The track and field season throughout Pierce County has begun, as local high school boys and girls teams began competition at the New Richmond Indoor Invitational at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the Northern Badger Classic at the University of Wisconsin-Stout last week.

The first meet of the year for the Ellsworth Panthers and River Falls Wildcats was on Tuesday, March 22 with the New Richmond Indoor Invitational. Ellsworth and River Falls were two of the 18 total teams at the indoor invitational.

Neither Ellsworth nor River Falls went to the New Richmond Indoor Invitational with a roster designed to win the event. Instead, to get younger athletes involved and let them get a chance to either get used to a competition level or try something new. Ellsworth boys head coach Drew Pechacek spoke about approaching that first meet of the year. “I use (that first meet) to judge my younger guys and for some of those people wanting to try something new,” Pechacek said. “Those indoor meets and the first couple meets of the year, that’s a great opportunity for them to try some of those events.”

While some of the younger Ellsworth athletes were trying new events, other returners on the roster were right back to where they left off last season. Ellsworth senior Max Grand posted a time of 6.75 seconds in the 55-meter dash preliminary round, slotting him comfortably into second place. However, Grand was disqualified for a false start in the 55-meter finals.

Perhaps the two most dominant aspects of Ellsworth’s team include distance events with junior Alex Pazdernik and the 4 x 200 event featuring Jack Janke, Ashten Quade, Max Grand and Wyatt Blomberg.

Both Grand and Quade competed in the state meet last year in the relay event. Last year, Blomberg was an alternate in the event and had experience running the relay. The true newcomer was Janke, who wasted no time getting into midseason form. At the New Richmond Indoor Invitational, those four Ellsworth boys broke the meet record, which was set in 2015 by a group from Somerset.

The Ellsworth boys ran a 1:36:09 time, almost one full second faster than the previous record for the meet. Pechacek spoke about that group and what they’re capable of this season.

“Two of them competed at state last year, one was our alternate, and the other is our newcomer Jack Janke,” Pechacek said. “Janke’s a senior and this is his first year coming out for track. We had him go out and run first. He gave our guys a shot and did well.”

In addition to a strong relay, Ellsworth also put together strong distance placements with the aforementioned Pazdernik, who competed in the 800 and 1,600-meter running events. He placed second in the 800-meter and first in the 1,600-meter, missing the meet record by less than two seconds. Pechacek spoke about Pazdernik’s ability.

“He was a sectional qualifier last year and we have high hopes for him,” Pechacek said. “He’s put in the miles and the work all winter. Even if it’s below zero, he’s out running. He’s put in the work to be in this spot.”

The Ellsworth girls also had a strong showing in the New Richmond Indoor Invitational. Kayla Kressin finished second in the 400-meter dash. In the shot put event freshman Maleah Peterson finished fifth, sophomore Nyla Wilford finished seventh and senior Mckenna Minder finished eighth.

For Ellsworth, the New Richmond Indoor Invitational was a chance to get young student-athletes involved in events and let them experience high-level competition. For some of the veterans, it was a chance to stake a claim as one of the best in their respective competition.

River Falls

While Ellsworth’s only meet last week was the New Richmond Indoor Invitational, River Falls competed in that as well as the Northern Badger Classic at UW-Stout in Menomonie on Saturday, March 26.

At the New Richmond Indoor Invitational, notable results include sophomore Emily Van Ausdal’s 10th place finish in the 200-meter dash, junior Ella Peters’ first-place finish in the 400-meter dash, freshman Riley DuBois’ seventh-place finish in the girls’ high jump event and senior Madeline Simpson’s secondplace finish in the pole vault event.

For the boys’ side of the competition at the New Richmond Indoor Invitational, notable results include sophomore Jacob Lane’s sixth-place finish in the 200-meter dash, freshman Quin Andrews’ fourth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, Jonah Majerus’ fifth-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, freshman Ty Bauschelt’s seventh-place finish in the boys’ high jump event and junior Wyatt Bell’s sixth-place finish in the boys’ pole vault.

River Falls boys track and field head coach Max Haskins spoke about both the New Richmond Indoor Invitational and the Northern Badger Classic at UW-Stout regarding his team’s performance.

“I think it was positive to see a lot of the strengths that we had back,” Haskins said. “We had a lot of kids at the state meet last year that we return. It’s good to get them some good competition early in the season.”

At some of those bigger meets with other large schools such as the Northern Badger Classic, River Falls uses those events as a measuring stick as to how its runners compare against some of the best on this side of the state.

“I think it’s good to compete against teams we don’t see very

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often,” Haskins said. “You get teams like Rochester-Mayo, La Crosse Logan, D.C. Everest, other big schools. To see teams like that, it’s good to use it as a bit of a measuring stick. Our kids can use it as a bit of motivation.”

Prescott

Prescott got its season underway on Saturday, March 26, at the Northern Badger Classic at UW-Stout in Menomonie.

Notable results for Prescott include sophomore Ella Johnson, who finished in fourth place in the girls’ 400-meter dash and Ava Budworth, who finished eighth in the 400-meter dash. Senior Maddie Matzek earned a third-place finish in the 800-meter run and sophomore Abby Overland earned a 13th place finish in the 800-meter run.

The aforementioned junior Johnson earned a fifth-place finish in the girls’ pole vault event and senior Mallory Boles earned a fifth-place finish in the shot put.

As for the boys, sophomore Josh Peterson finished seventh in the 200-meter dash, Aiden Russell finished 11th in the same event and Andrew Lee finished 12th in the same event. The boys continued their strong performance with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash by senior Dylan Bierbrauer. in the 800-meter run, Ryan Zerneke finished third and sophomore Breckin Schommer finished fourth. Junior Tyler Loucks, a distinguished cross-country runner, finished fifth in the 1,600-meter run.

Spring Valley

While River Falls competed in the Northern Badger Classic in the ‘large schools’ division, Spring Valley, Elmwood/Plum City and Prescott competed in the ‘small schools’ division with other districts of similar enrollment.

Notable results for the Spring Valley girls include senior Claire Anderson’s sixth-place finish in the girls’ 3,200-meter run, freshman Abby Biggs’ 32nd place finish in the 400-meter dash, senior Kaitlin Graham’s 20th place finish in the 800-meter run and junior Lydia Hannack’s 13th place finish in the girls’ long jump event.

For the boys’ side of things, Spring Valley gained some important experience in the first meet of the season. Spring Valley senior Colin Anderson finished 16th in the 200-meter dash, senior Ryan Burr finished eighth in the 400-meter dash, Burr also earned an 11th place finish in the boys’ high jump event.

Elmwood/Plum City Perhaps the most under-the-radar track and field performance in the first week of the season belongs to the Wolves of Elmwood/Plum City.

Starting with the results for the girls’ competition at the Northern Badger Classic, sophomore Hannah Forster earned a 10th place finish in the 200-meter dash. In addition to that, she won the 400-meter dash event and missed the meet record by less than five seconds.

Junior Lily Webb had a strong showing in the girls’ long jump event, finishing 15th followed by Forster who finished 25th in that event. Junior Allyson Fleishauer earned a 19th place finish in the 200-meter dash event.

For the Elmwood/Plum City boys, sophomore Riley Bechel finished in 30th place in the 200-meter dash, senior Luke Webb earned a 36th place finish in the same event, and Colin Manor rounded out the efforts in that event with a 51st place finish.

In the 1,600-meter run, Ambrose Malles earned a 22nd place finish with a time of 5:34.39. Junior Ethan Rupakus earned a 6th place finish in the boys’ high jump event with the aforementioned Manor earning a 33rd place finish. Webb took 14th place in the boys’ pole vault and Trevor Asher took third in the long jump.

In total, Elmwood/Plum City finished in 17th place as a team, Spring Valley finished tied for 28th and Prescott finished second with 53 team points, trailing only Chetek-Weyerhaeuser’s 54 points, good enough for first place at the annual Northern Badger Classic.

Ellsworth junior Alex Pazdernik turns the corner in the boys’ 1,600-meter run at the New Richmond Indoor Invitational. He won the event by nearly 20 seconds with a time of 4:40.03.Photo by Reagan Hoverman