Central boys compete at Decorah, West Delaware
At the Decorah Relays, James Eberhardt finished seventh in the discus with a distance of 106 feet, 8 inches. (Photos by Bev Hamann)
Lane Orr passes the baton to Sabastion Florek during the JV running of the 4X200 relay at Decorah. The Central team of Orr, Florek, Corey Weber and Dan McGreal placed fourth.
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central boys track and field team competed in two meets last week, at Decorah and West Delaware.
At the Decorah Boys Relays on April 12, the team competed mostly in the JV division, leaving just a few athletes to compete at the varsity level. The Warriors finished in ninth place with four points, all earned by Brayden Finley.
The decision to compete almost entirely in the JV division was because “Most of the athletes are still learning to compete at the high school level. Other than senior James Eberhardt, the rest of the team has little or no experience and has a lot to learn about preparation and focus,” explained coach Tom Wilwert. “I entered the events that I thought would benefit from competing at a varsity level in the varsity division, and I entered the events that I thought would benefit from competing at the JV level in the JV division. Many of our athletes need more time to improve and grow.”
One of the events the Warriors competed in was the 110 meter hurdles, where Finley finished fifth place, earning two of his four points. He earned his other two points with a fifth place finish in the 400 meter hurdles, running a time of 1:06.05.
Eberhardt was the only Warrior participant in the field events, competing in the discus, where he finished seventh with a distance of 106 feet, 8 inches, and the shot put, where he finished 13th with a distance of 36 feet.
The final event the Warriors took part in was the 4x100 weight person relay, with the team of Eberhardt, Ryan Schroeder, Carson McClintock and Sam Fettkether placing fifth with a time of 59.35.
Next up was the West Delaware Boys Invite on April 15, where the Warriors finished seventh. A total of six points were spread across seven athletes, with Finley leading the way with 1.5 points.
In the sprint races, the Warriors got things started in the 100 meter dash, where Sean Wilwert finished 15th after running a time of 13.11, while Storm Huinker came in 17th.
In the 200 meter dash, three Warriors took to the track. Lane Orr led the way with an 11th place finish, running a time of 27.16. He was followed by Huinker in 12th and Hunter Grimm in 15th.
Grimm also competed in the 400, finishing 15th in 1:10.13. In the final sprint race, Finley finished seventh with a time of 1:07.16.
In the relay events, the Warriors put together a fourth place finish in the 440 shuttle hurdle event, with runners Finley, Dan McGreal, Elliot Kelly and Wilwert crossing the line in a time of 1:16.68 for four points.
The Warriors’ 4x100 team of Corey Weber, Finley, Kelly and Sabastian Florek finished ninth with a time of 52.98, earning one point for the team. In the 4x100 weight person relay, Eberhardt, Fettkether, McClintock, and Schroeder finished fourth, running the race in 57.74.
The 4x200 saw another ninth place finish, as Weber, Finley, Orr and Wilwert posted a time of 1:46.84. The finish earned the team one point. The 800 sprint medley group of Weber, Florek, McGreal and Orr come in 10th with a time of 1:57.23.
During the field events, which has been a strong point for the Warriors, Eberhardt finished 13th in the discus with a distance of 93 feet, 7 inches. Teammates Fettkether and Schroeder finished 15th and 16th, respectively.
Two Warriors competed in the shot put, with Joel Thiese and Mark Hertrampf earning in 17th and 19th, respectively.
Wilwert competed in the long jump, coming in eighth with a jump of 15 feet, 11.25 inches.
With the season fully underway, Wilwert commented on the team’s progress and his own expectations.
“I have some high expectations, and we are still working on those, but we are seeing growth. There aren’t any events that I would say we are excelling at, but I think the hurdle and throwing events are our strongest areas. We have seen improvement, and that improvement can be seen in their performances, but we still have a long way to go,” Wilwert said.
The team looks to continue improving with a meet at Oelwein on April 19, followed by the Drake Relays from April 22-24.
