Top finishers for the Owls included the boys 4x100 team of Titus Bjerketvedt, Nathan Kellenberger, Brayden Kisgen and Jackson Koehl, Jared Koehl in the 800, Jackson Koehl in the high jump and Kaylee Wink in the 3200.

“Standout performances came from Jared Koehl and Jett Nuest in the 1600 and 800 races,” noted Coach Nuest.  “We had to pivot a bit as we’d planned to run a boys’ 4x800 relay, but we weren’t healthy enough.  Jared and Jett were told on the bus ride that they were running the 1600, and I expected a quick turn-around to run the 800 a few events later.  Both performed exceptionally well, capped off by Jared’s strong finish in the 800, separating from the pack of leaders the last 150 meters.”

Several athletes turned in season best times and many had personal career bests in their respective events.  These included Blake Koehl in the 110 hurdles (PR), 300 hurdles (PR) and 3200 meter run; Jackson Koehl in the long jump (PR); Jared Koehl in the triple jump and the 1600 (PR); Titus Bjerketvedt in the 100 (PR) and 200 (PR); Brayden Kisgen in the 100 9PR), long jump (PR) and triple jump (PR); Gage Schmidgall in the 400 (PR), Nathan Kellenberger in the long jump (PR) and 100; Preston Kisgen in the 100 (PR), 200 (PR), and high jump (PR); Jace Meierding in the 300 hurdles and high jump (PR): Jett Nuest in the 1600 (PR), 800 (PR) and triple jump; Eva Schaefer in the 100 and 200; Misti Zempel in the long jump; Kaylee Wink in the 1600 (PR) and 3200 (PR); Vivian Messner in the 800 and the long jump; Lydia Rechtzigel in the 100 (PR) and shot put (PR); Haylee Flaten in the 100 and 200; Steph Weber in the 100 and the discus; Giana Feuchtenberger in the 100 (PR) and the long jump (PR); and Taiah Minnick in the 400 (PR).

“Eva Schaefer and Giana Feuchtenberger are both taking time off their sprints, which is huge going into conference,” said Coach Nuest.  “Kaylee Wink and Blake Koehl continue to get better every meet, getting PR after PR in multiple events!  Blake even ran a solid two mile race right after the 300 hurdles.  The boys’ high jumpers dominated the event.  Jackson tied for first, Jace took second, Preston was third and Nathan ended up fourth.  The girls 4x800 team of Kaylynn Christianson, Abigail Nuest, Tabitha Bjerketvedt and Vivian Messner had a season best time, bettering their previous time by more than 15 seconds.  Misti Zempel decided to try long jump for the first time ever, and wound up taking second place.  She’s just a dominant athlete who has so much talent and skill.  I was also impressed with Lydia Rechtzigel and Taiah Minnick.  Both really improved their running events in this meet.”

The Owls will head to Benson on Thursday and will compete in their conference meet next Tuesday in Wheaton.