Norse boys dominate conference track meet

The Whitehall boys track and field team finished well ahead of the rest of the field as it won the Dairyland Conference Championship in Augusta on Thursday.

The Norse boys scored 142 points, Blair-Taylor was second with 89. Melrose-Mindoro won the girls team championship with 131 points, while Cochrane-Fountain City was the runner-up with 95.

The Whitehall boys had two individual champions as Kivin Juresh won the 100-meter dash and Aiden Evans took the 300-meter hurdles crown. Juresh barely edged Blair-Taylor’s Connor Kruse to win the 100 with a time of 11.412 seconds to Kruse’s 11.413. Evans’ winning time in the 300 hurdles was 43.82 seconds.

Juresh was also second in the 200 (23.07) and ran on the third-place 400 relay team (46.28) with Alex Semb, Caden Bacino-Hansche, and Mason Przybylla. Bacino-Hansche was second in the discus (125-7.5) as was Colby Santos in the 110 hurdles (18.06) and both ran on the third-place 800 relay team with Travis Johnson and Kamerion Twyman. 

Whitehall took three of the top four spots in the triple jump with Karston Ausderau taking second (41-7), Devin Hutsell finishing third (41-6.5), and Semb taking fourth (40-1). 

While Kruse finished just behind Juresh in the 100, the B-T sprinter won the 200 (22.75) and was second in the 400 (52.14). 

B-T’s Alex Syluga won the 1600 (4:40.41) and 800 (2:03.89), then took fourth in the 3200 (11:16.47). Adam Halverson took third in both the discus (121-8.25) and shot put (43-3.5) for the Wildcats.

Alma/Pepin was third in the team standings with 75 points followed by Mel-Min, 69; Eleva-Strum, 64; Alma Center Lincoln, 57; Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, 53; C-FC, 50; Independence/Gilmanton, 43; Osseo-Fairchild, 37; and Augusta, 17.

Grant Klimek took second in the 800 (2:05.03) for I/G and ran on the third-place 3200 relay team with Zander Strain, Darion Gibbs, and Jaydan Harz. Klimek, Strain, and Gibbs also ran on the fourth-place 1600 relay team (3:48.11) along with Glenn Turner. Mason Severson was second in the high jump (6-0) and fourth in the long jump (18-5.5) for I/G.

The Whitehall girls were the top area team, taking fourth three points behind Eleva-Strum, 72 to 69. 

The Norse won the 800 relay with Sophie Edge, Avvia Herman, Hadley Kulig, and Aryana Ausderau finishing in 1:54.95. Herman added a second-place finish in the 100 hurdles (18.13) as did Kulig in the triple jump (32-10.5). 

Edge and Ausderau both ran on the third-place 400 relay team (55.64) with Josie Gamroth and Brianna Fonstad. Paige Lisowski was third in the shot put (32-3.5). Kulig was fourth in the 300 hurdles (52.79). 

After Whitehall in the team standings was Alma Center Lincoln, 59; Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, 55; I/G, 54; Augusta, 47; B-T, 41; A/P, 40; and O-F, 23. 

The Indees’ sister duo of Taylor Sylla and Allie Sylla both had strong performances. Both ran on the second-place 3200 relay team (9:45.87) with Sophia Kampa and Anna Kent. Allie Sylla was second in the 800 (2:23.75) and Taylor Sylla was the runner-up in the 3200 (11:19.39). Taylor Sylla also took third in the 1600 (5:23.27). Kent was third in the 3200 (12:24.55) and Kampa finished fourth in the 800 (2:35.81). 

Brenna Thorson was B-T’s top finisher, taking second in the shot put with a distance of 33-3.5.