Lentz, Schubert break Ozaukee school records

Ozaukee High School’s two track and field state meet qualifiers did more than earn a trip to La Crosse last week.

They made school history in the process.

Junior Jack Lentz broke his own record in the shot put with a throw of 52 feet, 1.5 inches, good for third and a spot at state.

“It feels really great. I knew it would be tough with the competition we had this year and that I would have to throw my best to have a chance,” Lentz said.

“I think a lot of my success came from taking things slow this season and not rushing anything. I only made slight tweaks at a time and peaked at the end of the season. It’s truly a blessing and I give all glory to God. Without him none of this would be possible.”

Junior Nicholas Schubert took fourth — the final qualifying spot — in the 3,200-meter run in 9 minutes, 53.74 seconds in a school record. He finished 12 seconds ahead of the fifth-place runner.

“I definitely came into that race as a big underdog. My main goal was to stick with that top-four pack, which I feel I definitely executed perfectly. After the mile, there were three guys that split and I really had to dig to stick with them and keep myself in a good spot,” he said.

“When I crossed that line I was overwhelmed. I mean, it’s been a very long goal of mine to reach our school record and qualify for track state.”

Both qualifiers are big fans of each other and are glad to have company going to state.

“We’ve both been talking about getting those records since we were little,” Lentz said.

“We’ve competed together our whole lives and it’ll be super cool to share this experience together,” Schubert said.

Lentz who also holds Ozaukee’s record in the discus, nearly qualified in that event. His throw of 151-1 was fifth, one foot  from fourth.

Ozaukee’s boys had two other sectional competitors. Wyatt Borchardt was eighth in the 800 in 2:05.77. Fritz Hoffmann was 12th in the 300 hurdles in 44.17 seconds.

The girls had five entries: Helen Utecht, seventh, shot put, 35-3.25, and discus, ninth, 102-5; Lilia Steinert, high jump, seventh, 4-10; the 3,200 relay of Maggie Hoffmann, Katelyn Gomez, Eva VanMinsel and Madison Glaeser, ninth, 11:01.74; and Victoria Radke, 16th, long jump, 13-5.25.

“We’re very proud of the way our athletes competed at sectionals,” coach Chris Utecht said. “Several athletes achieved personal-bests and rose to the challenge of competing at a very high level, which is a good way to end the season. We are excited that most of our sectional qualifiers will be returning next season, giving us a great group to build around moving forward.”