West Holt JH Track
5-13-23
JH State Meet - Gothenburg
On May 13th, the Huskies who qualified in the top 24 of individual events and the top 16 of the relays got a chance to compete in a an all class setting in Gothenburg. The young huskies were well represented as 13 kids qualified. This was the goal all year, qualify for the state meet and then try and bring home some medals and PR if possible.
At the end of the day we performed extremely well, as the three girls’ relays all set personal records. Kicking off the day in the 4x800 was the group of Berkleigh Dvorak, Emerson Mlady, Felycia Kerkman and Leah Pistulka. Their fastest time of the year coming in was 10:57 and they ran 10:52, a great time and were just 1 second from a medal. Leah Pistulka had a blazing 2:34 split to finish the relay. Then we moved to the 4x100 where Makenna Mitchell, Jewel Beckwith, London Konrad and Hollynn Konrad ran their fastest time of the year with a 51.68 gaining the 4th place medal and setting a new JH record in the process. Then the last relay of the day featured Pistulka, Mitchell, H. Konrad and L. Konrad, and these ladies proved to everyone that they were determined to run fast as they shattered the meet record in 4:15.31 and winning the 4x400. This was very exciting and a great accomplishment for these young ladies. The boys 4x400 also qualified and were set to run really fast until Jamison Slaymaker had a hip issue from the hurdle race earlier in the day. The boys ran 4:06 and we switched the order up as Hunter Wetlauffer ran first in 60.3, Brody Galyen in 56.5, Ezra Sholes in 60.1, Carter Wetlauffer picked up the slack and ran a 71.0 to finish out the relay. We were very proud of Carter in stepping up to allow these boys the chance to compete. Obviously with a healthy Jamison we run around 3:52 or 3:53 with a solid chance to medal, but sometimes things happen and that is why developing depth is so important! We were extremely proud of these four relays and how they represented the West Holt community.
Outside of the relays, we had a couple others gain medals in Berkliegh Dvorak in the Pole Vault clearing 9’ 2’’ and gaining the 3rd place and setting a new JH record. London Konrad broke into sub 27’s and got 5th with a 26.92.
Other competitors on the day were Brody Galyen in the 400 where he set a new PR with 56.08 and gained 12th place. London Konrad was just out of the medals in the 400 at 62.32 and finished 10th. Taylor Schaaf competed in the TJ and gained some valuable experience in an individual event gaining 18th going 30’ 9’’. Hollynn Konrad was 18th in the 200 Hurdles and 14th in the 200, she will get better in both events moving forward and was a busy day with four events. Jamison Slaymaker cleared 9’2’’ but struggled a bit at the next height, but gained experience. Jamison also was running a fantastic race in the 200 Hurdles but a nagging hip injury reared its head as he was going to win his heat and probably medal and run a huge PR. Hunter Wetlaufferalso competed in the 100 Hurdles and 200 Hurdles, he was 13thin the 100’s with a 15.59.
Thanks to all who made the trip to Gothenburg and for those who supported ALL these young athletes throughout the year. It was good season of progress and learning what events are the best for moving forward but, now the real stuff starts for these 8thgraders as they transition into high school and begin to compete for even higher stakes. As for the 7th grade they will now serve as leaders for the incoming 7th grade for next year.
Coach Nemetz