Baraboo Track and Field posts deep, balanced showing at DeForest Quad Meet
Baraboo turned in one of its deepest performances of the outdoor season Tuesday night at DeForest, piling up event wins, personal records and relay success in a JV/Varsity conference quad against DeForest, Madison Edgewood and Portage. The meet was highlighted by a dominant boys discus group, strong boys and girls running and a steady collection of points across the track and field events on a clear evening with temperatures in the low 60s.
The Thunderbirds' biggest statement came in the boys discus, where Jacob Ringelstetter won with a personal-record throw of 127 feet and Baraboo swept the next four places. Elijah O'Donohue finished second, John Rogers was third, Aiden Dineen took fourth and Julius Pillsbury placed fifth, giving the Thunderbirds the top five spots in the event. Dineen also placed second in the shot put with a 44-foot throw, while O'Donohue added a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a personal-record 39 feet. Senior Javohn Funmaker produced one of the night's biggest breakthroughs with a career-best 40 feet, 7 inches in the shot put, nearly five feet better than his previous best.
On the girls side, Lily Rogers delivered a standout double victory, winning the shot put at 44 feet and the discus at 142 feet. Ella Haskins added a third-place finish in the discus at 91 feet, and Ellena Gallo was third in the shot put with a 32-foot mark. In the jumps, Drake Niles won both the boys long jump at 20 feet, 11.25 inches and the triple jump at 41 feet, 9 inches. Maddison Litscher, Madeline Esposito and Adalyn Thompson gave Baraboo a strong showing in the girls high jump by finishing second, third and fourth, each clearing 4 feet, 6 inches. Peyton Stelzer placed fifth in the girls long jump, Esposito was fifth in the triple jump, and Fiona Miller and Lacey Bender finished fifth and seventh in the pole vault.
Baraboo also stacked points in the distance events. Will Boettcher won the boys 3,200 in 10:15.30, with Oskar LaFave, Jonatan Martinez and Angel Ortiz taking third, fourth and fifth as Baraboo claimed four of the top five spots. In the boys 1,600, the Thunderbirds filled places three through six with Boettcher, LaFave, Killian Duncan and Martinez. Derek Holmes and Ben Meise finished third and fourth in the boys 800. On the girls side, McKenzie Dougherty won the 1,600 in 5:54, Rachel Byxbe and Litzy Angel went 1-2 in the 3,200 in 14:41.01 and 15:29.15, and Sydney Dobush and Madilyn Gilbert tied for second in the 800 with matching 2:31.70 times.
The sprints and hurdles added more top finishes. Tanner Goeckermann placed second in the boys 400 in 54.00, with Carson Hasheider fifth in 55.50. Samuel Kappel took fourth in the 110 hurdles, and Avante Wilson was third in the 300 hurdles. For the girls, Hannah Krueger finished second in the 100 in 12.80 and later placed fourth in the 200 in 27.60, while Isabella Mayer took eighth in the 200 and Sienna Lutz finished 10th in the 400.
Baraboo's relays were another major strength. The boys 4x100 teams finished first and fourth, with the winning group running 45.30. The boys 4x200 placed third and sixth, and the boys 4x400 took second in 3:46.20. The girls 4x100 won, the girls 4x200 placed third, the girls 4x400 teams finished second and fourth, and the girls 4x800 took second in 11:43.90. The overall performance, according to the team notes, showed Baraboo's JV and varsity athletes "take care of business" in the fourth outdoor meet of the season. The Thunderbirds now turn to the Baraboo Relays, scheduled for May 1 at 4 p.m. at Beryl Newman Stadium.
