Distance runners help Grafton and Port

Distance and field events helped a small Grafton High School girls’ team hang in there against larger competition at the North Shore Conference indoor track and field championships at Cedarburg on March 20.

The Black Hawks scored 42 points and took seventh place of 10 teams.

Homestead won with 86.5 points. Slinger scored 80.5 and Whitefish Bay had 79.5.

The Hawks’ 1,600-meter relay team of Maddy Wille, Ava Wilmanns, Morgan Ruona and Kate Senczyszyn took second in 4 minutes, 25.65 seconds.

The 3,200 relay team of Wille, Anna Eifert, Julia Craun and Ruona was third in 10:45.04.

Julia Wille took third in the 1,600 in 5:42.55 and fourth in the 800 in 2:36.89.

Grace Gasser was fourth in the high jump by clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.

Senczyszyn was fifth in the 400 in 1:06.51 and Taylor Weiss was fifth in shot put with a 32-05.

Wilmanns was seventh in the long jump with a 15-04.25 and Alexis Cabell was seventh in the 50 hurdles in 9.25.

“It’s always nice to be able to score some points and place as a team,” coach Kevin Kriegel said.

Sprinter Delaney Reindl missed the meet due to injury and Gasser is a little banged up, he said.

Quality aside, Kriegel won’t have quantity to rely on this season. The Hawks have 21 girls on the team, down from the mid to high 30s.

“Numbers are pretty low on the team this year. It certainly shows depth-wise,” he said, adding he isn’t sure why the team is so small. It’s not school size – this year’s freshman class isn’t any smaller than last year’s senior class.

“We’ve been successful as a program in the past,” he said.

Stacey stars for Port Washington girls

The Port Washington girls finished with 28 points and in last place in the NSC indoor meet, just behind West Bend East’s 30.

Sophomore cross country state qualifier Bethany Stacey, in her first time attempting the 3,200, won the race in 12:19.36. Senior Jill Cavanaugh was fifth in 12:50.95.

The 3,200 relay team of Mira Stimac, Emma Goodman, Cavanaugh and Stacey took fifth in 10:53.74. The 1,600 relay team of Summer Normille, Goodman, Jane Kautz and Grace Schumacher was sixth in 4:49.5, less than a second behind Hartford for fifth. Coach Joe Adamak said the Pirate could have placed a notch higher if Normille hadn’t been accidentally knocked over during the race by someone putting away equipment. Normille wasn’t injured and bounced back up to continue running, but the damage was done.

“She had a 15-meter lead on the girl behind her and all of a sudden she’s 30 meters behind,” he said. “That stuff happens indoors and that’s why nobody takes that meet seriously.”

Senior Katie Erlandson took sixth in the 1,600 in 6:12.5, and her freshman teammate Claire Woods was seventh in 6:15.13.

Stimach was seventh in the 3,200 in 12:54.24.

Adamak said he held out some of his sprinters due to hamstring and other issues.

The girls on Saturday scored 42 points and took fifth of 16 teams in the small school division of the Ripon College Showcase. Freedom won with 97.5. Baraboo had 77 points.

Stacey won the 1,600 by less than three seconds in 5:29.75, and Cavanaugh won the 3,200 by nine seconds in 12:35.72, a score that beat all the runners from the large schools as well.

The 800 relay team of Abby Fritsch, Grace Schumacher, Normille and Julia Greisch was third in 1:57.96.

Stacey took fourth in the 800 in 2:37.28, and Stimac, despite tripping over another runner, took fourth in the 3,200 in 13:01.28.

The 3,200 relay team of Emma Goodman, Erlandson, Cavanaugh and Stimac was fifth in 10:56.42.

“The kids work very hard. It pays off in the long distances. We’ve just got to shore up some of these short distances and we’ll get there,” Adamak said.

The Pirates were scheduled to compete Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Adamak said he’s holding Stacey out of the meet to give other girls a chance to compete.

“They realized that it’s the end of the season that you’ve really got to make do,” he said of his veteran runners.

The indoor season is providing opportunities for development.

“It’s fun to watch them gain more confidence, especially these younger girls,” Adamak said.