Schools
Track Season Begins With Cooney Kickoff in Oconomowoc
USM holds their own against Division 1 schools.
The track and field team began its 2011 season Friday by participating in the Cooney Kickoff meet, an indoor meet held at Oconomowoc High School. Along with USM, Mukwonago High School, West Bend West High School, Hartford Union High School, and Oconomowoc High School took part in the meet. It was a non-scoring developmental meet, so team scores were not tallied.
Competing against four Division 1 teams, USM, a Division 2 school, won one event. The USM boys 4 x 800 relay team of seniors Wil Gehl, Ian Cooley, Michael Wheeler, and junior Tom Wheeler took top honors with a time of 9:25.55. Mukwonago was second with a time of 9.28.97.
USM senior Ian Cooley captured second place in the boys 1600 Meter Run. Cooley finished with a time of 5:10.07 behind Noah Brown of Oconomowoc who ran the distance in 5:05.72. Michael Wheeler took fifth place in the event with a time of 5:29.19, and USM freshman Matt Bultman ended in 16th place with a time of 6:02.78.
Junior Adam Brostowicz of USM took 2nd place in the 400 Meter Dash with a time of 59.38 seconds, just behind Mitch Pauters who won the race with a time of 59.34 seconds.
USM also won second place in the Boys 4 x 160 Meter Relay race. The USM 5-man relay squad of freshman Djdade Denson, sophomore Toran Marks, freshman Chris Cooper, sophomore Dan Taylor, and freshman Derek Rott finished with a time of 1:24.72. West Bend West won the race in a time of 1:23.25.
In the boys 4 x 400 relay, USM’s squad of Denson, Marks, Cooper, and Taylor placed 4th with a time of 4:14.99 and its squad of freshman Eric Hilgendorf, Bultman, senior Paul Martinez, and Rott was right behind with a time of 4:15.15. Oconomowoc won the race in a time of 3:58.50.
Freshman Megan Waples recorded two 5th place finishes for USM. In the Girls 1600 Meter Run, Waples finished with a time of 6:24.76. Hartford’s Jordan Peschek won the race with a time of 5:47.23. USM junior Lindsay Nietzel finished 12th with a time of 7:05.75. In the Girls 800 Meter Run, Waples had a time of 2:49.77. Olivia Radtke of Oconomowoc won the event at 2:43.41. Nietzel took 12th place for USM with a time of 3:06.27, and USM freshman Shivani Singh finished 29th at 3:14.70.
Gehl took 8th place in the Boys 400 Meter Dash. His time was 1:02.41. Mitch Pastters won the race in 59.34 seconds. USM senior Wil Stearns placed 11th at 1:03.00.
Freshman Kendall Youngblood also took an 8th place for the Wildcats. She ran the Girls 200 Meter Dash in 31.31 seconds. The victor was Ashley Messier of Mukwonago who ran the race in 30.09 seconds. USM junior Nicole Flanary took 12th place in the race with a time of 31.76.
The USM track and field team continues its season on April 2 in a meet hosted by Waukesha South at Waukesha South High School.
Editor's Note: Thomas Geilfuss is the sports information coordinator for USM.
