The Oriole varsity track team headed its way to Wausau on Tuesday April 5 for an invite track meet at Wausau West. With the boys team placing 7th out of 13 at the meet and the girls 10th out of 14 teams present, Coach Bob Seidl shared some thoughts on how things had gone at Wausau after the dust had settled.

“The Wausau meet was indoors on a non regulation track,” he said. “We were not too concerned about the running event because the track wasn’t 200 meters so the times were not an accurate predictor of performance. We concen- trated more on the field events." As to the boys meet, Seidl said in part that several athletes had been absent so that there hadn’t been a full team, but that Carsen Hause had "jumped well" at 5" 10" to capture first, but that, he will need to jump 6ft and more to be competitive. There are a lot of good jumpers in the area.”

As to the performance of senior Cooper Nichols, Seidl said that Nichols had jumped in the Long Jump for the first time in three years and made 20' 1" to capture first place. “He just showed us how versatile he could be,” Seidl said. “He can jump, vault, sprint and compete in the mid distance events.”

Seidl also had words of praise for Zach Haas who took first in the 3200-meter run.

“He has really improved from last year,” Seidl said of Haas. “We’re looking forward to him running the distance races when we get to the outdoor meets.” As to the boys team in general, Seidl said that, “our younger boys competed in the relays and are gaining experience with handoffs.”

Shifting from the boys team over to the girls, Coach Seidl said that the girls had run well at the Wausau meet, and that while the times weren’t what the team should be at, the team as a whole was gaining experience. Teagen Becker, meanwhile, placed 2nd in the high jump with a jump of 4’10”, a result Seidl called ok given the slick surface.

“Not her best jump but ok considering the slick surface,” he said.

As to the performance of senior Leslie Derks, Seidl said that she had returned to distance running after a time off, competing in the 3200-meter run and placing third with a time of 6:11.65, then placing fourth in the 1600-meter.

“She will be our strongest distance runner,” Seidl said. “Hopefully, we will expect her times to come down with training. “

Carsen Hause lands on the mat after going over the high jump at Stout. Photo by Joseph Back.