Baraboo Boys Track and Field Open Outdoor Season with Team Title at JV Invitational

The Baraboo’s Boys Track and Field team opened the outdoor season in style Thursday evening April 9th, winning its home JV invitational with 236 points across 18 events and turning Beryl Newman Stadium into a showcase of depth, speed and early-season progress. For a group that has been hard at work since practice began March 9, the result reflected the energy the Thunderbirds have been building all spring.

The headliners were easy to spot. Angel Ortiz delivered a standout distance double, winning the 1,600 meters in a personal-best 5:15.21 and adding another first-place finish in the 3,200 at 11:29.84. In the hurdles, Samuel Kappel won the 110s in 18.14, with Simon Stucynski right behind in second at 18.84, while Stucynski came back to win the 300 hurdles in 45.56. The Thunderbirds also owned the 400, sweeping the top three spots as Sawyer Pemberton took first in 57.26, Jayden Carpenter finished second in 57.58 and Brody Kurz placed third in 59.30.

Baraboo’s relay groups added major points all afternoon. The 4x800 team posted an impressive 9:20, the 4x200 relay finished second and the 4x100 relay also took second. The biggest relay moment came in the 4x400, where Baraboo closed the meet with a winning season record time of 3:51.34. Those finishes helped set the tone for a team result built not just on event winners, but on steady scoring throughout the competition across the entire line-up.

In the sprints, Gabriel Arnold placed second in the 200 with a 24.60 and also finished sixth in the 100 at 12.51. Garrett Niles ran a personal-best 12.48 to take fifth in the 100, with Asher Kamala seventh in 12.56. Maverick Thola added a personal-best 13.28, while Holden Harry, Noah Hovey, Trace Funmaker and Besim Cobaj also turned in personal-best efforts in the event. Carpenter added a runner-up finish in the 800 at 2:21.92, Sebastian Martinez placed fourth in 2:33.04, and Logan Cromwell ran 6:10.34 for 12th in the 1,600.

The field events brought another wave of highlights. Jacob Ringelstetter won discus with a personal-best throw of 121 feet, 5 inches, and Julius Pillsbury followed in second with a personal-best 119-7. Alan Angel took sixth with a personal-best 90-11, while Kimani Clarke and Jackson Mumm also recorded personal bests for eighth and ninth. In shot put, Elijah O’Donahue won with a throw of 38-0, Javohn Funmaker placed fourth with a personal-best 35-2.5, and Pillsbury was fifth at 34-11.5. Alan Angel added another personal best at 30-5, and Jackson Mumm, Isaac Stansberry, Alias Acheson, Kimani Clarke, Jayden Baxter, Ethan Weber and Trace Funmaker all posted personal-best marks.

Baraboo also scored well in the jumps. Alex Owen tied for first in the high jump at 5-4, Rashad Hodges took third with a personal-best 5-4, Isaac Stelzer was fourth at 5-2 and Stucynski cleared 5-0 for sixth. Hodges added a fourth-place finish in triple jump at 37-2, with Stelzer fifth after a personal-best 36-5.5. In long jump, Thola placed fourth at 16-1.5, Jacob Farrington was seventh at 14-8 and Holden Harry finished 13th at 12-6.75. Rowan Pemberton added a third-place finish in the pole vault at 8-6.

On a clear 68-degree afternoon, the first outdoor meet of the season gave Baraboo a long list of encouraging results, from event titles to relay hardware to personal records scattered throughout the roster. For the Thunderbirds, it was the kind of opening meet that showed both current strength and how much more could be coming as the season moves deeper into April and May!