Division 2 boys find tough going in NSC track

Numbers are not on the side of the Grafton High School boys’ track and field team this season, and that makes competing in the North Shore Conference all the more challenging.

But the Black Hawks, one of two Division 2 schools in the league, still managed to score 40.5 points to take sixth place in the NSC indoor meet at Homestead last Thursday. West Bend West won with 115. Slinger scored 113.5. Port Washington, the other Division 2 school, scored 20 points to take ninth of 10 teams.

Senior Zander Lichosik, who took 11th in the Division 2 state cross country meet last fall, finished third in the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 12.23 seconds, and third in the 1,600 in 4:47.02.

“Zander is having a strong start to the season,” coach Kevin Kriegel said. Come outdoor season, “He will be a big plus for us.”

The 640 relay team of Joey Giorgi, Clayton Kleckner, Dominic Voiland and Jordan Abts was third in 1:23.68.

Giorgi was fourth in the 55 dash in 7.1, and Abts was eighth in 7.2. The Hawks advanced three to the finals, with Kleckner taking ninth in 7.29.

“Hopefully, our springs will be able to propel us,” Kriegel said.

Dylan Mursch took fourth in shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 11 inches.

Victor Geiser was fifth in the 800 in 2:17.83 and eighth in the 1,600 in 5:02.08.

The 3,200 relay team of Sam Peters, Jake Neperud, Nathan Baker and Luke Wolfe was sixth in 9:32.73.

Only 38 boys are on this year’s team, instead of the usual mid-50s, Kriegel said. This is the smallest team he has had since he took the program over in 2001.

The Hawks compete at a Madison West invite on Saturday.

Shorthanded Port boys struggle to score

The Pirates beat out Cedarburg’s 15 points.

The Pirates were missing Jake Lippe with a wrist injury, and sprinter Deron Spicer isn’t back yet.

“I think we’ve got some guys who will be able to score outdoors for us,” coach Mark Pasten said.

“The group we took there did a good job competing, gave it their all. I was pleased with their effort. It’s tough to score points in the North Shore Conference, so we’ll take anything we can get.”

The 3,200 relay team of Isaac Bensen, Ben Pasten, Jake Markiewicz and Zach Gephart took fourth in 9:27.2. The first three runners kept the Pirates in contention, coach Pasten said, before Gephart vaulted from seventh to fourth, “so Zach did outstanding.”

Senior cross country runner Brett Grisar took seventh in the 1,600 in 5:02.07 and eighth in the 800 in 2:19.07. Pasten said he wasn’t expecting any points in the 800 from Grisar, typically a 3,200 runner.

“He put in a really solid effort,” he said.

Junior George Klassen took seventh in the 55 hurdles in 8.79. He wasn’t able to train for the event since Port doesn’t have the proper surface.

“With very limited training, he has grown leaps and bounds from last year,” Pasten said.

Klassen was eighth in the 200 in 26.35 and eighth in the high jump, clearing 5-6.

The 1,600 relay team of Will Stopczynski, Bensen, William Handziak and Klassen was eighth in 4:10.58.

At the Ripon College Showcase on Saturday, the seven-member Port team scored 18 points to take 11th place of 15 teams in the small school division.

Grisar was fourth in the 3,200 in 10:40.61. Pasten said Grisar “didn’t execute it the way I wanted him too, fell off the pace at the end of the race,” but in the end he reached the goal of 10:40.

The 3,200 relay team of Grisar, Bensen, Markiewicz and Stopczynski was fifth in 9:03.12. All four ran their best times of the year, Pasten said. It was Stopczynski’s first time running in the event.

Handziak was sixth in the 60 hurdles in 10.45 and sixth in the triple jump in 37-3.

Stopzcynski was sixth in the long jump with a 19-1.

Ben Pasten was eighth in the 1,600,  nearly reaching his goal of breaking the 5-minute mark by finishing in 5:00.17. The 1,600 relay team of Stopczynski, Markiewicz, Handziak and Bensen and was eighth in 3:50.87.

Stopczynski, Pasten said, is “very versatile. I wish I could put him in more events.”

Klassen and Gephart missed the meet due to a baseball scrimmage.

The Pirates next compete at a Madison West invite on Saturday.