Ashby-Brandon-Evansville track and field head coach Zach Traphagen has been impressed to see the growth of his athletes through the midway point of the season. But he's looking for more.
On Tuesday afternoon, the A-B-E boys took second in a five-team meet in Minnewaska. Senior Kobe Reiland led the way with his second personal record in the 300-yard hurdles.
"Kobe has set his personal record in the 300-yard hurdles in the last two meets," Traphagen said. "If it weren't for one bad hurdle, he would've gotten close to the school record. Kobe has to continue to be aggressive and focus on his sprinting between the hurdles and staying low to lessen his air time going over the hurdles."
His time of 46.55 was good for first place. He also took second in the long jump at 17-feet, 7.75 inches. Reiland also took third in the 110-yard hurdles (46.25) and led off the 4x400-yard relay.
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Anchoring A-B-E's third-place relay was Sully Wales, who helped the group secure a 4:05.35 time.
"Sully is a hard-nosed competitor who is going to continue to get better," Traphagen said. "Kobe and Sully need to continue to stay the course and never be satisfied or get too comfortable. Sully will continue to run some 400's that will hopefully help with his kick in the 1,600 and 800. They really just need to continue to take care of their bodies by properly warming up and cooling down. That really goes for every one of our athletes."
Wales took second in the 1,600 run (5:12.00) and third in the 800 (2:23.39). Traphagen said that Wales and Reiland aren't the only kids starting to hit their stride over the last couple of weeks.
The 4x100 relay team of Cade Carlson, Nathan Baumann, Nolan Bitzan and Derick Novotny took first with a time of 47.44. In the 4x200-yard relay, Novotny, Ryland Yeats, Cade Carlson and Baumann took second (1:39.82).
"Those relay teams have been running well the last few meets," Traphagen said. "They look primed to make a good postseason run and make a run at new school records."
A-B-E's pole vaulters continued to grow. Dierk Goeden took third at nine feet, while Valerie Deschene set her personal record at seven feet. Traphagen was also impressed with his throwers on Tuesday.
"Our throwers are doing a nice job of continuing to work hard and show improvement," he said. "We have had some nagging injuries on the girls' side, so we haven't really seen our team at full strength yet. We are hoping the best is yet to come."
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Competing against the best athletes in the section and conference comes down to the details.
"We want to be at our best as a team at the Pheasant Conference Meet, and the sub-section and section meets," Traphagen said. "We need to focus on the little details and make sure we are being smart about our workouts and keeping ourselves healthy. I think the boys and girls teams both have some nice goals. If we can continue to push and compete at a higher level each meet, I'm confident we will reach those goals."
BOYS TEAM SCORES
1st- Minnewaska 166.92, 2nd- A-B-E 151.25, 3rd- Holdingford- 108.25, 4th- Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 99, 5th- Browerville-Eagle Valley 66.25
GIRLS TEAM SCORES
1st- Minnewaska 290.5, 2nd- Holdingford 151.50, 3rd- Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 96, 4th- A-B-E 69.50, 5th- Browerville-Eagle Valley 1.5
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A-B-E BOYS TOP THREE FINISHERS
100Y DASH- 1st- Derick Novotny 11.95; 3rd- Nathan Baumann 12.20; 200Y DASH- st- Cade Carlson 25.21; 800Y RUN- 3rd- Sully Wales 2:23.39; 1600Y RUN- 2nd- Wales 5:12.00; 110Y HURDLES- 3rd- Kobe Reiland 18.23; 300Y HURDLES- 1st- Reiland 46.55; 2nd- Nathan Anderson 49.67; 4X100Y RELAY- 1st- Carlson, Baumann, Nolan Bitzan, Novotny 47.44; 4X200Y RELAY- 2nd- Novotny, Ryland Yeats, Carlson, Baumann 1:39.82; 4X400Y RELAY- 3rd- Reiland, Anderson, Bitzan, Wales 4:03.35; POLE VAULT- 2nd- 2nd- Novotny 9-06; 3rd- Dierk Goeden 9-00; LONG JUMP- 2nd- Reiland 17-07.75; DISCUS- 3rd- Deklin Goeden 88-06;
A-B-E GIRLS TOP THREE FINISHERS
4X200Y RELAY- 3rd- Skylar Bitzan, Valerie Deschene, Grace otto, Lucea Wales 2:01.00 POLE VAULT- 2nd- Deschene 7-00; SHOT PUT- 3rd- Cailey Schlosser 28-00; DISCUS- Katrina Buucholz 77-11
