Packerland Recap: Kewaunee boys win title on home track
KEWAUNEE – Joe Kassner did the math before the Packerland Conference track and field meet.
The Kewaunee boys coach thought his team possessed the enough numbers to top a talented squad from Peshtigo.
The host Storm scored points in 17 of 18 events to upend the Bulldogs, 173-145.5, and capture its first conference title since 2015.
Powered by four returning WIAA state qualifiers from last year, Peshtigo won seven events in its second year competing at the Packerland meet.
However, Kewaunee’s depth came through on its home track, which received a facelift two years ago with a new rubber surface that allowed it to host the conference meet for the first time in several years.
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The Storm won four events, including a pair of individual titles by senior Alex Hewett, who won the high jump (6 feet) and repeated as champion in the triple jump (43 feet, 5½ inches).
Kewaunee’s 400- and 800-meter relay teams also posted victories, while its 1,600 and 3,200 relays finished second.
Junior Tanor Bortolini won the shot put with a throw of 46-2¼, while senior Elliot VanGoethem placed third with a throw of 43-9¼, performing better than his seed to gain valuable points in front of Peshtigo senior Mitchell VanVooren in the event.
Meanwhile, senior Nick Baumgartner placed second in three individual events and was a leg on the second-place 1,600 relay.
Baumgartner finished as the runner-up in both hurdle races behind VanVooren, who was a state finalist last year in both events and leads the Green Bay area in the hurdles this season.
Baumgartner also cleared 13 feet to place second in the pole vault to Peshtigo senior Max Rauch, last year’s WIAA Division 2 state champion.
A year after breaking a 25-year-old record Packerland record in the pole vault, Rauch reset his conference record by clearing 14 feet to repeat as the champion.
The Bulldogs’ other victories came from senior Erzra Swanson (200), senior Cole Trimberger (400), senior Reid Marquardt (800), and its 1,600 and 3,200 relays.
Sevastopol junior Kiegen Sargent repeated as the conference champion in the long jump with a leap of 19-5.
After winning the shot put title the last two years, Algoma senior Max Schoening added a conference title in the discus to his resume with a winning throw of 136-11.
Gibraltar senior Evan Henry was a dual champion in the distance runs, winning the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
N.E.W. Lutheran sophomore Elijah Lange won the 100 with a time of 11.66 seconds.
On the girls side, Sturgeon Bay topped Kewaunee, 146-127.5, to win the Packerland Conference title.
The Clippers did so by winning only one event, which it did quite well by getting a 1-2-3 finish from the trio of freshman Alexa Nelson, sophomore Lauren Alger and freshman Alyssa Brendmuehl.
Nelson won with a time of 17.90 seconds to just edge Alger, who won the conference title in the event last year.
Kewaunee recorded wins with its 1,600 relay and from sophomore Elena Lewis, who won the 1,600 with a time of 5:53.55.
Gibraltar and Sevastopol both had strong showings with both posting wins in five events.
Gibraltar junior Abbigael Sitte won the 100 (13.37) and 200 (27.36), while also anchoring the winning 400 relay for the Vikings.
Sophomore Abbey Fitzgerald also picked up wins in the long jump (15-10) and triple jump (32-2).
Sevastopol sophomore Olivia Stenzel won the 400 (1:02.52), 800 (2:32.09) after winning the 1,600 as a freshman last year.
The Pioneers also won the 800 and 1,600 relays, while sophomore Laci Lautenbach won the high jump (5-2).
Algoma crowned three individual champions.
Senior Liberty Ansorge won the 300 hurdles with a time of 51.12, while junior Jenny Farley won the pole vault.
Meanwhile, sophomore Bobbi Blahnik won the shot put with a season-best throw of 39-3 and placed second in the discus.
Southern Door produced two conference champions with sophomore Lydiah LeCloux (13:06.88) winning the 3,200 and sophomore Hailey Shimon winning the discus with a throw of 113 feet.
Click here for complete results from the Packerland Conference track and field meet.