GLENWOOD CITY — Elmwood/Plum City and Spring Valley started the outdoor track and field season on a cold Thursday evening in Glenwood City, with the EPC girls taking third and boys seventh of nine, and the Spring Valley boys taking fourth and the girls seventh.

“Weather conditions weren’t fantastic that day. It was cold and windy,” EPC Coach Amanda Webb said. “We have some younger kids that are trying new field event areas, and some kids had some good success.”

The EPC girls especially thrived in the field events. Junior Allie Sauve won the triple jump and freshman Emma Sauve took fifth. Allie Sauve has been dominant in the triple jump through the indoor season, and it instantly carried over to the outdoor season.

“She’s worked really hard. She did make it to Sectionals last year, just really wanting to get to the next level,” Sauve said. “Taking the time to go to the Sunday camps in River Falls just to help her with her form, the things she needs to work on. I think she understands that getting in the weight room and getting stronger so she can be faster is going to help her.”

Webb said Sauve also had a really nice long jump that would have been competitive if not for a scratch.

Aurora Sampair took second on the pole vault, fourth on shot put and fifth in the discus. Sampair is expected to get a new pole soon, which could further improve her results. Senior Andrea Arredondo, who placed fourth and fifth in the 100 and 200-meter races, also tied for third in the high jump. Freshman Leslie Widman took second in the long jump.

On the track, Arredondo, Widman and Lillian Pullen placed fourth, fifth and seventh in the 100-meter race. The 4x200 team of Polly Webb, Adison Zeilinger, Emma Sauve and Willow Cripe took third. A handful of distance runners performed well, including sophomore Ella Quail finishing fourth in the 1600-meter run.

“It’s really nice that now in Elmwood we at least have a practice track. It just helps us be better and more prepared,” Webb said. “But the kids also like to get out there and compete. We went a week and a half without anything.”

Webb said senior Taylor Asher provides strong leadership for the distance runners, making it a group that could improve as the year goes along.

For the boys, Brewer Link took second in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. He was one of the boys’ leaders a year ago results-wise, making State in the high jump. There were a handful of PRs in the field including Brett Kopp’s second place discus placement. Brock Kober took fourth place in the shot put to lead EPC’s three top eight finishers.

On the track, Bryce Bechel finished fifth in the 400-meter race. Owen Kober took eighth in the 100-meter race.
“He was kind of hurt last year, pulled a hammy, so he’s excited to come back,” Webb said of Owen Kober. “His love is football, so getting ready for that, and working hard and seeing him be faster in that area, I like that,” Webb said.

Spring Valley’s success largely stemmed from the relay events. Wynni Vanasse, Samantha Spence, Madelyn Conners and Gwen Yonke took third in the 4x800; Bryson Hoolihan, Drake Olszewski, Dexter Arco and Rocky Clements took third in the same event on the boys side. The 4x400 boys team of Collin Brunner, Parker Cipriano, Tyler Traynor and Hoolihan led the relays with a second-place finish.

The big winner of the day, though, was Olszewski winning the boys 3,200-meter run. On the girls’ side, Yonke took second in the 3,200-meter race.

Brunner finished fifth in the 200-meter race, Rylie Fritz took fourth in the 800 and Lana Erickson took fifth in the 400 to round out the top track races.

In the field, senior Erickson took third in the girls high jump and junior Cipriano finished fifth in the boys high jump.

“It was a good first track meet. We had a lot of kids that were kind of brand new to the sport too or freshmen’s first time at a varsity meet,” Spring Valley Coach Sean Hoolihan said. “Some of our veterans had a good first day. It was obviously cold and not the most ideal situations, but really happy with how our kids did.”

As the practice track is not constructed yet, Hoolihan said the team uses the early season meets to feel out the events. Considering the solid relay results, those handoff transitions could continue to improve as the spring goes on.

“We want them to be at their best toward the end of May, so we try to build toward that with our workouts,” Hoolihan said. “Without a track, we use our meets sometimes as part of our practice too.”