Spartans record PRs at Decatur St. Teresa Invitational
By Fred Kroner
In their final pre-sectional tune-up on Friday (May 12), nine St. Joseph-Ogden track and field athletes recorded their personal bests in a 20-school boys’ meet at the Decatur St. Teresa Invitational.
Two of those marks – among Spartans who placed among the top 10 individually – were turned in by Kyler Swanson, who was eighth in the 400 meters (55.59 seconds) and 10th in the 110-meter high hurdles (17.45 seconds).
Carson Maroon, the runner-up in the 1,600 meters (4:24.98) also achieved his top time.
Other teammates who established new personal bests were Logan Smith (third in the 300-meter hurdles in 41.72 seconds), Wyatt Wertz (fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 42.99 seconds), Spencer Wilson (fourth in the 800 in 2:01.07), Garrett Siems (sixth in the high jump at 5 feet, 9 inches), Tyler Burch (seventh in the 100 meters in 11.22 seconds) and Lance Retz (10th in the 1,600 meters in 4:44.38).
Also finishing among the top 10 in their individual events were Charlie Schmitz (second in the pole vault at 12 feet), Brock Trimble (third in the discus at 164 feet, 4 inches), Jack Fisher (fifth in 3,200 meters in 11:05.50), Tim Blackburn-Kelley (sixth in 200 meters in 24.11 seconds and sixth in the triple jump at 38 feet, 8 inches) and Quinn Stahl (seventh in the pole vault at 7 feet, 5 inches).
All four SJ-O relays placed among the leaders, led by the fourth-place 1,600-meter grouping of Smith, Wilson, Colin Wayland and Jackson Greer). The combined time was 3:28.85.
The 800-meter relay unit of Burch, Smith, Wayland and Greer ran fifth in 1:31.34. That same foursome also shared the baton in the 400-meter relay and also came in fourth (43.63 seconds).
Featured runners on the seventh-place 3,200-meter relay were Mason Guido, Aden Armstrong, Joe Griebat and Holden Jones. They crossed the finish line in 8:52.20.
The final team standings showed Tolono Unity in first place with 62 points. The Spartans took fifth with 49 points.
SJ-O returns to action on Friday (May 19) in the 18-school Westville Class 1A Sectional.
