Jackson County Central’s track and field teams got their seasons underway Saturday at the Wolverine Invitational indoors at Myers Field House at Minnesota State University in Mankato.
There are numerous differences between indoor and outdoor meets beyond the obvious, but JCC coach Rafe York likes being able to have an indoor meet to get a better feeling for where his athletes are at.
“It’s nice to get an early indoor meet that we can go easy on the kids and just do one or two events and get them back into that competitive mentality,” said York. “It gets them out of practice, because just doing it in practice can get a little rough.”
While the Huskies and all teams in southwest Minnesota have enjoyed a nice start to the season in regard to the weather, it’s time to see some different faces.
“Practice is practice, York commented. “It’s good to see how we stack up against the other teams. In practice we know who’s fast and who’s not, so coming here we get a better sense of how fast.”
With the indoor meet completed, the coaches can go to work on ways to improve each athlete’s performance and also adjust events.
“We can tweak some things,” he said. “We know what kids can do time-wise and build on it.”
The Huskies were first in the girls team standings with 147 points, with River Valley second in the six-team meet with 122.
Senior Rylie Cother is expected to be one of the team’s scoring leader throughout the season and she started the season with four first-place finishes. She won the long jump (15-10 ½), high jump (5-0), 55-meter low hurdles (9.11) and 55-meter high hurdles (9.37).
Other firsts for the JCC girls came from senior Tianna Uilk in shot put (32-9), senior Erica Hanson in the pole vault (8-6) and sophomore Paylin Sether in the triple jump (30-9).
Jackson County Central was third in the boys team standings. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet was first with 136 points, followed by Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (86) and the Huskies (85).
Junior James Atura had JCC’s lone first-place finish as he won the 55-meter intermediate hurdles (8.84).
The Huskies have added a meet to their schedule as they’re now slated to travel to Mountain Lake Thursday.
WOLVERINE INDOOR INVITATIONAL
At Mankato
Girls team standings
1. Jackson County Central 147, 2. River Valley 122, 3. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 77, 4. Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 52, 5. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 38, 6. Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central 22.
JCC place winners
Track events
55 meters: Natalia Botello-Ramos, 1st, 8.12; Paylin Sether, 4th, 8.41.
200 meters: Stevie Untiedt, 2nd, 29.74; Zoey Hall, 4th, 30.41; Natalia Botello-Ramos, 6th. 30.83.
400 meters: Stevie Untiedt, 2nd, 67.67; Mara Swan, 5th, 71.06; Erica Hanson, 6th, 71.23.
1600 meters: Naiya Ayers, 6th, 6:30.41.
55 meter low hurdles: Rylie Cother, 1st, 9.11.
55 meter high hurdles: Rylie Cother, 1st, 9.37.
Field events
Shot put: Tianna Uilk, 1st, 32-9; Payton Coquyt, 2nd, 30-6.5; Renae Vancura, 6th, 27-11.5.
High jump: Rylie Cother, 1st, 5-0.
Pole vault: Erica Hanson, 1st, 8-6; Isabella Moonen, 2nd, 7-6.
Long jump: Rylie Cother, 1st, 15-10.5; Paylin Sether, 4th, 13-8.5; Stevie Untiedt, 5th, 13-6.5.
Triple jump: Paylin Sether, 1st, 30-9; Zadi Farmer, 2nd, 28-9.75; Zoey Hall, 6th, 26-7.
Relays
4x800: Naiya Ayers, Amiree Elias Galvan, Abigail Mohr, Zadi Farmer, 3rd, 12:40.24.
Boys team standings
1. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 136, 2. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 86, 3. Jackson County Central 85, 4. River Valley 81, 5. Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 54, 6. Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central 19.
JCC place winners
Track events
55 meters: Clay Malchow, 3rd, 7.25; Gage Johnson, 4th, 7.31; Tavion Diggs, 6th, 7.43.
200 meters: Ben Dahlin, 2nd, 24.16; Isaac Hesebeck, 6th, 25.73.
55 meter high hurdles: James Atura, 3rd, 10.15.
55 meter int. hurdles: James Atura, 1st, 8.84.
Field events
Shot put: Kyler Hall, 4th, 37-8.
High jump: Tellef Landherr, 4th, 5-6; Grant Freking, 6th, 5-0.
Pole vault: Quinn Landherr, 2nd, 12-0; Braeden Tufvesson, 4th, 10-0; Tellef Landherr, 5th, 10-0; Grant Ambrose, 6th, 9-6.
Long jump: Tavion Diggs, 6th, 16-8.5.
Triple jump: Tellef Landherr, 2nd, 36-3.5; James Atura, 3rd, 35-8; Austin O'Reilly, 6th, 31-9.
Relays
4x400: Braeden Tufvesson, Ever Munoz, Tellef Landherr, Dezmynd Tupper, 4th, 4:00.88.
4x800: Grant Ambrose, Gavin Tusa, David Botello-Ramos, Braeden Tufvesson, 3rd. 10:23.98.