CUBA CITY – The Darlington Redbirds girls’ and boys’ track and field teams used their strength on the track to run away with the team titles at the second annual Christopher Becker Memorial Invitational held at CCHS on Thursday, April 26.
    The Lady Redbirds won just one event at the meet, but posted six runner-up finishes and placed more than one athlete in five events to take home the girls’ title with 120 points. Lancaster was a distant second with 86 points, while Belmont placed third (79) and Black Hawk finished fifth (66) at the 12-team meet.
    The Redbirds won three events and also placed multiple athletes in five events to capture the boys’ title with 110 points. Boscobel pulled in second with 103 points, while Black Hawk came in seventh (52) and Belmont 12th (16) among the 13-team field.

Girls Meet
    The relay teams led the way for the Lady Redbirds with the 4x800-meter team of Hannah Robiolio, Cheyenne Wolfe, Amy Jorgenson and Hannah Huffman teaming up to win their race in 10:26.42.
    Huffman and Jorgenson joined with Claire Scott and Alison Wedig to take second in the 4x400 (4:18.95), while Huffman, Scott and Wedig teamed with Rebecca Mathias to finish second in the 4x200 (1:53.33). Wedig and Mathias also joined with Haleigh Sonsalla and Carly Reilly to place second in the 4x100 (:54.39).
    Robiolio added a second in the 3,200-meter run (12:42.56) and Reilly was third in the 100 (:14.2), while Scott was fourth (:29.3) and Mathias sixth (:30.78) in the 200. Abigail Merriam was also second in the high jump (5’2”) for the ‘Birds.
    Wolfe was third (2:33.29) and Taryn Evenstad took fifth (2:36.61) in the 800. In the 1,600, Christa Wamsley placed third (5:43.36), Harley Douglas came in fourth (5:59.24) and Johanna Meister took seventh (6:10.73).
    Haily McGowan was second in the shot put (33’4.5”) and third in the discus (102’5”) for the Redbirds, while Brianna Reichling took fourth in the shot (32’2”) and seventh in the discus (90’6”).
    Belmont’s Kailee Kamps won both the shot put (44’10.5”) and the discus (124’0”), while her sister, Keegan, placed second in the discus (103’1”).
    Amanda Adams added a first in the triple jump (33’4”) for the Braves along with a second in the 300 low hurdles (:51.5), a fifth in the long jump (15’4.25”) and a sixth in the high jump (4’8”).
    Jordyn Kamps chipped in with seconds in the 200 (:28.38) and the 400 (1:05.07), while Cassie McCarthy placed second in the 100 high hurdles (:17.69), seventh in the triple jump (30’2”) and eight in the 300 hurdles (:55.57) for the Lady Braves.
    Jen Wellnitz led Black Hawk after sprinting to first-place finishes in the 100 (:13.37) and 200 (:27.68), and adding a third in the long jump (15’9.5”) and a fourth in the triple jump (32’1”).
    Olivia Holland placed third in the 300 hurdles (:51.96), while Brittany Klemm placed fourth in the discus (96’10”) for the Lady Warriors.
    Holland and Klemm teamed with Katie Powers and Kristen Walters to take fifth in the 3,200 relay (11:39.89). Holland joined with Casi Dubel, Mikayla Sigafus and Michelle Flanagan to take fifth in the 800 relay (2:00.07), and Sigsfus and Flanagan joined with Angel Paul and Taylor Werren to take fifth in the 400 relay (:57.32).

Boys Meet
    Tyson Miehe had a hand in all three of Darlington’s first-place finishes, winning both the 1,600 (4:35.44) and 3,200 (9:49.86) runs and teaming with Kent Miehe, Destin Komprood and Quinn Cullen to win the 4x800 relay (8:22.22) on the day.
    The Redbirds ruled the distance events at the Becker Invite. K. Miehe took second (4:39.05) and Michael Sinclair placed fourth (4:50.85) in the 1,600, while Garth Garrison was third (10:23.86) and Sinclair came in fourth (10:25.13) in the 3,200.
    In the 800, Komprood came in third (2:03.95), followed by K. Miehe in fifth (2:09.83) and Brady McDaniel in seventh (2:12.13) for the ‘Birds. In the 400, Cullen was fourth (:54.93) and McDaniel was fifth (:55.98).
    Kyle Johnson added thirds for the ‘Birds in the 110 high hurdles (:17.31) and the 300 intermediate hurdles (:43.51), while Sam Johnson finished seventh in the 100 hurdles (:19.14).
    The Warriors were led by their sprinters at Thursday’s meet. Jace Johnsrud, Jayden Rufenacht, Hayden Schliem and Dejay Warrell teamed up to finish second in the 4x100 relay (:46.14), while Warrell and Rufenacht joined with Kyle Woodruff and Shawn Woodruff to take third in the 4x200 (1:39.66).
    Johnsrud was third (:12.02) and Rufenacht was fifth (:12.31) in the 100, while Warrell placed fifth (:25.06) in the 200 and Schliem took fifth in the high jump (5’8”).
    K. Woodruff also placed fourth (:44.49) in the 300 hurdles, while Chris Priebe took third in the 1,600 (4:40.32) and fifth in the 3,200 (10:33.46) for the Warriors.
    Brandon Wedig paced the Braves by placing fourth in the triple jump (39’9”), fifth in the 300 hurdles (:45.46) and seventh in the long jump (18’5.5”).
    Tucker Wedig was fifth in the shot put (39’3.25”), while John Hentrich placed eighth in the 400 (:56.92) for Belmont.   
    Upcoming track and field meets including: Belmont and Shullsburg at Cassville Six Rivers Meet on Thursday, May 3; Darlington at the Deerfield Invitational and Black Hawk at the Clinton Invitational on Friday, May 4; Belmont and Black Hawk at Darlington’s Redbird Invitational on Monday, May 7; and Darlington at the Riverdale Triangular on Tuesday, May 8.  

CUBA CITY INVITATIONAL
Girls Meet
Team Scores: Darlington 120, Lancaster 86, Belmont 79, Fennimore 67, Black Hawk 66, Boscobel 65, Cuba City 47, Prairie du Chien 40.5, Southwestern 40.5, Benton/Scales Mound 32, Albany 20, Monticello 17.
Other Top Area Results: 100- 7- Angel Paul, BH, 14.86; 400- 5- Kate Quinn, BH, 1:06.61; 800- 7- Kristen Walters, BH, 2:47.6; 300LH- 5- Amy Jorgenson, D, 53.66; TJ- 6- Claire Scott, D, 31’1”; D- 5- Quinn, BH, 94’4”.

Boys Meet
Team Scores: Darlington 110, Boscobel 103, Lancaster 80, Cuba City 72, Fennimore 60, Southwestern 59, Black Hawk 52, Galena/East Dubuque/River Ridge 47, Prairie du Chien 44, Albany 28, Benton/Scales Mound 20, Belmont 16, Monticello 11.


Other Top Area Results: 400R- 6- Darlington (Michael Sinclair, Sam Johnson, Ethan Glendenning, Dylan Nyffenegger), 48.5; 800R- 4- Darlington (Nyffenegger, Glendenning, Storm Wiegel, Dane Siegenthaler), 1:39.96; 1600R- 4- Darlington (Wiegel, Quinn Cullen, Destin Komprood, Cedric Flesher), 3:41.34; HJ- 4- Glendenning, D, 5’10”; LJ- 4- Tanner Sweeney, BH, 19’1”; SP- 6- Cruz Bahena, D, 39’1.25”.