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Knights Run Away with Conference Crowns

By Dave Schleicher, 05/19/19, 3:00PM CDT

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The West Central Area Knights traveled to Wheaton to compete for Pheasant Conference Track and Field titles this past Thursday, and they left little doubt.

“Our kids came ready to compete today, and we couldn’t be prouder of them,” stated Coach David Schleicher, “The coaching staff and I put forth the challenge of Conference titles early on in the season and they ALL responded.”  He went on to say, “We did our best to fill the events with those who could score points for us, so we had some kids doing events they hadn't done all season as well as kids that were competing for their first few times in the Varsity meets, and they all did fantastic”.

The Knights led off the scoring in the men’s and women’s 4x800 meter relay, The men’s team of Alex Sawasser, Shad Swanson, Nathaniel Junker and Dane Anderson turned in a great performance to edge out Wheaton with a time of 9:50.34, the women followed that up with a win of their own, Alexa Blume, Taylor Bennett, Ella Vankempen and Terina Blascyk ran way with the victory with a time of 11:59.60.

Autumn Clavin was the lone scorer in the 100m hurdles with a solid 6th place finish with Whitney Westrom finishing in 8th. “They are both 7th graders and learning the event and we are excited to see them develop,” said Coach Schleicher. Brady Reeve, running the event for the first time ever placed 8th overall.

The 100m dash was led by Jr. Kaylyn Uhlrich with a time of 14.06 to grab 3rd place, Kaitlyn Hansen finished a close 4th with a time of 14.10. Victoria Valleramos and Mckenna Beyer finished 10th and 13th.

Wyatt Olson ran a personal best, 12.02, to finish 3rd in the men’s 100m. Anthony Sykora placed a solid 14th with a time of 13.30.

WCA owned the 4x200 relays with both teams finishing 1st. The women’s team, consisting of Liz Rustan, Holly Gilsdorf, Brynn Fernolz and Kaylyn Uhlrich ran 1:58.29. The men followed up with the win edging out Wheaton again.  Wyatt Olson, Bret Duncan, Reese Kuseske and Bennet Grove ran a fantastic time of 1:41.81 to pick up the Gold. 

The WCA distance kids put on a show placing 1-2 in every event above the 800m. “Coaches Austin Hanson and Rick Toms have these athletes peaking at the right time, and they showed up ready to go!” stated Coach Schleicher.

The women’s 800m was led by 7th grader Alexa Blume who ran away with the event with a time of 2:44.61, Magdelene Olson finished 3rd 2:55.78 and Taylor Bennett finished 4th 2:56.30, all 3 of these athletes are 7th graders and are sure to improve with more races under their belts.

Men’s 800 was won by Kyle Schill 2:07.82 followed by Jack Vankempen in a close 2nd 2:08.94. Dane Anderson and Nathaniel Junker finished 9th and 13th. 

In the 1600m Teagen Nelson and Ella Vankempen ran away with the show finishing 1-2, Nelsons time of 5:56.67 and Van Kempen’s 6:04.06 led from start to finish.

The men’s 1600 featured an exciting finish between team mates, Kyle Schill raced down the home stretch to edge out Jacob Bright to capture gold. Kyle ran 4:41.28 and Jacob 4:41.55. These 2 push each other every day to get better, it was a fun race for both of them. Anthony Sykora ran his first mile race of the season finishing 17th 5:52.96.

Teagan Nelson and Ella Vankempen returned in the 3200m again dominating the entire race to finish 1-2 again. Teagan ran a 13:02.19 and Ella running 13:05.73.

In the men’s 3200m, Jacob Bright captured gold leading all competitors with a time of 10:35.94, Alex Sawasser 10:49.40, took 2nd with a solid run if his own and Shad Swanson 11:16.79,  who ran a new personal best to take 4th place. 

The girls 4x100 team captured 1st place with a time of 55.38. “These girls have worked hard on handoffs and it all came together today,” said Schleicher. The team consisted of Kaitlyn Hansen, Holly Gilsdorf, Liz Rustan and Kaylyn Uhlrich. 

The men’s 4x100 ran a solid race picking up 3rd place. The team of Wyatt Olson, Bret Duncan, Reese Kuseske and Gage Staples ran a time of 48.53.

Liz Rustan and Bennett Grove picked up 2nd place finishes in the 400m. Bennett posted a new personal best of 54.05 with Liz posting a solid 1:06.11.  They both ran against great competition and fought to the end.  Sydney Uhlrich came out of the second heat to take 6th place. “Coming out of the slower heat to place is sometimes difficult, but Sydney is a competitor and pushed to put a good time out there and ultimately placed 6th." 

Nassir Dotts and Jack Courier placed 14th and 15th with Nathaniel Junker placing 21 in that 400m.

Morgan Woodle led all Lady Knights in the 300m hurdles with a time of 56.57 placing her 4th overall. Whitney Westrom 59.66 and Autumn Clavin 1:00.78 also ran personal bests to finish 5th and 6th.

Brett Duncan and Brady Reeve running their first 300m hurdles of the season finished in 11th 54.46 and Brady reeve finishing 13th 1:00.46.

Terina Blascyk led the Knights in the women’s 200m picking up a 4th place 30.24 and Holly Gilsdorf taking home 6th place 31.14. Victoria Valleramos and Maci Robinson placed 12th and 14th.

Reese Kuseske just missed scoring in the 200m placing 7th overall 25.56. Anthony Sykora, Tyler Stone and Ryder Staples finished 15th, 16th and 17th.

Taylah Schroeder continues to have a great season finishing 3rd in discus 85-02 and 2nd in the shot put 30-06.25  Also competing in the throws were Jocelyn Anderson and Ellyete Schleicher, Jocelyn finished 17th in shot and 10th in disc, Ellyete placed 18th in shot and 20th in disc.

Men’s throwing had Brady Reeve capturing 2nd place in shot 36-02 and Devin Stone 5th 34-09.75. Tyler Stone finished 10th and Shane Wrolson taking 20th in shot.  Devin Stone returned to take 2nd place in the disc 109-11 with Tyler Stone finishing in 8th place, Brady Reeve 15th and Shane Wrolson 21st.

The Lady Knights jumpers pulled away from the pack going 1-2-3 in both long and triple jumps.  The long jump was led by Victoria Valleramos jumping a season best 15-03 for 1st, Sydney Ulrich 14-03.75  for 2nd and Morgan Woodle 14-03.50 for 3rd. Kaylyn Uhlrich also posted a 5th place finish in the event 13.08.  In the Triple Jump, Morgan Woodle jumped a season best 32-06.75 to take 1st, Brynn Fernolz jumped 32-05.75 for 2nd and Victoria Valleramos took 3rd with a jump of 31-01. Madi Vocu also jumped her personal best of 26-11.25 for 9th overall.

Brynn Fernolz took home a solid 2nd place finish in the High Jump 4’08 with Sydney Ulrich placing 5th 4’04. Mckenna Beyer came in 7th finishing at 4’02.

Gage Staples led all Knight Men jumpers winning the triple jump with a new person best of 39-05.75, winning the High jump with a jump of 5’08 and a 3rd place in the long jump and new personal best 1802.  “Gage is in his first year out for track and has so much athletic ability is scary, once he puts it all together I expect much bigger numbers coming from him,” states Coach Schleicher.

Ryder Staples also had a big day in the jumps as well placing 9th in the long jump 16-01 new personal best, 10th in the triple jump and new personal best 33-00 and 3rd place in High jump 5’04. 

“Ryder is also in his first year of track and also plays baseball so we don’t see him as often but he has made huge improvements as the season goes on and I expect big numbers coming from him before his career is over,” Coach Schleicher commented. 

The day was finished up with the men’s and women’s 4x400 meter relays. WCA fielded an all 7th grade team to take 3rd place.  The team consisted of Magdelene Olson, Olivia Lindquist, Madi Vocu and Sydney Uhlrich. The posted a very impressive time of 4:59.13.  The Men’s team took home the gold in the feature race. Kyle Schill, Bennett Grove, Jacob Bright and Jack Vankempen held off a strong  team from Wheaton once again to take home the victory 3:46.73.

Coach Schleicher added, “I think I can speak for myself and my entire staff, Austin Hanson, Nate Wood and Eli Dotts, that we knew the kids had greatness inside of them, we just weren't sure when they were going to let it all out, today was that day and it came at the perfect time. We are very proud of the team effort put forward today with kids running events they never have before and kids pushing themselves for the greater good of the team.” 

Team Standings for men were                                            women                    

WCA 164                                                             WCA           198                                                                   

ABE 100                                                               ABE            121

Hancock 96.5                                                      Ortonville  98.5

Ortonville 65.5                                                   Wheaton   69.5

Hillcrest Academy 44                                        Hancock      51                           

Wheaton/Herman/Norcross 38                      CGB              11

Rothsay 26                                                          Hillcrest       5

CGB 23                                                                 Rothsay       1

Next up for Knights Track and Field is the Sub-Section tournament in Morris on Thursday, May 23.  Placing in the top 5 will advance athletes to Sections in Fergus Falls on May 30 and a chance to go to state.