The Ellsworth and Prescott boys’ and girls’ track and field teams got their first exposure to true Middle Border Conference competition on Thursday, March 31, when the two teams competed in the Amery Invitational, which was hosted at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls indoor track at the Knowles Field House.

Although the meet wasn’t an official Middle Border Conference meet, it did give the teams involved a measuring stick opportunity early in the season against other conference teams. In total, five teams attended including Amery, Ellsworth, Prescott, Saint Croix Central and Baldwin-Woodville.

Throughout that Thursday afternoon, 16 total events were scored with Amery coming away in first place for both the girls’ and boys’ team victories with scores of 119 and 90 points respectively.

The Ellsworth Panthers girls’ squad finished in fifth place with six points and the boys’ squad finished in second place with 76 total points. Ellsworth coach Marcie Jahnke spoke about the meet and what the first few weeks of the season have been like for her squad.

“So far, we’re just trying to figure out who we are,” Jahnke said. “We have a small team and on top of that, we have a pretty young team. Many of them are running track for the first time. Our team is ¾ underclassmen. We only have six or seven juniors and seniors. We’re undefined and I don’t know who we are.”

While the first couple of weeks of the season have been full of experimentation to see how the roster will shake out, Jahnke stated that the Amery Invitational was another step in the right direction of figuring out what the 2022 iteration of this Panthers’ track and field team will be.

“From the indoor that we ran last week to the meet we ran at the Amery indoor, we’ve some emergency of where the talents are,” Jahnke said. “We’re trying to see where we think we belong.”

Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles – figuratively, not literally – has been the adverse weather conditions that have prevented field events from getting some much-needed practice. Because of that, young athletes competing in field events are quite literally learning during meets.

“The weather has put us at a disadvantage with field events,” Jahnke said. “For the most part, we’re learning at meets because we can’t practice at home.”

Although a lot of the young Ellsworth talent is unproven on the girls’ side, sophomore Kayla Kressin has been a standout, even dating back to last year when she was a sectional qualifier in the 400-meter dash.

“She still looks great (in the 400-meter dash),” Jahnke said. “She ran an 800-meter for the first time last night (at the Amery Invitational) and that wasn’t bad. She hasn’t trained for it, but she didn’t not like it, so maybe we will make it an option for her.”

Notable results for the girls include Kressin’s fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run, junior Ashlyn Townsend’s eighth-place finish in the 200-meter dash, senior Payton Langer’s eighth-place finish in the 55-meter dash and the Panthers’ third-place finish in the 4×200-meter relay.

For the Ellsworth boys, it was another impressive showing in all aspects of the meet. In total, the Panthers secured victories in four different events and top-five finishes in nearly every other competition.

Perhaps the most dominant was the 55-meter dash, which featured a first, second and third-place finish of seniors Ashten Quade, Max Grand and Jack Janke, in that order. Sophomore Max Bergner won the 1,600-meter run by 13 seconds, the boys won the 4x200meter relay, and senior Kyle Kressin won the shot put by more than two feet over second- placed Zach Steffensen of Saint Croix Central.

Earlier this season, Ellsworth boys track and field coach Drew Pechacek stated that this year he believes he has the depth on his roster to compete for a conference title and to make a run in the playoffs. With the early season success, Ellsworth is well on its way to reaching some of its lofty goals for the 2022 season.

Prescott Results

While Ellsworth has had success to start the season, so have the Cardinals of Prescott. At the Amery Invitational on Thursday afternoon, the Cardinals finished second in the girls’ team results and third in the boys’ team standings.

The Prescott girls’ track and field team seems to be flying under the radar in terms of overall talent and potential for success. In total, the lady Cardinals had five top-five finishes in events and 10 finishes in the top-10 for events, without having constructed the roster to win an early-season indoor invitational. Prescott coach Emily Calabrese spoke about the Amery Invitational.

“We were not going into it with a team-point standpoint when we did our entries,” Calabrese said. “Last night was about getting kids familiar with new events and what it feels like to compete. It was nice that we ended up scoring that well, but the team-side of things was secondary to what the individuals were able to experience.”

Notable results for the girls include sophomore Faith Van-Holbeck’s victory in the 1,600meter run, sophomore Sophie Ripley’s second-place finish in the 800-meter run and freshman Alissa Zerneke’s thirdplace finish, also in the 800-meter run.

Prescott’s athleticism was on display in the 400-meter run as the Cardinals occupied six of the top 10 spots in the event, which was led by junior Katrina Budworth’s fourth-place finish. The girls took second in the 4×200-meter relay, fifth in the 4×400-meter relay and second in the 4×800-meter relay.

Prescott also had success in the field events, as they occupied four of the top six spots in the girls’ pole vault. Junior Ella Johnson led the charge with a second-place finish followed by senior Maddie Matzek’s third-place distinction. Coach Calabrese spoke about the success in the field events.

“Our girls pole vaulters are going to be very strong this year,” Calabrese said. “Our girls throws are looking pretty strong. Mallory Boles is a returning senior. She is probably going to place pretty high in the conference this year.”

There are lots of bright spots for the Prescott girls’ track and field team, but there are also quite a few for the boys’ team. The Cardinals posted four victories in events including senior Dylan Bierbrauer in the 200-meter dash, sophomore Jayde Canfield in the 3,200-meter run, senior Aiden Russell in the high jump, Matthew Lynes in the pole vault, and Logan Stewart in the triple jump.

Prescott senior Andrew Lee posted a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash and senior Jack Olson finished third in the shot put event, trailing Zach Steffensen of Saint Croix Central and Kyle Kressin of Ellsworth.

Next up on the schedule for both Prescott and Ellsworth is a track meet at Saint Croix Central on Thursday, April 7. That meet is slated to begin at 4 p.m.

Ellsworth freshman Bella Freisen prepares to make her throw in the girls’ shot put event at the Amery Invitational at UWRF on Thursday, March 31. Freisen finished 12th overall in the event. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Four Ellsworth student-athletes including seniors Ashten Quade, Max Grand, Jack Janke, and sophomore Jake McCabe compete in the 55-meter dash at the Amery Invitational. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Prescott junior Katrina Budworth turns the corner during the 400-meter run at the Amery Invitational on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Reagan Hoverman