Automatic qualifiers from the competition included the girls’ 4x800 relay team, Misti Zempel in the Shot Put, Karina Koehl in the Triple Jump and the Long Jump, Vivian Messner in the 800 and Kaylee Wink in the 3200.  Boys’ qualifying automatically for the Section meet are Jackson Koehl in High Jump, Brayden Kisgen in Long Jump, Jared Koehl in Triple Jump and Jett Nuest in the 3200.  The boys 4x200 and 4x100 relay teams also advanced.

“The at-large bids, the next four best marks from the 3 sub-sections in each event, also gave us a few more spots,” reported Coach Nuest.  The at-large bids include the boys 4x800 relay, the girls’ 4x100 relay, Misti Zempel in Triple Jump, Jace Meierding in Triple Jump, Preston Kisgen in Long Jump and Jared Koehl in the 800 meter run.  “We have the option ot make some adjustments to relays prior to the section meet, so there will be a couple changes in the boys 4x800 and girls 4x100,” noted Nuest.  “The other relays should stay the same.”

The girls’ 4x100 and boys’ 4x200 each cut a couple tenths of a second off their previous season bests.  Misti Zempel PR’d in both triple jump and shot put.  Karina Koehl PR’d in both the triple jump and the long jump, Korah Schroeder in the shot put, Steph Weber in discus, Giana Feuchtenberger in long jump and Taiah Minnick in the 400.  Blake Koehl capped off his track career with a PR in the 300 hurdles, Jackson Koehl jumped a best-ever 6-02. In the high jump, Brayden Kisgen added a foot to his long jump, Jace Meierding broke 37 feet in the triple jump, Cruise Millette PR’d in both throws, Preston Feuchtenberger PR’d in triple jump, and Jett Nuest cut just over 10 seconds of his 2-mile time.

“I need to give a special shout out to my seniors,” added Coach Nuest.  “Brandi Messner has been with me since day one and she hit PR’s in her sprints her senior year, not an easy feat!  Blake Koehl is such a great example to all the younger athletes.  He works hard, takes the time to focus on details and figure out how he can make himself better.  All of his improvement in the hurdles is to his credit and he had such a good year!  Jackson Koehl … for goodness sakes, I wish we could have had him a couple more years.  He’s good at everything, and I’m not even sure we found his best events in a single season.  Jared Koehl is such a gifted trickster.  I loved seeing him come into his own this year and give himself the chance to win a few races.  Sean Wilson was born to run. I wish his senior season had been kinder to him, but he never let that get him down and always gave 110%.  I am going to miss these five so much, and I have to attribute a lot of the program’s growth and success to their attitudes and work ethic.