Contributing writer
Goessel hosted a track meet Friday, rescheduled from Tuesday because of bad weather, and compiled more total points than previously recorded for several years.
In boys competition, Bluebird junior Brian Hiebert earned 12 points for his team with a first place finish in shot put at 39 feet and a half inch. Hiebert also took third in discus with a throw of 112 feet, 7 inches.
Senior Shane Goerzen earned three medals for Goessel, placing second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.90 seconds and third in long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 10.50 inches. He was part of the third-place Goessel 4X100 relay team with Mark Schmidt, Chase Flaming, and Brian Hiebert, that posted a time of 48.40.
Junior Heath Goertzen scored points for Goessel with a season-best time in the 3,200-meter race of 11:27, good enough for third, and a third place medal in triple jump at 38’10.50”.
Also scoring points for the male Bluebirds were Davis Cook, second in triple jump at 39’1”; Nathan Czarnowsky, fourth in long jump at 18’4.50”, and second in the 4X800 relay with Bjoren Shummen, Grant Flaming, and Ben Wiens at 9:44.10; Mark Schmidt, fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.00; and Henrik Feltens, fifth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:08.20.
The Goessel boys finished third behind Berean and Hillsboro and ahead of Peabody-Burns and Marion in team standings.
The Goessel High School girls compiled 72 total points, picking up individual contributions from several underclassmen, but led by senior Tia Goertzen and sophomore Erin Brubaker.
Goertzen won both hurdle events, slicing over the 100-meter high hurdles in 17.20 seconds. She defeated her closest rival, teammate Erin Brubaker again in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 51.90. Brubaker, second in both hurdle events, finished at 19.20 in the 100 highs and 56.20 in the 300-meter lows.
Freshman Page Hiebert won long jump with a leap of 14’2.50”. She took third in high jump clearing the bar at 4’6.” Freshmen Aleena Cook earned points with a fourth-place finish in the 100 meter dash at 14.2, and placed fifth in high jump at 4’2.” Sophomore Makayla King earned second in triple jump going 27’10”. King combined with Alisha Nolte, Ali Buller, and Cook to take third in the 4X100 relay at 58.30. In the 4X400 relay, Page Hiebert combined with Goertzen, Cook, and Buller to place second with a time of 4:39.10.
Other scorers for Goessel included Alicen Meysing, fourth in long jump with 13’00”; Alisha Nolte, third in 100 meter hurdles at 19.20 and fourth in the 800 meter run with 2:48.50 on the ticker. Kylee Unruh placed fifth in the 3200 meter run with 15:48.
The Goessel girls took third as a team behind Berean Academy and Hillsboro.