Contributing writer
The Goessel boys’ track and field team will not dominate a track meet, so winning first was not realistic, but it was all smiles coming from the 4x100 relay team.
“In order to letter in track, you have to score points in an event at the League Track Meet,” Zach Showalter said.
The team of Mark Schmidt, Showalter, Brian Hiebert, and Davis Cook were placed in the first heat. Only three teams were on the track and the Goessel bunch stayed with the other two teams, but a smooth hand-off to the last runner separated Goessel from the rest of the teams. The relay team ran 1 second faster than their previous best and was good enough for two points and fifth place.
Heath Goertzen earned second place in the 3,200-meter race and Ben Wiens ran with a pack of six in the 1,600-meter race and ended with his best time of the season and a third place finish.
Alex Schmidt made finals in the shot put with a distance a little shy of his previous best, but in the finals his toss of 38 feet, 8.50 inches was nearly 2 feet further and vaulted his position from sixth to fourth place. Davis Cook and Jake Herrel also scored points for the Bluebirds along with the 4x800 relay team.
The Goessel boys scored 25 points as a team to finish 10 points ahead of Centre. The Hope boys won the team title in the last event of the night, narrowly beating out Solomon. The Goessel track teams will be at Burlington on Friday for the 1A Regional Track Meet. In order to qualify for the State Track Meet, athletes must finish in the top four at the regional meet.
Goessel boys scoring at Wheat State League:
Shot Put: 4. Alex Schmidt, 38-8.50.
Triple Jump: 5. Davis Cook, 37- 8.25.
3200: 2. Heath Goertzen, 11:42; 6. Jake Herrel, 13:10.
4x800 relay: 5. Goertzen, Ben Wiens, Grant Flaming, Nathan Czarnowsky, 9:35.
4x100 relay: 5. Mark Schmidt, Zach Showalter, Brian Hiebert, Cook, 48.90
1600: 3. Wiens, 5:17.34.