Track and field: Puma girls win Pauquette Invite

Some home cooking was just what the Poynette track and field teams needed.

Hosting the Pauquette Invitational on Thursday, the Puma girls took first with 133.5 points, while the boys finished third, just 1.5 points out of second place.

“The girls team won the meet with 133.5 points,” said Poynette head coach Kevin Frehner. “On paper, we knew we would be near or at the top of the meet. We had a very good day with season- and career-bests in lots of events on the track and in the field. We ended the day with medal winners (top 3 finish) in 10 events and five different event winners.”

For the Puma girls, event winners were: Emma Yelk (400m), Mercedi Lapacek (high jump), Val Heth (shot put), 4x400m relay team (Emma Yelk, Piper Johnson), Madeline Serwe, and Zayne Hushagen) and the 4x800m relay (Zayne Hushagen, Cora Larson, Geneva Ritzke, and Madeline Serwe).

“We had four girls earn medals in three events (Emma Yelk, Zayne Hushagen, Madeline Serwe, and Mercedi Lapacek) and two more who medaled twice (Piper Johson and Cora Larson),” said Frehner. “The highlight event of the day was the 400m dash where Zayne Hushagen and Yelk finished first and second, just .01 seconds apart. We had 12 season- and three career-best performances at the meet. Dakota Coppernoll led the way with season- and career-bests in two events (100m dash and long jump). Her long jump performance was one foot better than her previous best. Other significant improvements were Madeline Serwe in the 800m (eight seconds), Harley Seas in the 1,600m (six seconds) and Maddie Lee in the 3,200m run by (1:07). Maddie Lee won the ‘Feet of the Meet Awards’ for track events and Coppernoll for the field.”

The Poynette boys were a little shorthanded, and that made it unlikely the Pumas would win the meet as a team.

“We were missing two key athletes due to injury, which would have put us in contention to win the meet,” said Frehner. “The coaching staff were especially pleased with the way other kids on the team stepped up, as those injuries caused significant changes right before and during the meet. The boys’ team had three event winners and earned medals in 11 different events.”

Among the event winners for Poynette were Wyatt See (1600m run), JJ Davidson (3200m run), and Avery O’Dea (long jump).

“Senior Avery O’Dea led the way, earning medals in all four of his events on the day,” said Frehner. “Other athletes that earned medals in multiple events were: Wyatt See (three events), Dylan Trudell (three events), Tanis Crawford (two events), and Chris Schwenn (two events). The 1600m run was also a highlight, with See and Tanis Crawford finishing first and second. There were six season-best performances and one career best, led by Dylan Trudell who set season bests in both hurdle races. The ‘Feet of the Meet’ winners were Wyatt See on the track and Avery O’Dea in the field.”