 Port girls rack up top finishes, boys’ relay places second in tune-ups for North Shore meet, outdoor season
Port Washington’s girls’ and boys’ track teams turned in some good performances last Saturday in the final tune-up before this week’s North Shore Conference Indoor Meet.
The girls scored 71 points and ended up fourth of eight teams at the Chris Wilson Invitational at Milwaukee Lutheran.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran won the meet with 101 points, followed by Milwaukee Lutheran with 99 and Oconomowoc with 81.5. Wilmot Union took fifth with 39, followed by Union Grove’s 37, Waukesha North’s 30 and Wauwatosa West’s 27.5.
Coach Joe Adamak said he brought 11 team members to the meet and limited their number of events. The Pirates won two events, took three seconds and one third.
Freshman Bianca Benkley won the 1,600-meter run in 5:31, a sign that good things should be on the way the rest of the season, Adamak said.
“A freshman running 5:31 is an excellent time to start out the year,” he said.
Junior Payton Greisch won the 400 dash in 1:04.35, a better time than she turned in when winning this meet’s event last season.
Benkley took second in the 800 in 2:37, running with teammate Diana Seer who took fourth in 2:43.
Ashley Hilton took second in the 3,200, and the 800 relay team of Hilton, Seer, Anna Bartlein and Jenny Roden was second in 11:07.97.
 Marly Trier had a personal-best 33 feet, 4 inches in the shot put. Her specialty is discus, which isn’t thrown indoors, Adamak said. The junior made it to sectionals in discus last season and will focus on getting to state this year.
“Everyone performed very well,” Adamak said, adding the team used the meet “just to gain experience, a benchmark of where we’re at for this week.”
The boys scored eight points and took 20th place of 32 teams in Saturday’s Lake Michigan Invitational at Carthage College in Kenosha. Evanston won with 83.5 points, followed by Port’s conference rival Homestead with 83.3.
Coach Mark Pasten brought 13 competitors to the meet. The Pirates’ 800 relay team of Jared Sandlin, Justin Fote, Steven Nelson and Adam Prom took second in 8:28.31.
“They ran really well to take second in a field of that size,” Pasten said.
The relay team’s makeup will change throughout the season, Pasten said the 800 is one of the strengths of his team.
Homestead won the event in 8:26.97.
Jared Sandlin took 10th of 69 runners in the 800 in 2:04.15.
“Under 2:05 is a very solid time,” he said.
Jeff Bartow finished 19th of 65 runners in the 1,600 in 4:49. Pasten said he seeded Bartow at 4:48, so he is right on target.
In the 3,200, Justin Fote ended up 21st in 10:45.32. Brandon Hinneberg was right behind him in 22nd in 10:46.04 of 44 runners, even though they ran in different heats. Auggie Yates took 29th in 11:01.45.
Pasten said Fote is usually a half-miler and “for him that was a really good effort.” He said Hinneberg is an experienced two-miler and that time was a decent place to start.
Pasten said he is impressed with Yates, a junior in his first year out for track.
“He’s having an outstanding year so far,” the coach said.
In the 200, Joel McIlree took 31st of 79 runners in 24.55, a personal best.
Pasten said this is the largest meet his team has on its schedule.
The North Shore Conference Indoor Meet on Wednesday closed the indoor season.
AT LAST THURSDAY’S Sheboygan South Triangular Indoor Track Meet, Port’s Mary Babcock took the baton from Anna Bartlein in the 3,200-meter relay. The meet was a warm-up for a strong showing by the girls’ team in weekend action at Milwaukee Lutheran. In boys’ competition, Port’s Trevor Swartwout cleared the bar in the pole vault Thursday. The indoor track season was to wrap up Wednesday at the North Shore Conference Indoor Meet. Photos by Sam Arendt
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