27.40. Noah Zimmerer took first in the 400 m dash with a time of 1:00.8. Theisen Ziehmer took fifth in the 800 m run with a time of 2:31.80. Raabe, Freeman, Ruppert, and Zimmerer took second place in the 4 X 100 m relay with a time of :51.90. Starkel, Zimmerer, Raabe, and Freeman took first place in the 4 X 400 m relay with a time of 4:13.70.
In girls’ division one, Alexis Behmer placed fifth in pole vault with a height of 5’. In triple jump, Jaci Brahmer placed second with a jump of 30’.4”. Brahmer also placed first in high jump with a height of 5’. Casey Sutherland placed first in girls’ long jump at 15’3.5”. Brandi Sporleder placed fourth in shot put with a throw of 23’6” followed by Hailey Race for fifth with a throw of 23’1”. In the 195 m hurdles Brahmer placed first in :31.30 Sutherland took first place in the 100 m hurdles in :16.30. Sutherland also took first in the 100 m dash in :12.80. Following in fourth was Emily Simmons in :13.90. Sutherland placed first in the 200 m dash in :27.20 . Simmons placed fifth in the 200 m dash in :30. In the 400 m dash Simmons placed second in 1:06.70. Brahmer placed third in the 400 m dash in 1:07.40. In the 4 X 100 m relay Behmer, Simmons, Race, and Ellie Moeller placed third with a time of :59.10
In boys’ division two Brady Simmons tied for third in high jump with a height of 4’4”. Bryce Bierman placed second in pole vault with a height of 5’8”. Simmons placed third in high jump at 4’4”. In the 800 m run Simmons placed third in 2:40. Kyle West placed sixth in the 800 m run in 2:56.40. In the 4 X 100 m relay Parker Baumann, Bierman, Spencer Emerson, and Austin Sporleder placed sixth in 1:08.7. Simmons, West, Shane Becker, and Junior Aguilar placed fifth in the 4 X 400 m relay.
In girls’ division 2 Haley Wieting placed third in pole vault with a height of 6’. Desirea Druyor placed fifth in pole vault in 5’.
Junior high track will compete on Tuesday, May 1 at Wayne.
Low Strokes Make Close Game by Molly Harris
To say that the Boys’ golf meet, held in Pierce on Saturday, April 28, was a close one is an understatement. The Pierce team placed second with 331 strokes, right behind the first place Hartington team with 330 strokes. The weather held for a good game of golf, slightly cold with sun and little wind.
The meet was close in all aspects. Zach Fehringer, a Pierce varsity player, placed first with a 77. Pierce’s Devin West placed second with a 78. Aaron Hanlin kept close with a placement of sixth and an 82. Matt Lukens placed twelfth with an 86. Chris McWilliams, a junior varsity player, was next in line of Pierce scores at twenty-second place and a 92. A first-year player, Collin Falter placed forty-second with a 101. Coach Larry Hoefener said, “Collin has shown steady improvement all year.”
Track Athletes Attend Norfolk Classic Track Meet by Timaree Reed
On April 26, a small group of Pierce High track athletes headed to Norfolk to the Johnny Carson Field to compete in the Norfolk Track Classic.
Tyler Lindsay and Trent Spieker competed against each other in the 110m hurdles. Lindsay placed second with a time of :15.4. Spieker placed seventh with a time of :15.8. In the 100m dash Austin Koehlmoos placed sixth with a time of :11.4, followed closely by Chance Larsen with a time of :11.5, giving Chance seventh place.
Connor Reed placed third in the 200m dash with a time of :23.35; Austin Koehlmoos placed seventh with a time of 23.99. The boys’ 4x1 relay team placed third overall with a time of :44.53. The 4x4 team placed eighth with a time of 3:41.54. In triple jump Tyler Pettitt placed fourth with a jump of 42’4.25”; Connor Reed placed fifth with a jump of 42’4”.
Katie Atkins competed in the 100m hurdles, where she placed second in a time of :15.6. Shannah Unseld placed ninth in the 3200m run in a time of 12:51.25. The girls’ 4x1 relay team placed fourth in a time of :51.96. In field events Rachelle Tucker placed sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 33’0.5”.
Golfers at Battle Creek
Pierce High took three golf teams to Battle Creek for a varsity and JV dual meet on Thursday, April 26. One varsity group and two JV groups played nine holes in the meet. Battle Creek beat the varsity group, finishing with 167 strokes to the Bluejays’ 170. All five of Pierce’s golfers hit in the forties with Zach Fehringer and Colby Johnson tying at 40, Mason Zimmerer carded a 44, and Devin West and Aaron Hanlin tied at 46 strokes. The best four scores counted for the team score.
On the first JV team, Matt Lukens carded the low score, a 45. Shane White and Zach Brenden each came in with 52, followed by Brandon Gerdes at 53 and Chris McWilliams at 57. Team score was 202.
For the second JV team, Collin Falter led his team with a score of 51, followed by Colin Magdanz and Clayton Lienemann, each with a 55, and Jarold McWilliams with a 61. Matt Proffitt carded a 63. Team score was 222.
