Sports writer
Goessel High School boys’ track and field has not been strong in the field events all season long.
However, the Bluebirds used some strong field performances Friday to capture the 1A Madison regional championship.
Evan Hiebert cleared 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump to secure second place and get the Bluebirds off to a good start.
Anthony Esau picked up another point with a sixth-place finish in the long jump. The team then waited to see what would happen in the running events.
In 82-degree weather, the 4x800-meter relay team secured second place and suffered in the heat.
Weston Hiebert finished third in the 110m hurdles, Craig Banman and Cameron Stultz finished first and fourth, respectively, in the 100m dash, and the boys 4x100m relay team finished first by several meters.
After 10 events, the Bluebirds were comfortably in the lead, with some of their best events yet to come.
Banman and John Berkholz finished first and third in the 400m dash.
Hiebert took first in the 300m hurdles with a strategic lean at the tape.
In the 200, the Bluebirds picked up 17 points with first-, third-, and sixth-place finishes by Banman, Stultz, and Travis Fensky.
Laird Goertzen ran a tactical race in the 3200m run and picked up second place, while the 4x400m relay team won the final event of the day with an 11-second victory.
Goessel scored 108 points with Madison coming in second with 55 points.
The top four finishers in each event at regionals qualified to run this weekend at the state track meet at Wichita State University.