Had it been a dry, warm day Ethan Klisch would have produced dust.
Unfortunately, it was a damp, cold Friday, April 23, when the senior decided to turn on the afterburners and transform a close 1600-meter run into a runaway victory during a Central Lakes Conference dual with Willmar.
Klisch, who was also on the winning 4x400 relay with Baden Bastian, Thomas Ruhl and Brandon Stark, was one of six Brainerd first-place finishes as the Warriors topped Willmar 88-83.
The Warrior girls led by double winners Hanna Caughey and Brenna Deason, also came away winners.
“I usually have some left, but it was my first mile of the year,” Klisch said. “It was hard with Thomas not running the mile today. Usually he and I kind of push each other a lot more, but the first mile of the year for me and I just had too much left after that third lap.”
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Klisch followed Willmar’s Ryan Kuhlman for three and a 1/3 miles until he overtook his Cardinal opponent and then decided to sprint the remaining 220-meters for a nine-second victory.
“The race was a little slower than how I would normally run it, but it was the first time running the mile,” Klisch said. “I’m happy with what it came out to be. Since I started track, I’ve always had a decent kick, but I tried to go a little bit earlier today because my third lap was a little bit slow.”
Dillon MacLaughlin won the 100 dash in 11.34. All times were hand-held times because of a timing malfunction with the computer system. He finished second in the 200 dash and long jump.
Brandon Stark won the open 400 followed by Aaron Stark in second.
Adam Cady topped older brother Ryan Cady in the 3200.
Brainerd’s 4x200 relay of Gavin Hoelzel, Maclaughlin, Brandon Stark and Michael Olson posted a winning-time of 1:36.20.
Max Lelwica won the triple jump with a 41-foot-7 effort. The senior leaper was second in the high jump, fifth in the long jump and third in the 110 hurdles.
Michael Olson was second in the 110 hurdles. Gavin Hoelzel was second in the 300 hurdles. Thomas Ruhl ran to a second-place finish in the 800 run. Dante Bernal placed second in the discus with a heave of 126-3 and Gabe Wagner vaulted to a second-place 11-0.
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“For the end of the year we plan on having a strong distance crew,” Klisch said. “In cross-country, we noticed we had a nice group of kids. We’re all within a range and we’re just trying to keep that going here in track.”
Hanna Caughey swept the throwing events for the Warrior girls as she won the shot put in 36-6 and the discus in 110-9.
Brenna Deason was also a double winner as she battled to a first-place finish in the 100 dash and captured the pole vault in 8-6.
Brainerd’s 4x100 relay of Myah Nelson, Emma Sheflo, Kate Stadum and Kamryn Peterson scored a first-place 53.34. Peterson also won the triple jump in 32-5.
Emma Storbakken won the 400 dash in 1:04.20 with Emily Bastian in second. Storbakken was also third in the 200 dash. She said both races helped her to an impressive anchor leg in Brainerd’s second-place 4x400 relay.
“The open 200 and I ran the open 400 before that, too,” Storbakken said. “I had a lot of lactic acid build up in my legs. It was nice though because they were good warm-ups. My legs were a little tired, but I was loose for the relay.”
Storbakken teamed with Erin Hoelzel, Emily Bastian and Chandler Niemeyer in the 4x4. The Cardinals built a sizable lead right away. When Storbakken got the baton, she was about 150-meters behind Willmar’s Hannah Quinn, who earlier won the 800 run.
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“I just have to go and catch her and I have to put everything out there,” Storbakken said. “So I just had to go and see what I could do in 400 meters.
“The first half I just wanted to stick with her the best that I could. Then at the 200 mark, I knew I just had to push as hard as I could to try and catch back up with her.”
Storbakken has made a career as a distance athlete with cross-country running, Nordic skiing and track and field, but she finds running middle distances the most enjoyable.
“It’s definitely my favorite thing to do actually,” Storbakken said. “There’s just something about running fast that makes you feel good about yourself instead of like running long distances.”
Brainerd’s Matia Bruggeman placed second in both hurdle events. Nelson was second in the 200 and third in the 100. Bridget Collins was second in the mile. Emma True placed second in the shot put and fourth in the discus. Deason added a second in the long jump while Molly Hagelie was second in the triple jump and Lily Birks was second in the high jump.
“It’s interesting because I’m just so used to racing so many different teams and just having a higher level of competition between more people, not just a few people,” Storbekken said. “It’s weird, but I’m just happy we have a season. I’ll take whatever I can get.”
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Boys team scores: 1-Brainerd 88, 2-Willmar 83
110 hurdles: 1-Sam May (Will) 15.28, 2-Michael Olson (Brd) 17.44, 3-Max Lelwica 17.86
300 hurdles: 1-May (Wil) 41.75, 2-Gavin Hoelzel (Brd) 44.6
100 dash: 1-Dillon MacLaughlin (Brd) 11.34, 3-Preston Siebolds (Brd) 12.34, 4-Charles Pikula (Brd) 12.44, 8-Sebastian Sawyer 13.90, 9-Landon Johnston 13.91, 10-Owen Brainerd (Brd) 14.50
200 dash: 1-Michael Price (Wil) 22.61, 2-Dillon MacLaughlin 23.11, 3-Preston Siebolds (Brd) 24.67, 4-Aaron Stark (Brd) 25.03, 7-Barrett Rezac (Brd) 26.68, 8-Sebastian Sawyer 29.35, 10-Owen Brainerd (Bd) 31.68
400 dash: 1-Brandon Stark (Brd) 53.98, 2-Aaron Stark (Brd) 57.93
800 run: 1-Colin O’Farell (Wil) 2:07.47, 2-Thomas Ruhl (Brd) 2:07.95, 2-Baden Bastian (Brd) 2:10.76, 6-Nolan Thiesse 2:19.20, 8-Noah Schaeffer 2:23.20
1600 run: 1-Ethan Klisch (Brd) 4:57.73, 3-Steven Selisker 5:14.01, 5-Bennet Capelle 5:26.03, 6-Atticus Osborne (Brd) 5:40.09
3200 run: 1-Adam Cady (Brd) 10:35.91, 2-Ryan Cady (Brd) 10:58.52
4x100 relay: 1-Willmar 45.47, 2-Brainerd (Charles Pikula, Preston Siebolds, Marcus Yliniemi, Michael Olson) 48.30
4x200 relay: 1-Brainerd (Gavin Hoelzel, Dillon MacLaughlin, Brandon Stark, Michael Olson) 1:36.20
4x400 relay: 1-Brainerd (Klish, Ruhl, Baden Bastian, Brandon Stark) 3:39.91, 3-Brainerd (Aaron Stark, Nolan Thiesse, Atticus Osborne, Gavin Hoelzel) 4:01.78
4x800 relay: 1-Willmar 8:46.41, 2-Brainerd (Baden Bastien, Adam Cady, Thomas Ruhl, Ryan Cady) 8:56.78, 3-Brainerd (Bennet Capelle, Braden Capelle, Noah Schaeffer, Steven Selisker) 9:02.02
Shot put: 1-Jacob Rosendahl (Wil) 40-10, 3-Mitchell Degen (Brd) 37-8, 4-Mitch Wind (Brd) 36-11, 6-Caden Jager (Brd) 34-1, 9-Dante Bernal (Brd) 32-9, 13-Martin Wagner (Brd) 28-8.25
Discus: 1-Rosendahl (Wil) 136-8, 2-Dante Bernal (Brd) 126-3, 8-Caden Jager 88-3, 9-Mitch Wind (Brd) 86-9, 10-Martin Wagner 86-4 , 11-Mitchell Degen (Brd) 80-11
Long jump: 1-Michael Price (Wil) 21-5, 2-MacLaughlin 19-10, 3-Stark 19-7, 5-Lelwica 18-7.5, 8-Pikula 16-1, 9-Sebastian Sawyer 14-2, 10-Brainerd 12-9
Triple jump: 1-Max Lelwica (Brd) 41-7
High jump: 1-May 6-2, 2-Lelwica 6-8, 3-Marcus Yliniemi (Brd) 5-2, 3-Gage Borders (Brd) 5-2
Pole vault: 1-Caden Carlson (Wil) 12-0, 2-Gabe Wagner (Brd) 11-0, 3-Baden Bastian 10-0, 4-Marcus Yliniemi (Brd) 9-0
Girls team scores: 1-Brainerd 92, 2-Willmar 79
100 hurdles: 1-Annie Loss (Brd) 17.38, 2-Matia Brugeman (Brd) 17.94, 3-Lydia Olson (Brd) 18:41, 4-Marcella Dirks (Brd) 18.48, 5-Gabrielle Hannah (Brd) 18.74, 6-Violet Goodwin (Brd) 19.29, 7-Meghan Wirtz (Brd) 19.51, 9-Jaclyn Lorentz (Brd) 20.95, 11-Chloe Czech (Brd) 25.09
300 hurdles: 1-Jaida Rieman (Wil) 48.4, 2-Matia Bruggeman (Brd) 50.02, 3-Marcella Dirks (Brd) 50.2, 5-Annie Loss (Brd) 52.32, 7-Jaclyn Lorentz (Brd) 56.51, 8-Violet Goodwin (Brd) 56.6, 10-Meghan Wirtz 59.63, 11-Lydia Olson 1:03.09, 12-Chloe Czech 1:13.15
100 dash: 1-Brenna Deason (Brd) 12.48, 3-Myah Nelson (Brd) 12.80, 4-Madison Genz (Brd) 13.04, 5-Molly Hagelie (Brd) 13.50, 6-Sabrina Buffetta (Brd) 13.50, 7-Emma Sheflo (Brd) 13.68, 8-Katherine Stadum (Brd) 13.73, 9-Alison Bachman (Brd) 14.53, 10-Kamryn Peterson (Brd) 14.77, 14-Rachel Moore (Brd) 16.53, 17-Anastasiia Biermaier (Brd) 18.60
200 dash: 1-Sam Christoffer (Wil) 25.89, 2-Myah Nelson (Brd) 26.65, 3-Emma Storbakken (Brd) 27.54, 4-Madison Genz (Brd) 27.77, 5-Emily Bastian (Brd) 28.41, 6-Anja Storbakken (Brd) 28.65, 7-Sophia Laube (Brd) 29.4, 8-Erin Hoelzel (Brd) 29.51, 13-Alison Bachman (Brd) 31.58, 14-Gabrielle Hannah (Brd) 31.58, 15-Kiara Laube 32.14, 17-Joslin Ray 34.04
400 dash: 1-Emma Storbakken (Brd) 1:04.20, 2-Emily Bastian 1:05.70
800 run: 1-Hannah Quinn (Wil) 2:33.19, 3-Lily Schaeffer (Brd) 2:44.58, 5-Abby Johnson (Brd) 3:05.97, 7-Payton Lillo (Brd) 3:06.62
1600 run: 1-Nina Dawson (Will) 5:41.49, 2-Bridget Collins (Brd) 5:43.75, 4-Kennedy Katelyn (Brd) 6:21.61, 6-Gabrielle Chalupsky (Brd) 6:51.48
3200 run: 1-Becca Dawson (Wil) 13:05.05, 3-Julia Rademacher (Brd) 13.27.87, 4-Annika Gearey (Brd) 15:37.00
4x100 relay: 1-Brainerd (Myah Nelson, Emma Sheflo, Kate Stadum, Kamryn Peterson) 53.34, 3-Brainerd (Joslin Ray, Kiara Laube, Abigail Tanner, Arja Storbakken0 59.48
4x200 relay: 1-Willmar 1:55.60, 2-Brainerd (Erin Hoelzel, Molly Hagelie, Annie Loss, Brenna Deason) 1:59.11, 3-Brainerd (Matia Bruggeman, Sophia Lauber, Rachel Moore, Chandler Niemeyer) 2:05.43
4x400 relay: 1-Willmar 4:25.32, 2-Brainerd (Erin Hoelzel, Emily Bastian, Chandler Niemeyer, Emma Storbakken) 4:26.55
4x800 relay: 1-Willmar 9:32.74, 2-Brainerd (Lily Schaeffer, Bridget Collins, Abby Johnson, Julia Rademacher) 9:55.28
Shot put: 1-Hanna Caughey (Brd) 36-6, 2-Emma True (Brd) 30-4, 4-Elianna Riley (Brd) 28-8, 5-Allie Rosendahl (Brd) 27-9
Discus: 1-Caughey 110-9, 4-True 89-6, 7-Josie Gibson (Brd), 9-Elianna Riley 71-10
Long jump: 1-Sam Christoffer (Wil) 17-0.5, 2-Deason 16-2, 4-Nelson 14-1, 5-Stadum 13-7, 6-Sheflo 13-5, 7-Sophia Laube (Brd) 13-3, 8-Allison Bachman (Brd) 12-7, 10-Kiara Laube (Brd) 12-1, 11-Anastasiia Biermaier 10-5, 12-Joslin Ray 9-11
Triple jump: 1-Kamryn Peterson (Brd) 32-5, 2-Molly Hagelie (Brd) 32-4, 5-Matia Bruggeman (Brd) 29-0, 6-Marcella Dirks (Brd) 28-9, 8-Meghan Wirtz (Brd) 27-0.5
High jump: 1-Ava Brogren (Will) 4-10, 2-Lily Birks (Brd) 4-6, 3-Stadum (Brd) 4-4, 4-Hagelie (Brd) 4-4, 4-Sheflo (Brd) 4-4
Pole vault: 1-Deason 8-6, 2-Sabrina Buffetta 7-6
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.
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Warrior Track and Field
Girls highlights: Hanna Caughey swept both throwing events and Brenna Deason won twice to help Brainerd to first.
Boys highlights: Ethan Klish was part of two first-place finishes to help Brainerd to first
Next: Brainerd at Rocori 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 27.
